HIST 308A Napoleon to Bin Laden: The Modern Middle East
From Napoleon's invasion of Egypt in the 18th century to al-Qaeda and the Arab Spring in the 21st, this course surveys the transformations of the Middle East, North Africa, and the Islamic world in the modern era. Major topics include European colonialism; World War I and the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire; ethnic nationalisms (Arab, Turkish, and Zionist); authoritarianism; radical Islamism; and youth politics in the 21st century. Along the way, we'll meet historical figures from Napoleon and Khomeini to Egyptian soccer star Mo Salah.