This course is designed to engage students in conversations about particular perspectives on the history of a selected nation, region, people, culture, institution, or historical phenomenon as specified by the respective instructor. By taking this course, students will come to understand, and develop an appreciation for, some combination of: the origins and evolution of the people, cultures, and/or political, economic, and/or social institutions of a particular region(s) of the world. They may also explore how human encounters shaped individual and collective identities and the complex political, economic, and social orders of the region/nation/communities under study. Instructors and subject will vary.

This course studies Jewish-Muslim relations as they developed in the Middle East and North Africa from the rise of Islam to the present day. It analyzes how ethnic and religious boundaries were both drawn and transcended in historical settings including Arabia during the time of Muhammad, Islamic Spain, the Ottoman Empire, and modern Iran, Iraq, Egypt, Morocco, Palestine, and Israel. It asks how this shared cultural heritage is remembered and mobilized in the contemporary world, shedding light on the current state of Muslim-Jewish relations not only in the MENA but in Europe and the US as well. Films, memoirs, scripture, and historical works will form the basis of our inquiry.

Repeat Rules

Requirements class fulfills