UNITED STATES NAVAL ACADEMY

HH362: HISTORY OF THE MIDDLE EAST

Spring 2005/5765/1425

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COURSE SYLLABUS
(Last updated: 11 January 2005)

UNIT 1: SETTING THE SCENE					(In which we look at how geography and pre-Islamic societies may have affected the development of later Middle Eastern civilization.)
Date		Topic			Assignment Due
Jan 7	Physical Geography of the Middle East				Gettleman: 344-353 Cleveland: Preface Middle East Map: (large) (small) Hammond Atlas of the Middle East (be sure to bring this atlas each day to class)
Jan 10	Human Geography of the Middle East				Cleveland: 1-8
UNIT 2: THE RISE OF ISLAM					(In which we try to place Islam in the context of other "Abrahamic" faiths such as Judaism and Christianity. We will also examine the basic tenets of Islam and how it was spread through the region.)
Jan 12	Muhammad				MAP QUIZ Cleveland: 8-12 Esposito, Islam: 1-17 Quran: Surahs 82-114(skim)
Jan 14	Islamic Beliefs and Practices				Cleveland: 24-28 Esposito, Islam: 17-31, 87-93 Quran: Surahs 2, 3, 5, 17, 24, 35 (skim) Gettleman: 12-21
Jan 17	MLK Holiday
Jan 19	Early Islamic Expansion and the Rise of Muslim Sects				Cleveland: 13-15 Esposito, Islam: 32-48 Gettleman: 21-25 Quran: Surahs 4:59, 7:46, 9, 33:6-7, 33:71-73 (skim)
Jan 21	The Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphates				Cleveland: 16-18, 28-29, 31-33 Esposito, Islam: 48-57 (Electronic reading): The Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphates
Jan 24	Family, Women, and Men in Traditional Islamic Society				Cleveland: 29-30 Esposito, Islam: 93-100  Quran: Surahs 4, 65  (Electronic reading): Women and Men in Medieval Islamic Society
Jan 26	Medieval Islamic Civilization				Cleveland: 19-24.  Esposito, Islam: 74-87, 100-114 Gettleman: 26-33.
UNIT 3: ISLAMIC CIVILIZATION, 1100-1800					(In which we use the example of the Ottoman Empire as a window into the dynamics of an "Islamic" empire and "traditional" Islamic society.)
Jan 28	Threats from West and East: Crusaders and Mongols				Cleveland: 33-35 Esposito, Islam: 57-60 Itzkowitz: 3-10 Gettleman: 46-58
Jan 31	The Rise of the Ottomans and the Safavids				Cleveland: 37-42, 51-56 Itzkowitz: 10-36 Gettleman: 58-65
Feb 2	Suleyman the Magnificent in the Ottoman "Classical Age"				Cleveland: 42-49 Itzkowitz: 37-61
Feb 4	MIDTERM EXAM #1
UNIT 4: THE IMPACT OF EUROPE UPON THE MIDDLE EAST					(In which we look at how and why the Europeans developed a renewed interest in the Middle East in the 19th century and how Middle Easterners responded to the challenges posed by growing European influence.)
Feb 7			European Imperialism comes to the Middle East		Cleveland: 49-51, 57-64 Itzkowitz: 87-109  Esposito, Islam: 115-119.  (Electronic reading): Napoleon invades Egypt
Feb 9			Responses to Europe: Muhammad `Ali and Mahmud II		Cleveland: 64-80 Gettleman: 80-84
Feb 11			The Ottoman Tanzimat Period		Cleveland: 81-92 Gettleman: 84-92
Feb 14			Late Nineteenth-Century Civilian Reform in the Middle East		Cleveland: 92-109, 109-117 (skim) Esposito, Islam: 125-134 (skim) Esposito, Threat: 47-62 (skim)
Feb 16			Authoritarian Reform, Religious Assertiveness, and the Rise of Arab Nationalism		Cleveland: 119-148 Gettleman: 97-99 Jamal al-Din al-Afghani “Commentary on the Commentator”
Feb 18			World War I and the End of the Ottoman Order		Cleveland: 149-170 Gettleman: 113-122
Feb 21			Presidents’ Day Holiday
UNIT 5: THE MIDDLE EAST IN THE TWENTIETH  CENTURY
Feb 23			Republican Turkey and Mustafa Kemal, Iran under Reza Shah		Cleveland: 171-192 Gettleman: 122-132
Feb 25			Modern Egypt, Iraq, and Jordan		Cleveland: 193-215 Gettleman: 138-143
Feb 28			Modern Syria, Lebanon, and Saudi Arabia		Cleveland: 217-237 (Electronic reading): The Rise of Saudi Arabia
Mar 2			Palestine and Zionism		Cleveland: 239-261  Gettleman: 165-176
Mar 4			The Creation of Israel		Cleveland: 261-271  Gettleman: 188-192 Shipler: 300-325 (skim)
Mar 7			Turkey and Iran after WW2		Cleveland:  273-300  Esposito, Threat: 65-73 Gettleman: 253-254
Mar 9			The Rise of Nasser and Arab Nationalism in the 1950s		Cleveland: 301-322  Shipler: 3-34 Gettleman: 193-198, 289-291
Mar 11			The Radicalization of Politics and the Six-Day War		Cleveland: 323-344  (Electronic reading): The Six-Day War Gettleman: 198-203
SPRING BREAK
Mar 21			Israel and the Palestinians from 1948 to the 1970s		Cleveland: 345-367 (Electronic Reading: Tel Aviv and Jerusalem) Gettleman: 192-193, 198-201
Mar 23			1. Egypt and Lebanon in the 1970s and 1980s 2. The Rise of Modern Islamism		Cleveland: 369-382, 392-395 Gettleman: 291-293, 296-306
Mar 25			The Ba`th Party in Syria and Iraq		Cleveland 397-421 (skim) Gettleman: 132-135
Mar 28			The Arabian Peninsula and the Gulf since 1945		Cleveland: 451-472
Mar 30			MIDTERM EXAM #2
UNIT 6: THE RESURGENCE OF ISLAM AND THE MIDDLE EAST TODAY				(In which we discuss the renewal of Islamic influence in Middle Eastern societies and its possible impact on the future of the region.)
Apr 2	The Pahlavi Dynasty and the Iranian Revolution			Cleveland:  410-426  Gettleman: 255-261
Apr 5	Islam and the Modern State in Iran			Cleveland: 426-434 Esposito, Threat: 105-127 PAPER PRECIS DUE
Apr 7	Arab and Jew: Nationalism			Shipler: 35-65
Apr 9	Arab and Jew: Terrorism			Shipler: 66-121
Apr 12	“A History of Libya”, LCDR Joe Stanik (guest lecturer)			Esposito, Threat: 76-84 Historical Timeline of Libya
Apr 14	Arab and Jew: Religious Absolutism			Shipler: 122-164
Apr 16	Arab and Jew: Images of the Other			Shipler: 165-204 Gettleman: 203-215
Apr 19	Islam in Modern Egypt.*			Esposito, Threat: 93-105, 129-142 Gettleman: 306-316
Apr 21	Islam in Modern Lebanon*			Cleveland: 372-384 Esposito, Threat: 148-159
Apr 23	Islamic "Fundamentalism" and the Modern World.*			Esposito, Threat: 212-240
Apr 26	The Gulf War of 1990-1991			Cleveland: 458-480,484-499 Esposito, Threat: 240-269 (skim)
Apr 28	Islam in the Arab-Israeli Confrontation Now			Cleveland: 523-525 Esposito, Threat: 270-289 Gettleman: 221-232
Apr 29	The Middle East after 9/11			Gettleman: 317-329
May 4	PAPERS DUE