HIS 389I - The Modern Middle East, 4 credit hours

Prerequisite(s): One 100-level history course or INT 200I
An introduction to the history of the Middle East in the 19th and 20th centuries. The dominant theme of the course is Middle Eastern peoples’ engagement with western ideas and their rediscovery of their own traditions as means to grapple with western political and economic domination. Topics include 19th century reformism (political, military, economic, and religious), economic dependency, Imperialism, Zionism, the Arab-Israeli conflict, Arab socialism and the rise to power of Saddam Hussein, the Iranian revolution, the rise of Islamic fundamentalist and militant groups.