Listed in: Political Science, as POSC-266
This course will be an introduction to politics across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) from the late Ottoman era to the present day. Key topics will include the history of the state system, anticolonial movements, postcolonial state building, conflict and coexistence in societies with religious and ethnic pluralism, politics of authoritarian regimes, distinctive features of the region's political economy, and dynamics of repression, resistance, revolution, and reform. Among the questions we will address in the course are the following: How did the Middle East emerge as a world region? What political forces have constituted it as such, and what are some of the enduring challenges of defining its scope and distinctive characteristics? Why does the region often appear to be a political “crisis factory?” Why does it contain so many authoritarian regimes? How do they operate and what explains differences between them? What explains the sources, divergent trajectories, and aftermaths of the Arab uprisings that began in the spring of 2011? Why, how, and with what consequences is sectarian identity mobilized across the region? Course material will include academic research, political analysis from think tanks and research institutes, and public writing from popular media outlets. A central goal is for students to become conversant in current debates about MENA politics and to develop, articulate, and defend their own views on contentious issues.
Recommended Prior Coursework: Any course in Political Science or Middle Eastern Studies.
Limited to 25 students. Fall semester. Visiting Assistant Professor Shils.
How to handle overenrollment: Preference to POSC majors or by instructor permission.
Students who enroll in this course will likely encounter and be expected to engage in the following intellectual skills, modes of learning, and assessment: An emphasis on close critical reading of social scientific and historical writing, intensive discussions in class, small group projects, and written work (short papers).
Course Materials