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A history of the Ottoman Empire and Iran (under the Timurid, Safavid, Afsharid and Qajar dynasties) from the 14th to the early 20th century. The course invites students to think the Ottoman and Iranian experiences as a connected history, bridging separate historiographical traditions of Ottoman and Persianate worlds. Topics include paths of empire building in Eurasia after the Mongols; consolidation of the Sunni-Shii division; border making in early modern Eurasia; Armenians, Kurds and Afghans between Ottoman and Iranian orders; Istanbul and Isfahan; European global hegemony and Islamic Eurasia; two paths of modernization; revolutions ending the empires.

This course surveys the history of the Middle East from c.950 A.D. to c.1517 A.D., placing particular emphasis on the following questions: What were the social, cultural, and political contexts for conversion to Islam in the Middle Ages? How did the interplay of nomadic and sedentary peoples shape Middle Eastern history? What were the nature of Christian-Muslim relations and the fate of religious minorities in an age of Crusade and Jihad? What were the conditions for the rise, flourishing, and eventual collapse of a "world-system" in this period (with the lands of the Middle East serving as its nexus) Chronological topics include: the arrival in the Middle East of the Seljuk Turks, new adopters of Islam and recent nomads; the western European crusades to the Holy Land and the establishment of so-called "Crusader States" in Syria; the subjugation of Iran to pagan Mongols - and the Mongols' eventual conversion to Islam; the rise to power of a dynasty of Turkish slave-soldiers (mamluks) in Cairo and the political reunification of Syria and Egypt under their rule.

Many scholars and pundits present European empires as the main historical actors shaping the modern Middle East. This course will assess that claim by examining the history of European imperialism in the Middle East, giving equal weight to the power of imperialism and the many ways in the which the peoples of the region responded to and contested that power in order to shape their own history. From the Napoleonic invasion of Egypt to the European takeover of the former Ottoman lands after World War I.

( History 283F is an undergraduate course for 5 units; History 383F is a graduate course for 4-5 units.) How do economies change in times of crisis? How do economic crises intersect with pandemics, violence and environmental disaster to redefine the workings of capital? This course approaches these questions through critical reading in the histories of capitalism, crisis, and intersections between legal history and political economy, using the Middle East region as a starting point for the study of global phenomena. We will examine the ways in which constructions like race and ethnicity, gender, and the human/non-human divide have mediated the social and spatial expansion of capital in the region, especially through legal categories and instruments that transform rapidly in times of crisis. Temporally, we will focus our examination between two moments of economic crisis: the 'long depression' of the late nineteenth century and the financial crisis of 2008. We will ground our historical reading in attention to current events, in particular the Middle East's ongoing experience of the pandemic-induced global financial crisis of 2020.

(Undergraduates, enroll in 283J; Graduates, enroll in 383J.) Explores the history and politics of Islam in Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and the Americas --- and of the novel connections that have linked Muslim communities across the globe in modern times.

At a time when Europe was riven by sectarian war, the expanding Ottoman Empire came to rule over a religiously diverse population in what we now call the Balkans and Middle East. Focusing on the period 1323-1789, this course asks the following questions: Why was "difference" normal in the Ottoman Empire but not elsewhere? How did the Ottomans maintain relatively low levels of intercommunal violence during the early-modern period? How did Ottoman rule and intracommunal dynamics affect each other? How did perceptions of ethno-religious diversity vary among commentators and over time? This course is currently pending review for WAY-SI and WAY-EDP.

This course aims to provide an introduction to contemporary Muslim political thought. It presents post-nineteenth century Muslim contributions to political thought. It is designed as a survey of some major thinkers that sought to interpret Islam's basic sources and Islamic intellectual legacy from the Arab world to Iran and Southeast Asia, from Turkey to North America. Our readings include primary texts by Tahtawi, Tunisi, Afghani, Rida, Iqbal, Qutb, Maududi, Shariati, and some current figures. We will approach the texts as just other works of political theory rather than a study of intellectual history. We will analyze the recurring ideas in this body of thought such as decline, civilization, rationality, ijtihad (Islamic independent reasoning), shura (deliberative decision-making), democracy, secularism, Muslim unity, khilafah (caliphate and vicegerency), freedom, equality, and justice. We will discuss their current significance fro the ongoing theoretical debates in Muslim political thought and comparative political theory.

( History 284 is an undergraduate course offered for 5 units; History 384 is a graduate course offered for 4-5 units.) The Ottoman Empire ruled the Middle East, North Africa and Eastern Europe from the 15th to the early 20th centuries. How did the Ottoman enterprise appear in the frontier region between Christendom and the Islamic world? How were diverse peoples, religions, and regions integrated under the Ottoman order? Was there an Ottoman Mediterranean and Indian Ocean? How did reform movements in Islamic, Christian and Jewish thinking transform Ottoman societies? Topics include the Ottoman Empire between Europe and Eastern Islamic World; merchants and their markets; elite, urban, rural and nomadic lives; women, family, childhood and sexuality; life, afterlife and dreams; epidemics and natural disasters. Special emphasis will be given to coffee and coffee houses which shaped public life in the Ottoman World since the 16th century. The survey ends with the rise of nationalism, inter-communal violence and the disintegration of the Ottoman world.

In the first millennium, Christians writing in a dialect of Aramaic called Syriac thrived throughout the Middle East. Because Roman Catholic and Protestant churches later declared many of these Christians to be heretics, their stories have been excluded from the history of Christianity. This course challenges the assumption of Christianity as a "Western" religion and asks how our understanding of global Christianity changes when we include the history and perspective of middle eastern Christians. We will read in English translation sources such as accounts of trans-saints, a letter allegedly written by Jesus, the tale of a demon-possessed monastery, and the first Christian writings on Islam. Undergraduates wanting to enroll in this seminar need to have previously taken one of the following courses: "Exploring the New Testament," "What Didn't Make It in the Bible," or "Sex and the Early Church," or they must obtain permission from the instructor. Undergraduates register for 200-level for 5 units. Graduate students register for 300-level for 3-5 units.