Table of Contents:

Course Description

Course Objectives

Texts/Documents

Course Requirements

WWW Resources

Grading Scale

Course Schedule

Bibliography

Course Description:

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• Be able to give an overview of the movements, events, and ideas which have characterized Middle Eastern history and have molded the perspectives of its people.
• Understand and be able to explain the continuing role of religion in the Middle East and the world.
• Be able to demonstrate how the Middle East became, and why it continues to be, such a hotbed of conflict.
• Understand the difficulty of peace making in a region with such seemingly irreconcilable viewpoints, and demonstrate initiative, sensitivity, and wisdom in peacemaking efforts.
• Demonstrate knowledge of and ability to effectively use resources available for the study of history and current events on the World Wide Web.
• Demonstrate critical thinking in terms of historical argument and debate.
• Demonstrate ability to analyze historical data.
• Demonstrate verbal and oral communication skills in classroom debate and writing assignments.

Text/Documents:

Arthur Goldschmidt, A Concise History of the Middle East. Sixth Edition. Westview, 1999.

This text is available in the USF Bookshoppe. There will also be a number of other readings. Some of the documents will be handed out in class; others can be obtained by clicking on them in the Course Schedule section.

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Course Requirements:

1. Class Participation.You are expected to attend class, be prepared for it (i.e., read the assigned readings) and participate in discussion. You should be familiar with the text and online readings. See the Course Schedule for these. The criteria for the participation grade include attendance, preparation for class (and may include quizzes or assignments on the readings), and activity in class. 20% of course grade.
2. Tests. There will be a Midterm and a Final Exam for this course. See the Course Schedule for dates.  The Midterm will be worth 20% of the course grade, and the Final 25%.
3. Book Review or E-Mail Correspondent. 20% of course grade. You have the choice to read a book and do a review on it, or find an e-mail correspondent in the Middle East. You will be responsible for reporting your findings to the class (your report to the class will be figured into the grade for the project).
• Book Review. Choose one of the books listed in the Bibliography (or any other book approved by the instructor) and write a 4-5 page review of the book which answers the following questions:
• What is the main point (or thesis) of the book? Why did THIS book have to be written?
• How does the author substantiate the thesis (i.e., what evidence does he/she use? how do the topics he/she chooses buttress the overall argument of the book?)? Is he/she successful in proving the overall argument?
• What can we learn from this book? How does it help us understand the Middle East?
• E-Mail Correspondent. You may, if you like, correspond with someone in the Middle East by e-mail. You will be responsible for finding your own correspondent (but some of the penpal links should be of help--see penpal.net), and writing at least 8 detailed messages back and forth. You should ask about issues and events relevant to the course (the government, religion, political views, economic situation, etc.) in order to better understand the region. Make hard copies of both your messages and your correspondent's responses and turn them in when the assignment is due.
4. WWW Research Assignment or Newswatch.Using WWW Resources (like the ones listed here) and/or magazine and newspaper articles, you will be expected to keep track and analyze the current situation in the Middle East (you may narrow it down to Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Iraq, or another country if you wish) and write a paper which explains the greatest challenges faced in the region and how those challenges can be met. You should start keeping track of sources immediately (note: you will NOT get full credit if you download all of your articles near the time that this project is due), and keep hard copies of the ones you will use for the paper (and include them with the paper). This paper should be 4-5 double-spaced, typewritten pages, and is due the last regular day of class. 15% of the course grade.

Places to Start--WWW Resources:

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Tentative Course Schedule:

Week One

Day Section:
    23 August, Wednesday: First meeting: introduction and orientation.

    25 August, Friday:  Goldschmidt, chap. 1

Evening Section:
    24 August: First meeting: introduction and orientation.

Week Two

Day Section:
    28 August, Monday: Goldschmidt, chap. 2

    30 August, Wednesday: Goldschmidt, chap. 3

Evening Section:
    31 August: Goldschmidt, chaps. 1-3

Week Three

Day Section:
    4 September, Monday: Labor Day--no class

    6 September, Wednesday: Goldschmidt, chap. 4

• Introduction to Islam
• Prayer Times

• Introduction to Islam
• Prayer Times

Day Section:
    11 September, Monday: Goldschmidt, chap. 5

    13 September, Wednesday: Goldschmidt, chap. 6

Evening Section:
    14 September: Goldschmidt, chaps. 5-6

Week Five

Day Section:
    18 September, Monday: Expansion of Islam & the Caliphate

    20 September, Wednesday: No class--if you can, go with evening class on Field Trip (otherwise you will be expected to arrange a visit on your own and write a paper on it)--Mosque Foundation of Bridgeview--708-430-5666 (see also Mosques and Islamic Services in Chicago)

Evening Section:
    21 September: Field Trip to Mosque Foundation, Bridgeview

Week Six

Day Section:
    25 September, Monday: Goldschmidt, chaps. 6

    27 September, Wednesday: Goldschmidt, chap. 7

Evening Section:
    28 September: Goldschmidt, chaps. 6-8

Week Seven

Day Section:
    2 October, Monday: Goldschmidt, chaps. 8-9

• Violence in Israel/Palestine--BBC
• Violence in Israel/Palestine--CNN
• Topkapi Palace Museum
• Ottoman Empire
• Chronology of the Ottoman Empire
• Suleymaniye Mosque
• Isfahan: Showplace of Safavid Persia

Evening Section:
    5 October: Goldschmidt, chaps. 9-12

• Topkapi Palace Museum
• Ottoman Empire
• Chronology of the Ottoman Empire
• Suleymaniye Mosque
• Isfahan: Showplace of Safavid Persia

Day Section:
    9 October, Monday: Goldschmidt, chap. 12

    11 October, Wednesday: Midterm Exam

Evening Section:

    12 October: Midterm exam

Week Nine: 16-20 October Fall Break

Week Ten

Day Section:
    23 October, Monday: NO CLASS

    25 October, Wednesday: Goldschmidt, chap. 13

• The Balfour Declaration;
• Husayn-McMahon Correspondence
• Sykes-Picot Agreement
• San Remo Convention
• King-Crane Commissions Recommendations
• King-Crane Commission Full Report

Evening Section
    26 October: Goldschmidt, chaps. 13-14

The Balfour Declaration;

Husayn-McMahon Correspondence

Sykes-Picot Agreement

San Remo Convention

King-Crane Commissions Recommendations

King-Crane Commission Full Report

The Armenian Holocaust

Day Section:
    30 October, Monday: Goldschmidt, chap. 14

• The Armenian Holocaust

Evening Section:
    2 November: Goldschmidt, chaps. 15-16

• The Balfour Declaration;
• Theodore Herzl and Zionism
• Churchill White Paper
• Passfield White Paper
• McDonald Letter
• Peel Commission
• White Paper of 1939
• UN General Assembly Plan for Partition
• Declaration of Independence

Day Section:
    6 November, Monday: Goldschmidt, chap. 16, pp. 230-240

The Balfour Declaration;

Theodore Herzl and Zionism

Churchill White Paper

Passfield White Paper

McDonald Letter

• Peel Commission
• White Paper of 1939
• UN General Assembly Plan for Partition
• Declaration of Independence

Evening Section:
    9 November: Goldschmidt, chaps. 17-18; Book/e-mail reports

• Cleansed Palestinian Villages 1948
• Palestinian Refugee ResearchNet
• Gaza: Legacy of Occupation; A Photographer's Journey
• The Muslim Brotherhood
• Gamal Abd-al Nasser Page
• UN Resolution 242
• PLO Charter;
• Information on King Hussein of Jordan
• UN Resolution 338
• Camp David Accords
• Peace Treaty Between Israel and Egypt

Day Section:
    13 November, Monday: Goldschmidt, chap. 17; Book/e-mail reports

• "Cleansed" Palestinian Villages 1948
• Palestinian Refugee ResearchNet
• Gaza: Legacy of Occupation; A Photographer's Journey
• The Muslim Brotherhood
• Gamal Abd-al Nasser Page

Evening Section:
    16 November: Goldschmidt, chap. 19; Book/e-mail reports

• CyberIran
• The Iranian Revolution
• Official Hezbollah Party Page
• Unofficial Hezbollah Party Page
• Lebanese Forces

Day Section:
    20 November, Monday: Goldschmidt, chap. 18 (pp. 291-307) ; Book/e-mail reports

• UN Resolution 242
• PLO Charter;
• Information on King Hussein of Jordan

• UN Resolution 338

• Camp David Accords
• Peace Treaty Between Israel and Egypt;

Evening Section:
    23 November: Thanksgiving Break--NO CLASS

Week Fifteen

Day Section:
    27 November, Monday: Goldschmidt, chap. 19; Book/e-mail reports

• CyberIran
• The Iranian Revolution
• Official Hezbollah Party Page
• Unofficial Hezbollah Party Page
• Lebanese Forces

Evening Section:
    30 November: Goldschmidt, chap. 20; Book/E-mail reports

• Iraq History
• Images from the Iran-Iraq War
• Intifada Diary
• Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process--Reference Documents
• Declaration of Principles
• Interim Agreement between Israel and the Palestinians
• Israel-Lebanon Ceasefire Agreement
• Wye Plantation Agreement

Day Section:
    4 December, Monday: Goldschmidt, chap. 20; Book/e-mail reports

• Iraq History
• Images from the Iran-Iraq War
• Intifada Diary
• Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process--Reference Documents
• Declaration of Principles
• Interim Agreement between Israel and the Palestinians
• Israel-Lebanon Ceasefire Agreement
• Wye Plantation Agreement

    13 December, Wednesday, 12-2 PM: Final Exam

Evening Section:
    7 December: Final Exam
 

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Bibliography

Aburish, Said K. Cry Palestine. Westview Press, 1993.

Ahmed, Akbar. Discovering Islam. Routledge, 1989.

Algosaibi, Ghazi. The Gulf Crisis. Routledge, 1993.

Babinger, Franz. Mehmed the Conqueror and His Time. Princeton, 1992.

Badron, Margot and Miriam Cooke, eds. Opening the Gates: A Century of Arab Feminist Writing. 1990.

Esposito, John. Islam: The Straight Path. Oxford, 1988.

________. The Islamic Threat: Myth or Reality? Oxford, 1992. (not at USF)

Farsoun, Samih, ed. Iran: Political Culture in the Islamic Republic. Routledge, 1992.

Fawaz, Gerges.  America and Political Islam.  Cambridge, 1999.

*Fernea, Elizabeth. Women and Family in the Middle East. 1991.

Freiberger, Steven Z. Dawn on Suez: The Rise of American Power in the Middle East, 1953-1957. I. R. Dee, 1992.

Friedman, Isaiah. The Question of Palestine: British-Jewish-Arab Relations, 1914-1918. Transaction Publishers, 1992. (not at USF)

*Friedman, Thomas. From Beirut to Jerusalem. Doubleday, 1989.

Graves, Robert. Lawrence and the Arabs. Paragon, 1991. (not at USF)

Hiro, Dilip. Desert Shield to Desert Storm. Routledge, 1992.

*________. Holy Wars: The Rise of Islamic Fundamentalism. Routledge, 1989. (not at USF)

________. Iran Under the Ayatollahs. Routledge, 1987.

________. The Longest War. Routledge, 1990.

Holt, P. M. The Age of the Crusades: The Near East from the 11th Century to 1517. Longman, 1986.

James, Lawrence. The Golden Warrier: The Life and Legend of Lawrence of Arabia. Paragon, 1993. (not at USF)

Katzman, Kenneth. The Warriors of Islam: Iran's Revolutionary Guard. Westview Press, 1992.

Keddie, Religion and Politics in Iran. Yale, 1984.

Maalouf, Amin. The Crusades through Arab Eyes. Random House, 1984.

Mansfield, Peter. The Arabs. Penguin, 1993.

Marr, Phebe and William Lewis, eds. Riding the Tiger: The Middle East Challenge after the Cold War. Westview Press, 1993.

Mazarr, Michael, et. al. Desert Storm. Westview Press, 1993.

Milani, Farzaneh. Veils and Words: The Emerging Voices of Iranian Women Writers. 1992.

Murphey, Rhoads.  Ottoman Warfare 1500-1700.  Rutgers, 1999.

Parker, Richard Bordeaux. The Politics of Miscalculation in the Middle East. Indiana University Press, 1993.

Peters, Rudolph.  Jihad in Classical and Modern Islam.  Markus Wiener, 1999.

Piscatori, James. Islamic Fundamentalisms and the Gulf Crisis. American Academy of Arts & Sciences, 1991. (not at USF)

Rippin, Andrew. Muslims. Routledge, 1989.

Runciman, Steven. The Fall of Constantinople 1453. Cambridge, 1990.

Shaley, Aryeh. The Intifada: Causes and Effects. Westview Press, 1991.

Sicker, Martin. Judaism, Nationalism, and the Land of Israel. Westview Press, 1992.

Simon, Reeva. Iraq between the Two World Wars. Columbia, 1986.

Tibi, Bassam. Islam and Cultural Accomodation of Social Change. Westview Press, 1990.

*Viorst, Milton.  In the Shadow of the Prophet: The Struggle for the Soul of Islam.  Bantam Doubleday, 1998.

Westrate, Bruce C. Arab Bureau: British Policy in the Middle East, 1916- 1920. Scholar's Press, 1992.

Wiebke, Walther. Women in Islam: From Medieval to Modern Times. Markus Wiener Publications, 1993.

Woodward, Peter. Nasser. Longman, 1992.

Yapp, M. E. The Making of the Modern Middle East, 1792-1923. Longman, 1988.

________. The Near East Since the First World War. Longman, 1990.

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