HIS2303

North Africa &

the Middle East
in the (long) 20th century
Spring 2019 MW 3:40-5:00

Instructor: Dr. Paul Love

Office: Building 006, 009
Office Hours: MWF 9:00AM-12:00PM In winter 1933, heavy rains flooded Tripoli. By the time this photo was taken, Tripolitania
Contact E-mail: p.love@aui.ma had been under control of an Italian colonial government for two decades, following
seizure of the country in the Italo-Turkish war of 1911-12. (Image source:
https://historicalphotosdaily.blogspot.com)
Course Description

This seminar-style course investigates the history of North Africa and the Middle East in the long 20th century,
stretching from the late-Ottoman period of the 19th century to the dawn of the 21st century. We will explore the
major events and movements of these interconnected regions including the end of the Ottoman Empire,
European imperialism and colonialism, the World Wars, Arabism and independence movements, political Islam,
and the growing discontent of the late-20th century as populations boomed and economic opportunities faded.
We will view these events through the lens of often-marginalized actors, themes, and geographies including: the
Kingdom of Yemen, Italian Islamic law in Libya, the politics of miniskirts in Tunisia, the Saudi communist party,
Omani imperialism in Zanzibar and Dhofar, workers’ unions and bread riots in Egypt and Tunisia, and the use of
graphic narratives in coming to grips with violent memories of the Lebanese civil war. Our goal will be to draw
connections among disparate currents and countercurrents in these regions while gaining an appreciation for the
rich diversity that characterizes their recent past.

Prerequisites:

Students taking HIS2302 are expected to have completed “HIS1301 History of the Arab World” or an equivalent
introductory-level survey of North Africa and the Middle East. They are expected to be familiar with the broad
themes and events of 20th century NAME. Optional supplementary readings will be made available for students
who feel they need additional background knowledge.

Intended Learning Outcomes:

• Grasp the broad contours of the history of North Africa and the Middle East in the 19th and 20th centuries
• Further develop and understanding of historical approaches to primary source materials
• Gain an appreciation for the range of historiographical approaches, debates, and controversies in the
history of these regions
• Carry out an individual research project based on primary source documents

Required Materials

There is no textbook for the course. All readings and videos for the course will be provided via Jenzabar, telepathy,
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or e-mail. Notifications, additional readings, and other announcements will be communicated through e-mail. I
will try my best to respond to your questions and concerns from 8:00AM-5:00PM Monday-Friday.

Course Requirements (For details on the AUI grading system: http://www.aui.ma/en/registrar/grading-

system.html)

Reading Responses 70% (planned 14 responses, equally weighted)*

Student-led Class Discussion 10%
Final Project 20%

If you have a specific question about or would like to debate anything related to grades, please come to see me in
person during office hours.

Reading Responses

This is a reading-intensive course. In place of exams, you are asked to prepare weekly written responses to the
readings for our Monday classes and, if necessary, Wednesdays. Since we only meet twice a week, you are
expected to prepare much more material for Monday rather than Wednesday sessions. Each response will be
posted to the Engagement Forum on the course Jenzabar website before 23:55PM the evening before our class on
Mondays, to insure that your colleagues have time to read them before we meet. The length of these responses
should be around 400-500 words. If we end up needing responses for Wednesday classes, these will be shorter and
due by the beginning of class time on Wednesdays.

Student-Led Class Discussions

For each week, one or more students will lead us in our discussion of the reading(s) for that class day. They will
pre-circulate questions for student reading responses and develop questions for use in our group discussion. You
will choose your topic from the first week of class. Details will be communicated in a separate handout. Note that
on the week you lead a class discussion, you will receive full credit for the reading response that week by default.

Final Project

The final project will take the place of a final exam. Details will be communicated in a separate handout, but the
basic idea will be to develop a small research project modeled on the research blog articles from the Qatar Digital
Library: https://www.qdl.qa/en/articles-from-our-experts?

Attendance

Although attendance is not factored in your grade, all students are expected to attend class. As per university
policy, attendance is recorded at the start of every class. Doing the readings and taking part in the discussions are
integral parts of the course. If you are not in class or do not complete the readings, you simply cannot do well. The
university’s attendance policy is available at http://www.aui.ma/en/registrar-menu/class-attendance-absence-
policy.html.

*
NB: On the day that you lead a class discussion, you are not expected to write a reading response. Instead, you receive full credit
for the reading response that class just for preparing for the class discussion. The total number of responses will depend on student
engagement. More engagement and preparation requires fewer written responses & vice versa.
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Academic Honesty

All students are expected and required to be solely responsible for their work, whether for reading responses or
any other assignment. There is a zero-tolerance policy for plagiarism and cheating and any students caught will
receive 0% credit for the assignment. After the first instance, additional disciplinary measures will be taken in
accordance with SHSS and university-wide policies.

Plagiarism is the use of someone else’s words, thoughts, or ideas and representing them as your own without
attribution. Examples include but are not limited to: copying sections of another’s work, paraphrasing someone’s
work, or passing off another’s ideas as your own without proper citation or reference. Proper, consistent
referencing is expected in all assignments and papers. More information on AUI's policy can be found on the
university’s website, available at: http://www.aui.ma/images/pdf/policies/p12-policy academic honesty.pdf

Inclusive Learning Environment

In our course, we want to nurture an inclusive and mutually respectful learning environment for all students. This
means respecting and encouraging differences of opinion and belief. In addition, it means understanding that any
classroom is made richer by its diversity in terms of religion, culture, ethnicity, language, sexual orientation, or
any other differences in experience or perspective. Please help us build a respectful, collaborative, and
comfortable classroom environment that encourages student participation and dialogue.

Deadlines for Assignments

This course includes weekly written responses to readings. These must be completed by the due date and late
submissions will not receive credit. Likewise, the preparation for the discussion section that you will lead is time
sensitive and cannot be submitted late.

Late submission of your final project will result in a -10% penalty for each day it is submitted late. Projects
submitted on the date of the deadline but after the assigned time will be treated as 1 day late. After 23:59 that
night, the second day begins. For example: If it is due at 10:00 and you turn it in at 10:01, you will be penalized
10%. If you turn it in the following day at: 00:01 AM, you will be penalized 20%.

Managing Coursework

Students who are having trouble balancing their coursework are encouraged to come see me during office hours
to discuss strategies for overcoming those difficulties. Alternatively, students should consider contacting the AUI
Counseling Services to help in dealing with stress or other issues adversely affecting their academic performance.
If you do require any special accommodation, please let me know as soon as possible so we can work together to
make this course a successful experience for you.

Laptops, Tablets, & Phones

You should bring your readings & notes with you to each class. If these are all electronic, I encourage you to bring
a laptop or tablet if you have one since this is much easier than using your phone.

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 TENTATIVE COURSE ITINERARY

Week 1 There is no “Middle East” and there is no “North Africa”

1/14 Big themes: What are we going to do in this course? (or) Naming & Framing: What is the Middle East?
Amanat, “Is there a Middle East? Problematizing a Virtual Space” from Bonine, Amanat, and Gasper, Is
There a Middle East?: The Evolution of a Geo-Political Concept (2012), pp. 1-10.

1/16 What is the Maghrib and how is that different from North Africa?

E. Burke III, “Theorizing the Histories of Colonialism and Nationalism in the Arab Maghrib,” Arab Studies
Quarterly 20:2 (1998), pp.5-19;
L.C. Brown, “Maghribi History: the Unit of Analysis Problem” in Le Gall & Perkins (eds.), The Maghrib in
Question (1998), pp.4-16

1/18 Introduction to Primary Source Analyses and Class Discussion Format [NB: Exceptional Friday Session]

Week 2 Modern North Africa & the Middle East in the Making

1/21 The (im)balance of power: Ottomans, Imperialism, & Orientalism

J. Gelvin, “Defense Developmentalism” and “Imperialism” in The Modern Middle East: A History (2016), pp.
72-90 and pp.91-105;
Z. Lockman, “Orientalism & Empire,” in Contending Visions of the Middle East: The History and Politics of
Orientalism, 2nd Ed. (2010), pp.66-99.

1/23 No Class, Prof Love is at a conference.

Week 3 Colonialism in North Africa and the Middle East to World War I (1914)

1/28 Colonialism in Northern Africa & the Middle East: Broad trends

P. Naylor, “Chapter 6: European Colonialism in North Africa” in North Africa: A history from antiquity to the
present, 2nd ed. (2015), pp. 141-167;
W. Cleveland, “Egypt and Iran in the Late-Nineteenth Century,” in A History of the Modern Middle East, 103-
117; Idem, “The Response of Islamic Society,” 119-132; Idem, “The Era of the Young Turks and the Iranian
Constitutionalists,” pp. 133-148.

1/30 Primary Source Discussion:

The British in Arabian Peninsula: Trucial States, Oman, and the Colony of Aden

L. Allday, “The British in the Gulf: An Overview” Qatar Digital Library: https://www.qdl.qa/en/british-gulf-
overview ;
M. Woodward, “The Dubai Incident, 1910: A Gun Battle that Damaged British Relations with the Trucial
Coast” on QDL : https://www.qdl.qa/en/dubai-incident-1910-gun-battle-damaged-british-relations-trucial-
coast
(or)
D.A. Lowe, “Performing Authority: The ‘Islamic’ Seals of British Colonial Officers,” on QDL:
https://www.qdl.qa/en/performing-authority-%E2%80%98islamic%E2%80%99-seals-british-colonial-
officers
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Week 4: State-Building in the WWI era & its aftermath

2/4 “The Map” Story: Sykes-Picot and the Making of the Modern Middle East

J. Gelvin, “World War I and the Middle East State System” and “State-Building by Decree,” in Modern Middle
East: A History, pp.189-193; Idem, “State-Building by Revolution and Conquest,” pp.205-219;
J. Wyrtzen, “Introduction” from Reimagining the Middle East: Jihads, Empires, and the Long Great War
(forthcoming, 2019).

2/6 Primary Source Discussion: Mapping Sykes-Picot (Guest Lecture by M. Lehnert)

Week 5: State-Building in the WWI era & its aftermath (cont’d)

2/11 Comparative Counter-Currents: The Mzab Valley in l’Algérie francaise & the Kingdom of Yemen

A. Ghazal, “Counter-Currents: Mzabi Independence, pan-Ottomanism and WWI in the Maghrib,” Journal of
First World War Studies (2016), pp. 81-96;
P. Dresch, “Yaḥyā and the British: 1918-1948,” from A History of Modern Yemen (2000), pp. 28-57.

2/13 Primary Source Discussion: “Portrayals: Women, Work, Education, War, and Peace, c.1800-Present”
Representations in J. Clancy-Smith & C.D. Smith (eds.), The Modern Middle East and North Africa: A History
in Documents (2014), pp. 137-151.

2/14 FYI: Visiting AUI Lecture of Interest: “J. Determann, Space Exploration & the Arab States.” (not mandatory)

Week 6: The Interwar Period (c.1919-1939)

2/18 The Interwar Period in NAME

W. Cleveland, “The Arab Struggle for Independence: Egypt, Iraq, and Transjordan from the Interwar Era to
1945,” pp. 193- 215; “Syria, Lebanon, and Saudi Arabia from the Interwar Era to 1945,” 217-237;
C. Schayegh, “Serial Murder in Tehran: Crime, Science, and the Formation of Modern State and Society in
Interwar Iran,” Comparative Studies in Society and History 47:4 (2005), pp.836-862.

2/20 Italians Making Islamic Law in Libya

C. Gazzini, “When Jurisprudence Becomes Law: How Italian Colonial Judges in Libya Turned Islamic Law
and Customary Practice into Binding Legal Precedent,” Journal of the Economic and Social History of the
Orient, 55:4-5 (2012) pp.746-770.

Week 7: World War II & Nation Building

2/25 World War II, Arab Nationalism, & Independence in NAME

P. Naylor, “The Decolonization of North Africa” in North Africa, pp. 168-192

J. Gelvin, “The invention and spread of nationalisms,” in Modern Middle East, pp.220-229;
M. Abisaab, “’Unruly’ Factory Women in Lebanon: Contesting French Colonialism and the National State,
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 1940-1946,” Journal of Women’s History 16:3, pp.55-82.

Optional Background Reading: E. Rogan, “The Rise of Arab Nationalism,” The Arabs, pp. 277-317;

2/27 Arabism & Music: Umm Kalthum: A Voice Like Egypt (Documentary, 1996)

*** 4-8 March Spring Break ***

Week 8: Israel & Palestine in Historical Perspective

3/11 Historical Survey

J. Gelvin, “The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict” in The Modern Middle East, pp.230-247;

B. Yakin, Jerusalem: A Family Portrait (Graphic Novel, 2013).

3/13 Comparative Perspectives from Graphic Narratives: A Discussion

B. Yakin, Jerusalem: A Family Portrait (2013).

Week 9: Competing Visions of Independence, Decolonization, & the Future

3/18 Comparative Countercurrents

R. Basheer, “A Counter-Revolutionary State: Popular Movements and the Making of Saudi Arabia,” Past &
Present, 238:1 (2018), pp. 233–277;
Saudi Aramco: Era of Discovery (Short Documentary, 1984). Available on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHh6wY2ua08

3/20 Habib Bourghiba, Nationalism, & Miniskirts in Tunisia

A. Kallander, “Miniskirts & Beatniks: Gender Roles, National Development, and Morals in 1960s Tunisia,”
International Journal of Middle East Studies 50:2 (2018), pp. 291–313.

Week 10: Competing Visions of Independence, Decolonization, & the Future (Cont’d)

3/25 1967 and the Decline of Arab Nationalism

E. Rogan, “The Decline of Arab Nationalism,” in The Arabs: A History, pp. 319-354 ;
B. Greer, “Prophets & Priests of the Nation: Naghib Mahfouz’s Karnak Café and the 1967 Crisis in Egypt,
International Journal of Middle East Studies, 41 (2009), pp. 653-669;
N. Sheffi, “Shifting Boundaries: The 1967 war in Israeli children’s magazines,” Journal of Israeli History, 28:2
(2009), pp. 137-154.

3/27 Oman, East Africa & the Dhofar Rebellion

M. Valeri, “The founding conflicts of modern national identity,” in Oman: Politics & Society in the Qaboos
State (2009), pp. 51-70;
J.R. Brennan, “Lowering the Sultan’s Flag: Sovereignty and Decolonization in Coastal Kenya,” Comparative

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 Studies in Society and History, 50:4 (2008), pp.831-861.

Week 11: The Iranian Revolution of 1979 & its Reverberations

4/1 The Iranian Revolution

W. Cleveland, “The Iranian Revolution and the Resurgence of Islam,” A History of the Modern Middle East 3rd
Ed., pp. 423-450;
N. Seyedsayamdost, “Revolution & Ruptures” in Soundtrack of the Revolution: The Politics of Music in Iran
(2017), pp. 87-108;

4/3 The Siege of Mecca & Shi’i revolts in Saudi Arabia (1979)

T. Matthiesen, “ Shia Islamism” in The Other Saudis: Shiism, Dissent, and Sectarianism (2014), pp. 91-113.

Death in Mecca: 15 Days that Shook Islam (BBC Documentary, 2017)

Week 12: Civil War in Lebanon (1975-1990)

4/8 Civil War in Lebanon

W. Cleveland, “Changing Patterns of War and Peace: Egypt and Lebanon in the 1970s and 1980s,” A History
of the Modern Middle East, 3rd ed., pp. 373-395; Z. Abicrachid, A Game for Swallows (Graphic novel, 2007).

4/10 The Lebanese Civil War in Graphic Novels

Z. Abicrachid, A Game for Swallows (2007).

Week 13: Militant Unionism & Militant Piety

4/15 Workers’ Unions and the Islamism in Egypt & Tunisia

E. Golberg, “Muslim Union Politics in Egypt: Two Cases,” in E. Burke, I.M. Lapidus, and E. Abrahamian
(eds.), Islam, Politics, and Social Movements (1988), pp.228-243;
J. Beinin, “The Washington Consensus,” from Workers and Thieves: Labor Movements and Popular Uprisings
in Tunisia and Egypt (2015), pp. 39-59.

4/17 Final Research Project Workshop

Week 14: Bookends (1990s-2001)

4/22 The Gulf War (1990-91)

4/24 11 September 2001 in North Africa and the Middle East

Week 15

4/29 TBD
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