Religion and Politics in the Contemporary Middle East

Perspectives 2001
CRN: 15382
Monday and Wednesday, 12:00-12:50
General Classroom Building, Room 218

Course Description

This course is designed as an introduction to the variety of ways that Muslims, Christians and Jews in the contemporary Middle East have struggled to define their religious traditions in light of the changes brought about by modernity. In the early 18th century, European encroachment into the Middle East forced upon Muslims a radical rethinking of how Islamic societies should be organized. What had been taken for granted, the ability of Muslim societies to continue their normal development without undue influence from the outside, became irrelevant overnight with the swift conquest of Egypt in 1798 by Napoleon. In the subsequent years, the Islamic world suffered a series of defeats that gave Europeans-Christians for the most part-dominance over Muslims. While a similar fate had met the Islamic civilizations of Andalusia (Spain), the modern period was the first in which non-Muslims with no desire to assimilate gained effective control over the Muslims in the Islamic "heartlands." The two centuries since Napoleon have witnessed a tremendous struggle as to how Muslims should respond to these earth-shattering changes. Whether Muslims should "modernize" in a way similar to Meiji Japan, or "return" to an idealized past, or find some middle way between these paths has been a major topic of debate among Muslims, and remains much topical now. All of these debates are deeply political, and this course will examine them through the lens of religion and politics.

Christians in the Middle East have had to face some similar questions, but have found themselves on a different trajectory. They shared a common faith with the European Christians now colonizing them, yet were still colonial subjects. They were among the earliest beneficiaries of European-style education, thanks to the Missionary schools established in the Arab world, yet they were usually as eager as their Muslim compatriots to achieve independence. How Christians have dealt with the dilemmas of modernity, and the political positions that they have taken, will be one aspect of this course. Moreover, the modern history of Middle Eastern Christianity will be viewed in relation to, and in comparison with, the history of Muslims in the Middle East.

Jews, of course, have been a part of the mix just as have Christians and Muslims. Significant Jewish populations have long been present in the Near East, and until the formation of Israel in 1948, millions of Jews lived in Arab countries. Since then, the vast majority have emigrated to Israel. Although many of Israel's founders were secular Jews, Judaism, newly focused in Israel, plays a central role in the ongoing drama of religion and politics in the region.

• Gelvin, James L. The Israel-Palestine conflict: one hundred years of war. Cambridge, England; New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005.
• Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis. New York: Pantheon Books, c2003.
• Sacco, Joe. Palestine. Seattle, WA: Fantagraphic Books, 2001.
• Atwan, Abdel Bari. The secret history of al-Qa’ida. London: Saqi Books, 2006.
• Reader, available through electronic reserves and in class.

Readings and quizzes are detailed at the course schedule website. Be sure to use it.

Map assignment (5%). You will be given a blank map and asked to fill in the relevant points on the map. It is a simple assignment but one that is actually quite helpful.

News reports (10%). You will be required to turn in 5 two-page-or-shorter assessments of any media item that deals with a religious and political aspect of the Middle East. This could be a magazine account about political Islam, a newspaper story about American Christian support for Israel, Usama bin Laden and al-Qaeda, or any item that you read that deals in some way with religion and/or religious politics in the Middle East. In every write up, I expect you to tell me the source of the report, and the author, if any.

Attendance is required. You will also find that lectures make up a great deal of the information on quizzes and exams, so it behooves you to come to class.

Tests and assignments will take place according to the course schedule. In case of major medical or other emergency, for which there is documentation, please speak to me. There are absolutely no makeups for the writeups, so please do not ask.