NEHC

NEHC 22500 Intersections of Gender and Race in the Modern Middle East

(CRES 12500,GNSE 22509)

Organized thematically and covering a region that spans from North Africa to Iran, we will use the analytics of race and gender in an intersecting way to explore topics in the Middle East such as: colonialism, slavery, Arab Nationalism, Zionism, whiteness, racism, eugenics and scientific racism, and global solidarity movements. In so doing, our course will reveal that race is an operative category in the study of Middle East history, the historical racial logics operating in various Middle Eastern countries, and how race and gender intersect at the site of individual as well as the effects of this.

This course is designed for anyone interested in race theory, gender theory, intersectionality, and Middle East history. By the end of this course, students will have the tools to think in a gendered and raced multidimensional way about aspects of Middle East history that do not often receive such an intersectional treatment. Additionally, they will develop the methodological tools to discern local race and gender logics that might be different than what they’re most familiar with. Finally, through coming to understand their relationship to the knowledge of our course, students will also be able to use the course as a springboard for continued learning in other courses that treat race, gender, and the Middle East.

2022-2023 Autumn

NEHC 20601 Islamic Thought & Literature I

(HIST 25610,MDVL 20601,RLST 20401,SOSC 22000)

This sequence explores the thought and literature of the Islamic world from the coming of Islam in the seventh century C.E. through the development and spread of its civilization in the medieval period and into the modern world. Including historical framework to establish chronology and geography, the course focuses on key aspects of Islamic intellectual history: scripture, law, theology, philosophy, literature, mysticism, political thought, historical writing, and archaeology. In addition to lectures and secondary background readings, students read and discuss samples of key primary texts, with a view to exploring Islamic civilization in the direct voices of the people who participated in creating it. All readings are in English translation. No prior background in the subject is required. This course sequence meets the general education requirement in civilization studies.

NEHC 25020/35020 Culture and Zionism

(CMLT 25020,CMLT 35020,HIJD 35020,JWSC 25020)

This seminar will examine the intersection of culture and Zionism. We will begin by considering the historical formation referred to as "cultural Zionism" and examining its ideological underpinnings. Other topics include: Hebrew revival, the role of culture in the Zionist revolution, Israeli culture as Zionist culture. Readings include: Ahad Haam, Haim Nahman Bialik, S.Y. Agnon, Orly Kastel-Blum, Edward Said, Benjamin Harshav.

2022-2023 Autumn

NEHC 20014 Ancient Empires IV: Persia

This course introduces students to the Achaemenid Empire, also known as the First Persian Empire (ca. 550-330 BCE). We will be examining the political history and cultural accomplishments of the Achaemenids who, from their homeland in modern-day Iran, quickly rose to become one of the largest empires of the ancient world, ruling from North Africa to North India at their height. We will also be examining the history of Greek-Persian encounters and the image of the Achaemenids in Greek and Biblical literature. The students will visit the Oriental Institutes’ archive and object collection to learn more about the University of Chicago’s unique position in the exploration, excavation, and restoration of the Persian Empire’s royal architecture and administrative system through the Persian Expedition carried out in the 1930s.

2022-2023 Autumn

NEHC 20692/30692 Armenian History Through Art and Culture

(ARCH 20692,ARTH 20692,HIST 25711)

Who are the Armenians and where do they come from? What is the cultural contribution of Armenians to their neighbors and overall world heritage? This crash-course will try to answer these and many other similar questions while surveying Armenian history and elements of culture (mythology, religion, manuscript illumination, art, architecture, etc.). It also will discuss transformations of Armenian identity and symbols of 'Armenianness' through time, based on such elements of national identity as language, religion, art, or shared history. Due to the greatest artistic quality and the transcultural nature of its monuments and artifacts, Armenia has much to offer in the field of art history, especially when we think about global transculturation and appropriation among cultures as a result of peoples’ movements and contacts. The course is recommended for students with interest in Armenian studies or related fields, in area or civilizations studies, art and cultural studies, etc.

2022-2023 Autumn

NEHC 30888 Evliya Çelebi

An Ottoman Perception 1

2022-2023 Autumn

NEHC 20383/30838 Further Topics in Late Ottoman History-1

This course will introduce students to a number of important topics in Eighteenth and nineteenth century Ottoman history, such as the nature of the great local notables, the growing importance of proteges, and the bureaucratic reform.

Holly Shissler
2022-2023 Autumn

NEHC 20012 Ancient Empires II: The Ottomans

(CLCV 25800,HIST 15603,MDVL 20012)

The Ottomans ruled in Anatolia, the Middle East, South East Europe and North Africa for over six hundred years. The objective of this course is to understand the society and culture of this bygone Empire whose legacy continues, in one way or another, in some twenty-five contemporary successor states from the Balkans to the Arabian Peninsula. The course is designed as an introduction to the Ottoman World with a focus on the cultural history of the Ottoman society. It explores identities and mentalities, customs and rituals, status of minorities, mystical orders and religious establishments, literacy and the use of the public sphere.

2022-2023 Autumn

NEHC 20055 Iran Between Constitutional and Islamic Revolutions: 1905-1979

Why did the Islamic Revolution take place? What were its causes? Iran was the site of two of the most important revolutions in the Middle East in the 20th century: the Constitutional (1905-1911) and Islamic Revolutions (1979). What was the historical relationship between them? This course is intended to answer these questions by exploring the history of Iran from late Qajar period until the early 1980s. We will examine the complex socio-economic and religio-political developments such as the Tobacco Protest, oil nationalization and student movements. We will emphasize long-term changes with a particular attention to the diverse actors and influences of the revolutions (tribes, landowners, foreign governments, merchants, religious scholars, political dissidents, urban poor, intellectuals). We will use a wide swath of primary sources including films, comic books, posters, footages and poems. No prior background in the subject is required.

2021-2022 Spring

NEHC 22500 Intersections of Gender and Race in the Modern Middle East

This course will explore how parts of the modern Middle East confronted questions and definitions of race and gender that were often first defined in the west. Organized thematically and covering a region that spans from North Africa to Iran, we will use the analytics of race and gender in an intersecting way to explore topics in the Middle East such as: colonialism, slavery, Arab Nationalism, Zionism, whiteness, racism, eugenics and scientific racism, and global solidarity movements. In so doing, our course will reveal that race is an operative category in the study of Middle East history, the historical racial logics operating in various Middle Eastern countries, and how race and gender intersect at the site of individual as well as the effects of this. This course is designed for anyone interested in race theory, gender theory, intersectionality, and Middle East history. By the end of this course, students will have the tools to think in a gendered and raced multidimensional way about aspects of Middle East history that do not often receive such an intersectional treatment. Additionally, they will develop the methodological tools to discern local race and gender logics that might be different than what they’re most familiar with. Finally, through coming to understand their relationship to the knowledge of our course, students will also be able to use the course as a springboard for continued learning in other courses that treat race, gender, and the Middle East.

2021-2022 Autumn
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