Academic Catalogs

GLST G150: Middle East Studies

Course Outline of Record
Item Value
Curriculum Committee Approval Date 11/16/2021
Top Code 221010 - Area Studies
Units 3 Total Units 
Hours 54 Total Hours (Lecture Hours 54)
Total Outside of Class Hours 0
Course Credit Status Credit: Degree Applicable (D)
Material Fee No
Basic Skills Not Basic Skills (N)
Repeatable No
Grading Policy Standard Letter (S), 
  • Pass/No Pass (B)
California State University General Education Breadth (CSU GE-Breadth)
  • CSU C2 Humanities (C2)
  • CSU D Soc Politic Econ Inst (D)

Course Description

This course introduces students to the history and politics of the Middle East and Northern Africa from the end of the 19th century until the present. Students will be introduced to the region's major political, social, intellectual, and cultural issues and practices. Focus will be on important historical events, movements, and ideas which have helped shape current realities. Transfer Credit: CSU; UC.

Course Level Student Learning Outcome(s)

  1. Course Outcomes
  2. Analyze the relationship between political, economic, cultural, and geographic features of the region.
  3. Identify key historical events and their effects on current issues in the region.
  4. Assess the states' borders in the region and the diversity of people and opinions that are sustained within those borders.
  5. Examine how different regions of the world have interacted with the Middle East and Northern Africa, and how the Middle East and Northern Africa have engaged with the world around it.
  6. Explain the dynamic relationship between Islam, the people, and institutional arrangements.

Course Objectives

  • 1. Discuss the history, politics, culture, and geography of the region, and the transitions from empire to colonial state to a series of newly forged and independent nations.
  • 2. Identify the political dynamics of the modern Middle East and Northern Africa: authoritarianism, the oil economy, the military, and security.
  • 3. Analyze the European and American actions in the region that have contributed to the social, political, and economic development of the Middle East and Northern Africa.
  • 4. Discuss major issues in the Middle East and Northern Africa, including Israeli/Palestinian conflict, the peace process, the Iranian revolution, democratization, and the Arab uprisings.
  • 5. Analyze gender, class, interethnic, and interreligious relations in the region.
  • 6. Explore the history and basic tenets of Islam.
  • 7. Define theology as it applies to the region.
  • 8. Analyze the relationship between Islam and political, economic, and social institutions.
  • 9. Examine the importance of the Quran, Sharia law and other primary sources to the regions culture.
  • 10. Examine how Islam affects the legitimacy of institutions and institutional arrangements in the region.

Lecture Content

Islam and the Region The emergence of Islam Islam: the basic tenets The formation of Islam: religion and the society Islamic theology: religious and political foundations  Divisions: Sunni and Shia Islamic theology and law: the Quran, Sharia law Islamic art, literature, and culture The spread of Islam and the unification of the region Islam as the basis of loyalty and legitimacy in the Middle East and Northern Africa History of the Region (late 1800s through World War II) French and British colonial interventions Nationalism and independence Nationalism in the region: formation and diffusion Immigrants and emigrants: a changing world, a changing region World War I (WWI): The collapse of the Ottoman Empire Turco-German Alliance Armistice of Mudros The Skyespicot Agreement  Towards the nation-state in the modern Middle East and Northern Africa Post-WWI: areas of influence and independence State formation and institutions The search for alternatives to colonialism Political Islam The mandates: revolutions and resistance to colonialism World War II (WWII) and a new regional power The dynamics of alliances during WWII Israel and independence Egyption nationalism: Nationalization of the Suez Canal    The Political Economics of the Middle East and Northern Africa Oil and Arab nationalism The power of oil: economic, political and military alliances  Globalization and Islamic Resurgence, 1967 – current  1967 war Lebanese civil war Political Islam and the state: The Islamic revolution in Iran Hamas and Hezbollah Arab-Israeli conflict in the 1990s and 2000s: Intifadas and Oslo American intervention in the Middle East: Iraq wars and Afghanistan New Directions The 2011 uprising – democratization and the Arab uprisings Gender identities A changing region Towards the future

Method(s) of Instruction

  • Lecture (02)
  • DE Live Online Lecture (02S)
  • DE Online Lecture (02X)

Instructional Techniques

Lectures utilizing new technology and interactive discussions.

Reading Assignments

Complete reading assignments in the assigned required text(s). Complete separate readings assigned in primary sources (literature, documents), including but not limited to the Quran (English version), Sharia Law, and international treaties. Complete required online reading assignments from a variety of scholarly websites, journals and international news, including but not limited to:Britain: Guardian (guardian.co.uk), BBC (bbc.co.uk/news), Egypt: Al-Ahram Weekly (ahram.org.eg), Egypt Independent (egyptindependent.com), France: Le Monde Diplomatique in English: (mondediplo.com), Iran: Tehran Times (tehrantimes.com), Israel: Haaretz (haaretz.com), Lebanon: Daily Star (dailystar.com.lb), Middle East Report – MERIP (merip.org), Project on Middle Eastern Democracy – POMED (pomed.org).

Writing Assignments

Written essays in which students will choose an important issue in the region, utilize investigative methods and technologies to access both primary and secondary sources, and formulate their own positions by using information and/or evidence from their sources.  Written essays or other assigned projects in which students will read, interpret and examine primary sources and analyze their significance in the region. Written essays or other projects (i.e., interactive assignments) in which students will utilize course content to answer questions of significance to the region. Written journals or other projects (i.e., interactive assignments) in which students will respond to questions and prompts providing their own interpretations and/or their ideas about the implications to the region.

Out-of-class Assignments

Students will view a series of primary sources (films and documentaries) which are offered via digital streaming. Students will write essays, papers, interactive assignments, journals, etc., based on these sources.   Students will participate in discussions and debates. Students will conduct secondary research utilizing scholarly journals, books, articles and online resources/databases. Students will be encouraged to attend and/or participate in outside lectures, meetings, or other events relevant to the course content.

Demonstration of Critical Thinking

Students will demonstrate critical thinking in various class assignments which require them to analyze, compare, contrast, explain, evaluate, synthesize information and material, and formulate intellectual responses.

Required Writing, Problem Solving, Skills Demonstration

Written essays in which students will choose an important issue in the region, utilize investigative methods and technologies to access both primary and secondary sources, and formulate their own positions by using information and/or evidence from their sources. Written essays or other assigned projects in which students will read, interpret and examine primary sources and analyze their significance in/to the region. Written essays or other projects (i.e., interactive assignments) in which students will utilize course content to answer questions of significance to the region. Written journals or other projects (i.e., interactive assignments) in which students will respond to questions and prompts providing their own interpretations and/or their ideas about the implications to the region. Presentation of past and current challenges and potential solutions.  Oral presentation, discussion and/or debate of their findings and their own interpretation of both factual information and primary sources/literature.

Eligible Disciplines

History: Masters degree in history OR bachelors degree in history AND masters degree in political science, humanities, geography, area studies, womens studies, social science, or ethnic studies OR the equivalent. Masters degree required. Peace Studies: Masters degree in peace studies, peace and conflict studies, peace and justice studies, OR the equivalent. Political science: Masters degree in political science, government, or international relations OR bachelors degree in any of the above AND masters degree in economics, history, public administration, social science, sociology, any ethnic studies, J.D., or LL.B. OR the equivalent. Masters degree required.

Textbooks Resources

1. Required Gelvin, James L. The Modern Middle East: A History, 5th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2020 2. Required Lust, Ellen. The Middle East, 15th ed. ed. CQ Press, 2020

Other Resources

1. Primary sources, including but not limited to: The Noble Quran.  https://quran.com/. Sunnah.  https://sunnah.com/search.q=musnad Armistice of Mudros.  https://germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org/pdf/eng/armistice_turk_eng.pdf Sykes-Picot Agreement.  https://firstworldwar.com/source/sykespicot.htm Speech Justifying the Nationalization of the Suez Canal, Gamal Abdel Nasser (1956) Balfour Declaration (1917) Khalil Gibran, The Prophet (1923)