HIST 496D Thesis: Conflict and Coexistence in the Islamic Middle East
War and conflict are foremost in many Americans' minds when they think of the Middle East, but those are far from the only experiences of the region's diverse historical societies. In this senior thesis section, students will explore topics related to the interactions of the many groups of people - Sunnis and Shiites, men and women, Muslims and non-Muslims, Arabs, Persians, and Turks, colonizers and subjects - that have defined the history of the Islamic Middle East. Our focus will be on the medieval period, roughly 600 to 1500, but more recent topics are also fair game. Potential subjects include the Crusades; theological debates between Middle Eastern Christians and Muslims; the Quran and the Bible; European travelers to the Middle East; the politics of gender and Islam; the Mongols in the Middle East; race and slavery; European powers and Muslim empires; and many others. No background in the subject is required.
Prerequisite
Open to History majors and minors only