MODERN MIDDLE EAST, 1914-PRESENT
Fulfills Perspectives-History requirement,
and Human Diversity co-curricular requirement

HIST 3390-001

TTh 9:30AM-10:50—157 Dallas Hall

Prof. Sabri Ates—65 Dallas Hall—214-768-2968   sates@smu.edu

This course seeks to provide a broad introduction to history and politics of the modern Middle East. Engaging critically with various perspectives about the Modern Middle East, and identifying key milestones in the region’s history we examining the cultural, ethnic and religious diversity in the region and question the very usefulness of the term “Middle East” for a region that stretches from North Africa to Central Asia. After offering a brief historical perspective on the Safavid and Ottoman past (the 16th-18th centuries), the course concentrates on the long nineteenth century and twentieth centuries. Topics that we will concentrate on include but are not limited to: challenges of modernization and Middle Eastern responses, WWI and the dismantling of the Ottoman Empire; the founding of the post-Ottoman state system; the predicament of minorities in the new ethno-nationalist states; the struggle over Palestine; Iran from semi-colonial past to Islamic Revolution; the Lebanese civil war; rise of Arab nationalism; Ba’athist Syria and Iraq, and Iraq from the rise of Ba’thist fascism to the American invasion.  Requirements: This lecture and discussion class requires no preliminary knowledge about Islam and the Middle East. Requirements include four quizzes (10%) a midterm exam (25%), a paper (25%) and a final examination (25%). Regular attendance to lectures and discussion sessions, and timely completion of assignments is expected. Attendance and participation comprises 10% of your total grade. 



Required books will include: 1) William Cleveland, A History of the Modern Middle East; 2) Gelvin James L., The Israel-Palestine Conflict; 3) Stephen Kinzer, All the Shah’s Men; 4) Hiner Saleem, My Father’s Rifle.