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Prof. Stockdale’s Syllabus, Fall 2010
HIST 4263, Section 006: A History of the Modern Middle East
Fall 2010
Prof. Nancy L. Stockdale
Time: Tuesdays, 6:30-9:20 PM
Place: Wooten Hall 219
Contact information:
email:
This is a very effective way for us to communicate, so feel free to reach me online. I check my account once per day, so please remember that you will not necessarily receive an “instant reply” from me, but I will answer your email in a timely manner. When emailing me, please identify yourself by giving me your entire name, the class you are in, and your specific question or request.
office: Wooten Hall #238
office phone: (940) 565-4209
office hours: Tuesdays 4:30-6:00 PM and by appointment.
Please come and talk to me during office hours, as it is your time set aside for us to discuss history and the course. If you cannot come during these hours, please make an appointment to see me.
Course Description:
In this class, students will learn historical foundations of contemporary ideologies, conflicts, and cultures in the modern Middle East. There will be an emphasis on the histories of Egypt, Israel, Palestine, Iraq, and Iran, although we will also touch on the histories of other nations as well. We will explore the roles of Middle Eastern and European empires in shaping the modern Middle East, the impact of religion and political ideologies on contemporary conflicts over space and resources, and examine how popular culture can influence political and social events. We will also explore ways that social entrepreneurs have responded to events in Middle Eastern history. This class will be taught primarily from Middle Eastern perspectives, and will include many contrasting Middle Eastern voices, to give students a wider sense of the variety of issues, ideas, and historical conclusions concerning this dynamic and influential region.
At the end of the course, students will be:
-Able to demonstrate an understanding of the historical background of contemporary ideologies, conflicts, and cultures in the modern Middle East;
-Able to demonstrate an understanding of the role of imperialism in shaping the modern Middle East, the impact of religion and political ideologies on contemporary conflicts over space and resources, and how popular culture can influence political and social events;
--Able to demonstrate an understanding of how social entrepreneurs have responded to problems arising due to events in Modern Middle Eastern history.
A complete chart detailing Course Goals and Student Learning Outcomes may be found at the end of the syllabus.
Course Readings:
There are six required books for this course:
Humphreys, R. Stephen, Between Memory and Desire
al-Jabarti, Napoleon in Egypt
al-Saltanah, Taj, Crowning Anguish
Amin, Qasim, The Liberation of Women and the New Woman
Joe Sacco, Footsteps in Gaza
Riverbend, Baghdad Burning
I cannot stress enough how important it is for you to keep up and complete all of your assigned readings. You will be examined on the information in your books just as you will the lectures, and you will be expected to integrate readings into our class and online discussions as well. If you have any troubles understanding any of the readings, feel free to come in to my office hours to discuss them with me. Note that I will be giving unannounced quizzes throughout the semester based on your readings if I find that people are not reading, so make sure that you do the readings on time! Assignments for the books are located in the calendar section of this syllabus. You may find study questions (for your own study, not to turn in) on the class wiki, here: http://modmideast.wetpaint.com/page/Study+Questions+for+Books
Grading:
Your grade for the course will be weighted as follows:
Wiki Assignment = 30%
Online Forum participation = 10%,
In-class Participation = 5%,
Midterm = 25%,
Final Exam = 30%.
If you have any questions about your grades once received, please come to see me (at least 24 hours after receiving them) during my office hours. There is no curve in this class.
Exams:
You will be given a take-home midterm (due October 12th). This will be an essay exam and you will have one week to complete it. You will be given a final (in-class on December 14th, 6:30-8:30 PM), and this will be a “Green Book” exam that is closed book (i.e., you will not be allowed to use notes or any other aids to take this exam). I will supply the Green Books and you will bring a pen. There will not be make-ups for these exams, so if you have any other engagements, change them and come prepared to turn in the test at the scheduled time/take the test at the scheduled time.
Wiki Assignment:
Instead of writing a traditional term paper, we will be working together throughout the semester to create a virtual website exploring issues of Middle Eastern history, with an emphasis on the ways that Social Entrepreneurs have responded to the dramatic events of the past and contemporary Middle East. Our Wiki is located at http://modmideast.wetpaint.com. You will write one assignment (equivalent to 8 double-spaced pages, or 2000 words) on the class Wiki website, due November 16th, before lecture starts. If you need help with your writing, feel free to come to me for assistance. The assignment—and relevant turnitin.com materials—is attached to this syllabus. Please note: it will NOT be possible for you to turn this assignment in late, so please prepare to turn it in on time.
Discussion Forum:
We will have a discussion forum, online at our Wiki, for this class. Participation is mandatory, and will amount to 10% of your grade. The forum will include discussions on the readings, class lectures, and issues that will emerge as we construct our Wiki. This is your chance to communicate with your peers, as well as the professor, in an online forum. It is a chance to learn together in a different setting and on our own time.
Turning in things late:
This is a simple one--I do not accept late assignments. All work must be turned in to me by the due date and time! If not, your grade will suffer, because you will receive a 0% for that assignment. Of course, there are life events which pop up that make it impossible for you to turn your assignment in. Such events include death, extreme ill health, etc. If this is the case, please talk with me. Otherwise, turn in your assignments on time.
ADA Accommodation
The University of North Texas abides by the legal code of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and I am happy to give qualifying students accommodations. However, the only way that I can provide these accommodations is if you register with the Office of Disability Accommodation in advance of the date when you need such accommodation. Students register with this office, and the office in turn notifies professors of the types of accommodations necessary. If you don’t register with them, I cannot provide any special accommodations. If you do register with them, we can set up the accommodations you require through their office.
Plagiarism and cheating:
Plagiarism and cheating take many forms, including, but not limited to: the use of another author's words without citation, cutting and pasting uncited materials from the internet, having someone else to do your work and claiming it as your own, and copying from another student’s paper or exam. All writing is the intellectual property of the person who came up with it; just think about what would happen if you suddenly starting marketing Microsoft Word as your own software, or released CDs of Midlake songs claiming to be the band--this is plagiarism. If you are caught cheating or plagiarizing, you may be expelled from UNT. Trust me, I will catch you and I will prosecute you, because plagiarism makes me very angry. If you are still unsure at any time during the semester as to what plagiarism is, please come and talk to me.
In order to protect students who do not plagiarize, I will be having everyone in the course submit their papers to me via two concurrent methods--you will give me a hard copy and/or upload to the wiki, and I will have you submit a copy of your paper online to turnitin.com. Information about this free and easy procedure will be forthcoming with your paper assignment.
Classroom decorum:
As a courtesy to me as well as your fellow students, please do not come late to class, nor leave early. Also, please turn off all cellular phones, pagers, music players, and other disruptive devices before entering the classroom. Do not pretend to be taking notes on your laptop or mobile device, only to be surfing the net, IMing, texting, or otherwise disrupting people with your computer/phone shenanigans. Furthermore, do not record the class in any way, including audio or video tape, or digital recording devices, unless you have approved that as a necessary action with me and the Office of Disability Accommodation.
Online Decorum:
You must adhere to the rules for participating in the Online Wiki (found on the website) in order to succeed in this class.
Please note: I reserve the right to make changes to this syllabus.
Schedule:
WEEK ONE/August 31st
Introduction to the Modern Middle East
Reading: Be sure to get all of your books!
WEEK TWO/September 7th
Ottoman Hegemony in the Arab Middle East
Reading: Humphreys, pp. xi-xix, 1-112
WEEK THREE/September 14th
Napoleon in Egypt--the beginning and the end for the Modern Middle East
Reading: all of al-Jabarti
WEEK FOUR/September 21st
Orientalism
Reading: Humphreys, pp. 113-147
WEEK FIVE/September 28th
Nationalism and Imperialism in Iran
Reading: all of al-Saltanah
DUE AT THE BEGINNING OF CLASS: You must have your personal Wiki assignment page created, and have at least one paragraph about the organization, theme, or event you are planning on researching.
WEEK SIX/October 5th
Competing "isms" in the Middle East
Reading: all of Amin
TAKE HOME MIDTERM DISTRIBUTED
WEEK SEVEN/October 12th
Early Zionist Thought
Reading: Humphreys, pp. 148-203
TAKE HOME MIDTERM DUE AT BEGINNING OF CLASS
WEEK EIGHT/October 19th
Israel-Palestine Conflict
Reading: First half of Sacco
WEEK NINE/October 26th
Nasserism
Reading: Second half of Sacco
WEEK TEN/November 2nd
Film and Discussion: A Voice Like Egypt
Reading: Humphreys, pp. 204-259
WEEK ELEVEN/November 9th
Islamism
Reading: Catch up!
WEEK TWELVE/November 16th
The Islamic Revolution in Iran
Reading: Humphreys, pp. 261-272
WIKI ASSIGNMENT DUE AT THE BEGINNING OF CLASS
WEEK THIRTEEN/November 24th
TBA
WEEK FOURTEEN/November 30th
Petrochemicals and the Gulf War
Reading: all of Riverbend
WEEK FIFTEEN/December 7th
WRAP UP AND REVIEW!
FINAL EXAM: December 14th, 6:30-8:30 PM
This will be in an in-class green book exam. I will provide the Green Books. Please bring an ink pen (not a pencil). This is a closed note and closed book exam.
WIKI Assignment
DUE before the start of class 16th November 2010
Late assignments will not be accepted.
The Wiki assignment is to be posted on our site (http://modmideast.wetpaint.com), on your own dedicated page, and must be the equivalent of at least eight (8) pages double-spaced (2000 words). Please note that you will have a one-paragraph statement about your topic due on the Wiki on September 28th.
One of the things you will notice rather quickly in this course is that the history of the modern Middle East is one of tremendous conflict, upheaval, and social change. Although that does not make the region unique in the world, it is the case that people often focus inordinate amounts of attention upon the conflicts of the region, to the detriment of other facets of the historical and contemporary experiences of people living there. For this assignment, then, we are going to build a Wiki site together that will engage with the history of the Middle East and a variety of its problems, but in ways that illustrate real-world reactions by Middle Easterners to historical and contemporary crises via the realm of Social Entrepreneurship.
For this assignment, you will identify an institution, movement, or organization that actively engages social entrepreneurial practices in the modern Middle East. (We will spend time in class and on the Wiki discussion forum talk about what social entrepreneurialism is and how to engage with it as historians.) You will demonstrate connections between your featured project and historical events in the region, and share with the class your findings on our dedicated Wiki website.
Contacting) your social entrepreneurial group (or at least providing unequivocal evidence that you attempted to do so) is a requirement of this assignment; more on that in class.
By researching and engaging with social entrepreneurs in the course of completing your assignment, you will learn about the impact social entrepreneurialism has had in the communities involved. In this way, you will gain real-world knowledge of current practices, have the opportunity to network with social entrepreneurs within a cross-cultural context, and make the link between historical events and contemporary issues and practices.
For your paper, then, you will need to: