COURSE DESCRIPTION
Surveys intellectual, cultural, social, economic, and religious patterns in the civilizations of the Middle East. Covers Semitic, Indo-European, and Turkic-speaking peoples from pre-Islamic to the present. HIS 251 begins in pre-Islamic Arabia and concludes with the decline of the Ottomans. HIS 252 begins with the reforms in the Ottoman Empire and continues to the present. Lecture 3 hours a week.
GENERAL COURSE PURPOSE
Investigates social, political, religious and cultural institutions of the Middle Eastern states past and present. Designed to provide a wide range of course experiences to meet the needs of the NVCC student population.
ENTRY-LEVEL COMPETENCIES
No prerequisites.
COURSE OBJECTIVES
2. Examine the origins and evolution of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam from a Middle Eastern perspective.
3. Provide students an opportunity to complete an independent study project.
4. Foster interdisciplinary and critical thinking.
2. Pre-Islamic Arabia
3. Life and teachings of Muhammad
4. Early Muslim conquests
5. Umayyad and Abbasid caliphates
6. Decline of the Arab world
7. Evolution of the Turkic-speaking peoples
8. Seljuk empire
9. Crusades
10. Mongol invasion
11. Mongol empires
12. Rise and decline of the Ottomans
2. Greek rebellion
3. Tanzimat
4. Young Ottomans
5. Young Turks
6. World War I in the Middle East
7. Nationalist movements and decolonization
8. Rise of republican Turkey
9. Iran since World War I
10. Zionism and the creation of Israel
11. Political and economic changes in the North African states, Syria, and Iraq
12. Americans in the Middle East