Course Description
This course covers the history of the Middle East after the birth of Islam, with greater emphasis on developments after about 1800. It will focus especially on the beginnings and spread of Islam, civilization during the Islamic caliphates and empires, responses to increasing European involvement in the region, the effects of World War I, the possibilities and problems for newly independent Middle Eastern states after the World Wars up to the present, the founding of Israel, subsequent Arab-Israeli conflicts, and the roots and importance of Islamic terrorism. IAI: H2 903N.
Prerequisite(s)
Appropriate assessment score or ENGL 1422 with a grade of C or better - Must be taken either prior to or at the same time as this course.
At the end of this course, students will be able to:
- Explain the basic tenets of Islam and describe the processes by which it spread.
- Describe the important advances in Islamic civilization under the caliphates and empires.
- Compare and contrast the various responses to European and American influence in the region in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries.
- Explain the historical background for contemporary issues such as the Arab-Israeli conflict, Islamic terrorism, and U.S. interests in the Middle East.
- Perform tasks important to history as a discipline by reading, interpreting, and writing about primary sources and writing a research paper.