HI 343 Tradewinds: The History of the Modern Middle East
The Fertile Crescent, nestled between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, the Nile Delta, Istanbul, Jerusalem, Mecca, the trade caravans from across the world, the birthplaces of the great Abrahamic religions, the Middle East is home to all. But what is the Middle East, where is it? From a phrase coined by an American and promoted by an Englishman it is an invention of the 20th century with political contours that were drawn in Europe for the benefit of Europeans. In the whirlwind of current events, the idea of the Middle East as a place is truly modern but this does not mean that its roots are not ancient and its historical importance overstated. Examining the global interdependency and interconnectivity of the history, religions, cultures, politics, and geography of the region that stretches from Morocco to Istanbul, the course will challenge students. This course will stress the ways in which the dynamics of the Middle East are really the center of ideas and peoples connecting across the globe - a connective web mirroring the tensions between modernity and tradition, the old and the young, resources and power, and self-determination and control. For majors, this will be categorized under the World concentration.
Offered
As Needed