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North Africa and the Middle East |
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This is the information page for the course on North Africa and the Middle East, including course plan, assignments, suggested essay topics, news links, and other helpful links. The content on the main page is maintained by the instructor, T. Prewitt, directly from the anthropology department at the University of West Florida. Some of the linked pages are also managed by the instructor, but there are also connections to a number of domestic and international pages which include news, news opinion, and political interpretation from diverse perspectives. I will try to maintain only working links, but some links may not be active at all times. The content of some of the pages may prove difficult or controversial for some students. Please understand that links to news sources and opinion pages in no way implies an endorsement of the ideas, accuracy, political positions, or other content on the pages. The sources are those which may help individuals in the class maintain a balanced and informed perspective on the region under study during the term.
M 5:30-8:25 – Prewitt, 474-2186, tprewitt@uwf.edu, BUILDING 13, Room 115.
Because the class meets once each week, attendance is VERY IMPORTANT. While it expected emergency absences may occur, students with excessive unexcused absences will receive as much as one full grade reduction for each 3 hours absence.
CLASS MEETINGS AND SHORT ESSAYS: Each class period will usually consist of the following components: (1) 30-minute review of the week’s events pertinent to the course, (2) 60 minutes discussion of the assigned reading, (3) 60 lecture, guest-lecture, or film with additional discussion, relating to the geographic region under consideration (4) 25 minutes of discussion or essay response. The order of these elements will vary with the situation and topic.
PARTICIPATION (10% OF GRADE): I keep a record of class discussion, and will also assign letter grades to essays written in-class over the semester. The discussion grade counts as two essays, and these grades are averaged with the response essay grades to determine the participation grade for the course. Readings must be completed before class on the date for which they are listed. Students who are unprepared for discussion will receive F grades for participation on the date they are unprepared, and that grade is averaged into the final participation as though it were an essay.
1ST ASSIGNMENT (10% of GRADE) : By September 8, each student will submit an abstract of no more than one page identifying an essay topic pertinent to the course. The essay topic must deal with ethnographic (i.e. current) cultural developments, and should be specific enough to be handled within about 4000-8000 words (15-30 pages, typed, double-spaced, 1-inch margins, no smaller than 10 point font). I may suggest topic revisions in order to assure a successful essay. Late topics will receive grade penalties.
2ND ASSIGNMENT (40% OF GRADE): On or before November 24, the individual essays must be submitted. Each essay should include ONLY: (1) title page, (2) abstract page, (3) numbered pages with running-headers indicating a short title, (4) a reference list including ONLY works cited directly or indirectly in the essay. All of the materials should be stapled together. DO NOT USE FOLDERS OR BINDING COVERS. I accept MLA, APA, Chicago-style, and many other formats; if you are in doubt, check with me.
FINAL EXAMINATION (40% OF GRADE): There will be a comprehensive final examination, consisting of several essay questions to be answered in examination booklets (blue books). Some students will receive individual examination questions related to their focus within the subject matter.
LEARNING OUTCOMES: The successful student will be able to place current Middle Eastern events in a proper geographic, cultural, and historical context. Students will also have sufficient background to critically evaluate the diverse forms of news and government presentation and interpretation of the region.
25 AUG LECTURE/DISCUSSION: Introduction: Islam, Arab, and Middle East as constructs for analysis.
1 SEP Labor Day Holiday; No Classes, – READ: The Arab World, 125-210. SUBJECTS TO CONTEMPLATE: Morocco; Islam and Arab Culture as a “Western” heritage.
8 SEP North Africa – READ: The Arab World, 212-348, Egypt, LECTURE/DISCUSSION: North Africa as a Culture Area, the Sahara, Sub-Saharan Geography & Economic Development; Divergence in US and European policies.
15 SEP North Africa – READ: Veiled Sentiments, Part I. Bedouins in Egypt, LECTURE/DISCUSSION: Approaches to Reading Ethnographic and Journalistic Studies; Concepts and Contradictions.
22 SEP North Africa – READ: Veiled Sentiments, Part II. Bedouins in Egypt, LECTURE/DISCUSSION: Poetics and cultural-themal analysis; Comparison to Herzfeld’s study of Crete; Gender in Ethnography.
29 SEP The Eastern Mediterranean – READ: The Arab World, 73-121, Jordon, LECTURE/DISCUSSION: Moslem, Jew, Christian: Historical and Ethnic Factors Influencing the Carving up the Middle East.
6 OCT The Eastern Mediterranean – READ: From Beirut to Jerusalem, 3-125, Lebanon, LECTURE/DISCUSSION: How American Foreign Policy has Consistently Failed Lebanon.
13 OCT The Eastern Mediterranean – READ: From Beirut to Jerusalem, 126-247, Lebanon, LECTURE/DISCUSSION: Sharon & Arafat and the Lebanese Crisis of the mid-1980s.
20 OCT The Eastern Mediterranean – READ: The Arab World, 1-70, 387-441; Lebanon, LECTURE/DISCUSSION: Israel, & the West Bank through Time.
27 OCT The Eastern Mediterranean – READ: From Beirut to Jerusalem, 251-365, Jerusalem, LECTURE/DISCUSSION: Israel and the Palestinians: Central Place Process and Territorial Policy in Modern Israel.
3 NOV The Eastern Mediterranean – READ: From Beirut to Jerusalem, 366-509, Jerusalem, LECTURE/DISCUSSION: Sharon & Arafat and the Continuing Palestinian Conflict.
10 NOV The Eastern Mediterranean – READ: The Arab World, 351-384, 447-538, LECTURE/DISCUSSION: Fernea’s View of Iraq and Saudi Arabia Considered against Recent Events
17 NOV The Eastern Mediterranean – READ: Guests of the Sheik, Parts I and II, LECTURE/DISCUSSION: Synthesis of the “Arab” Middle East.
24 NOV The Eastern Mediterranean – READ: Guests of the Sheik, Parts III - VI, LECTURE/DISCUSSION: Turkey, Iran and Afghanistan
THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY – November 27-28
1 DEC Last Day of Class – READ: From Beirut to Jerusalem, 510-530; The Arab World, 442-444; READ ALL OF Soldiers of God, LECTURE/DISCUSSION: The War on Terrorism
8 DEC (Monday) FINAL EXAMINATION 5:30- 8:00 am.
Following are suggested and actual research topics pursued by students during this term. Topics will be added to the list as students settle on their study areas. The suggested topics are some I've found fruitful for student research over the years. Topics in italics are active student projects.
CULTURE:
Food, Dance, Music, Art, Education, etc.
Social organization and traditional politics in the context of colonial and post-colonial administration
Practices poorly-understood or openly opposed in Western culture: modes of dress, body modification, blood-feuds, polygyny, kin-based polity, differences in gender roles, etc.
The cultural contexts of female genital mutilation in some North African cultures.
DETAILED BIOGRAPHIES:
Menachem Begin, Anwar Sadat, King Hussein Ibn Talal of Jordan, Yitzhak Rabin,Yitzhak Shamir, Ariel Sharon, Shimon Peres, Yassir Arafat, OR others approved with the instructor.
ETHNIC DIVERSITY IN NATIONALIST CONTEXTS:
Ethnic Groups in Lebanon (Turkey, Iraq, Ethiopia, Algeria, etc.)
Moslem, Arab, and Near-East, Middle-East: Stereotypes vs. Diversity on the "Non-Western" Fringe of Europe
Comparison of American Interventions in Lebanon in the 1950s and 1980s.
Kurdish minorities in the politics of Turkey, Iraq, and Iran
Christian and Johanine Minorities in Lebanon (or Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Ethiopia)
Linguistic Diversity in North Africa (the Eastern Mediterranean, the Levant & the Arabian Peninsula, Iran & Afghanistan).
Voices of Arab and Islamic Feminism.
ON ERRORS(?) INVOLVING U.S. MILITARY IN THE REGION:
The Attack on the USS Liberty (8 June, 1967)
The USS Stark Incident (March 17, 1987)
The USS Vincennes and Iran Air Flight 655
ON ISRAELI SETTLEMENTS:
The Role of the Kibbutzim in Establishing Israel
The Role of the Moshavim in Supporting Israeli Immigration after 1949
Central Place Theory and Israeli Settlement Policy in the 20th Century
Palestinian Population Displacements in the 20th Century
ARAB News--The Journal of Maghreb Culture