This course will focus on the major intellectual, political and cultural issues of the modern Middle East. It will analyze the most important events, ideas, and movements such as modernization, colonialism, nationalism, creation of modern states, Islamism, regional conflicts, and the contemporary uprisings through a variety of readings, from primary sources and historiographies, to fiction and film. By contextualizing the issues, personalities, and events that shaped the Middle East over the past century, while focusing on the bottom-up perspective, this course will provide an understanding of the region, as well as different approaches to interpreting history and its sources. It will provide a foundation for grasping the contemporary global role of the region and its inhabitants. The course will also develop students’ abilities in the following areas: • Write with clarity about past and present • Critically read historical and contemporary primary sources • Ability to analyze and integrate research findings • Public speaking: orally synthesize and present arguments and participate in discussions