History 121:  the Middle East since 1453                                  EB 110, MW 12-1

Binghamton University, State University of New York               Fall 2006

Professor Donald Quataert

LT 609

Office Hours: T 12:45-2:00; W 1:45-3:00 or by appointment

 

Teaching Assistants:  Ms Fulya Ozkan, Mr. David Gutman

Section Locations:  see schedule

 

The goal of this course is to trace the history of the Middle East since 1453, in the hopes of understanding its peoples and the current situation.  After all, since September 11, 2001, relations between the United States and most Middle Eastern countries, already poor, have deteriorated still further.  The U.S. currently is in military occupation of Iraq while Middle Easterners who live in the U.S. are routinely singled out as terrorists or are targeted for discrimination. 

 

The first part of the course will deal with region during the era of the Ottoman Empire, which endured until 1922.  We then turn to the Middle East during the 20th and 21st centuries.  The goal is to offer overviews of political, economic, social, and cultural history.

 

Textbooks for the course (available in the university bookstore):

Donald Quataert, The Ottoman Empire, 1700-1922, second edition.  Cambridge UP, 2005.

 

            Akram Fouad Khater, ed., Sources in the History of the Modern Middle East.

Houghton Mifflin, 2004.

 

Zachary Lockman, Contending Visions of the Middle East.  The History and

Politics of Orientalism (Cambridge, 2004

 

James Gelvin, The Modern Middle East.  A      History.  Oxford UP, 2005.  

 

Sandy Tolan, The Lemon Tree.  Bloomsbury, 2006.

 

 

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Course Mechanics:

Each 60 minute lecture class on Mondays and Wednesdays will be broken into two parts.  I will lecture for the first part of each class, for about 45 minutes.  Then, for the remainder of the time, we together will participate in a discussion.  This discussion might be of the lecture just presented, or of a reading that I have assigned.  Since I sometimes will assign this reading only the class before we discuss it, it is important that you attend class on a regular basis and also that you regularly check “Blackboard”. 

 

Each 60 minute discussion class on Fridays will be led by one of the teaching assistants.  These classes will be devoted to discussions of lecture materials, readings, and other tasks assigned by the teaching assistants.

 

Exams and Grades for students NOT taking the course as a “W” course

There will be two exams during classroom hours and one exam during the final examination period.  The in-class exams on September 29 and October 25, 2006 each will be worth 20% of the course grade while the exam during final exam week is worth 40%.  The greater weight to this last exam is because of the length of the reading assignments for the third exam; because it is semi-cumulative in nature and because it is two hours and not one hour in length.          

In addition, attendance in section and class participation counts for 20% of the course grade.  Attendance in lectures and in sections is mandatory. 

You are allowed four absences from lectures and two from discussion sections.  If your absences exceed these limits, I reserve the right to reduce your discussion grade and your final course grade.

 

 

Exams and Grades for students who ARE taking the course as a “W” course

Students taking the course to satisfy the “W” requirement will NOT take the exam scheduled for September 29, 2006.  They will take one exam during classroom hours on October 25 and one exam during the final examination period.  The in-class exam will be worth 20% of the course grade while the exam during final exam week is worth 30%.  The greater weight to this last exam is because of the length of the reading assignments for the third exam; because it is semi-cumulative in nature and because it is two hours and not one hour in length.

In addition, attendance in section and class participation counts for 20% of the course grade.  Attendance in lectures and in sections is mandatory.

You are allowed four absences from lectures and two from discussion sections.  If your absences exceed these limits, I reserve the right to reduce your discussion grade and your final course grade.

To satisfy the “W” requirement you also will write a paper 10-13 pages in length, double-spaced, Times New Roman 12 (worth 30% of the course grade).  This paper must analyze a subject connected to the Middle East during the era 1700-1922.  The subject must be one that has been brought up in the course. The exact topic must be submitted in writing to your teaching assistant for my final approval before September 18, 2006. This paper must be analytic in content, not descriptive, and in your best possible style and grammar.  You will submit a polished, high-quality first draft of this paper on October 13, 2006, to your discussion section teaching assistant.  N.B.:  All papers must be submitted to “turnitin” through “Blackboard” at this time. That paper will be returned to you without a grade on October 27, 2006, with comments and suggestions for revision.  You will revise the paper according to these comments and suggestions and resubmit a revised paper to your discussion section teaching assistant by November 10, 2006.  N.B.:  All papers again must be submitted to “turnitin” through “Blackboard” at this time.  The assistant will then read and grade that paper, assigning the grade based on the quality of this final draft. 

            Please note that these deadlines are fixed and non-negotiable; if you miss one of them you will receive an “F” for the writing portion of the course. 

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Schedule of Lectures

 

1 introduction to course.

Read:  Quataert, 1-12; Lockman, 1-37.

 

2 the Middle East in 1500:  its demography, politics, religions.

Read:  Gelvin, 1-26

 

3 rise of the Ottoman Empire: what history writing tells us about the present.

Read:  Lockman, 38-65.

 

4 Ottoman expansion and success, 1300-1683:  state and society.

Read:  Quataert, pp. 13-36.

 

5 Ottoman expansion and success, 1300-1683: state and society.

Read:  Quataert, pp. 90-110.

 

6 The Safevid and Moghul states—why these simultaneous successes?

Read:  Gelvin, 27-46.

 

7 hourly EXAM #1 on materials from meetings 1-6.

EXAM DATE:  Friday, September 29, 2006.

 

8 continuing Ottoman transformation:  the 18th century. 

Read:  Quataert, pp. 37-53; 111-141.

Gelvin, 47-59.

 

9 continuing Ottoman transformation:  the 18th century.

Read:  Quataert, pp. 75-89.

     

10 Ottoman modernity in the 19th century:  state and society.

Read:   Quataert, pp. 54-74.

            Khater, pp.1-6; 10-18; 29-35.

 

11  the Sait Bey phenomenon.

Read:  Quataert, pp. 142-173.

            Khater, pp.83-91.

 

12 Ottoman loss of the Balkans: nations or states?

Read:  Quataert, pp. 174-194.

 

13 World War I and the reshaping of the Middle East.

Read:  Quataert, pp. 195-202.

            Khater, pp. 200-209.

 

14 World War I and the reshaping of the Middle East.

Read:  Gelvin, 69-146.

 

15 hourly EXAM  #2 on materials from meetings 8-14.

EXAM DATE:  Wednesday, October 25, 2006.

 

16 Authoritarian reformism: Turkey and Iran.

Read:  Gelvin, 99-147 (again);

Khater, pp. 271-275;

            Lockman, 99-147.

 

17 Colonial rule:  Egypt, Iraq and Transjordan.

Read:  Gelvin, 186-205.

 

18 Zionism and Palestine.

Read:   Gelvin, 171-185; 206-221;

            Tolan, 1-122.

 

19 Colonial rule:  Syria and Lebanon.

Read:  Khater, pp. 211-219.

 

20 Cold War in Turkey and Iran:  the U.S. and the Mossadeq crisis.

Read:  Gelvin, 247-256.

 

21 Cold War in Lebanon and Egypt.

Read:  Khater, pp. 384-389;

            Gelvin, 231-246.

 

22 The significance of Saddam Hussein’s career.

Read:  Khater, pp. 263-267;

Gelvin, 257-267.

 

23 The Iranian Revolution and the rise of political Islam.

Read:  Khater, pp. 252-263, 286-289;

Gelvin, 278-299 and documents on pp. 312-317.

 

24 War and the search for peace, from Intifada to Intifada.

Read: Khater, pp. 397-402;

Gelvin, 268-277 and document on pp. 311-312, UN Resolution 242.

 

25 From Gulf War to Gulf War.

Read:   Khater, pp.359-371, 402-409;

            Gelvin, 300-306.

 

26  Review session.

Read:  Tolan, 123-282.

 

To prepare for EXAM  #3 during the examination period, you need to read and consider materials presented since meeting 14.  But there is a semi-cumulative quality to the exam in that you may be asked to refer to earlier events.  The third exam will be held sometime during the final exam week, December 11-15.