COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES

A Course Title
& Number HIS 204: Modern Arab History
B Pre/Co-requisite(s) WRI 102
C Number of credits 3-0-3
D Faculty Name Dr. Tylor Brand
E Term/ Year Fall 2016
F Sections
CRN Course Days Time Location
20614 HIST 204 MW 9:30-10:45 PHY 218
Location subject to change
G Instructor
Information Instructor Office Telephone Email
Tylor Brand PHY 241 2438 abrand@aus.edu
Office Hours:
UTR 10-12 or by appointment
Office Hours will be posted on the office door as well as on iLearn.
Studies the history of the modern Arab world focusing mainly on the history of the region from
H Course
1800 and the changes that began to take place at that time. Concentrates on four aspects of the
Description from
regions transformation: the experience of imperialism and colonialism, modernity, nationalism
Catalog
and the development of the modern state system.
I Course Learning Upon completion of the course, students will be able to:
Outcomes 1. Deduce the broader social and economic trends responsible for the writings of leaders,
intellectuals and ordinary citizens of the Middle East.
2. Compare social and economic developments within Middle Eastern and Arab societies
from the pre-modern era to the present.
3. Differentiate significant ideas and concepts within primary source material in order to
write analytical papers.
4. Distinguish between primary and secondary sources when writing an argumentative
paper.
AUS Bookstore Resources:
J Textbook and
Eugene Rogan, The Arabs, 2nd edition (New York: Basic Books, 2012).
other Instructional
Akram Khater, Sources in the Hstory of the Modern Mddle East, 2nd edition (Boston:
Material and
Wadsworth, 2011).
Resources
In addition to these texts, students will be given a variety of in-class hand-outs. These
documents are listed on the syllabus.
Classes will be conducted as interactive lectures with significant components requiring student
K Teaching and
participation.
Learning
Methodologies
In class, students will be tasked with analyzing primary sources and discussing their
significance to the class, responding to prompts from the professor, and engaging in group
learning strategies. This work will not be graded, but will factor into a students participation
grade. Students may use laptops and tablets in class, but only to enhance their learning
experience.

Student grades will be primarily based on two midterm exams and a final, with a final percent of
the grade reflecting the students participation in classroom activities, attendance and
 COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES

presentations.
L Grading Scale, Grading Scale
Grading
Distribution, and 94 100 4.0 A 77 79 2.3 C+
Due Dates 90 93 3.7 A- 73 76 2.0 C
87 89 3.3 B+ 70 72 1.7 C-
83 86 3.0 B 60 69 1.0 D
80 82 2.7 B- Less Than 60 0 F

Grading Distribution

Assessment Weight Due Date

Midterm Examinations (2) 40% October 12, November 11
Paper Assignment 25% Prospectus: October 31, Paper
November 30
Final Examination 25% TBA
Participation and Presentations 5% Ongoing
Response Papers 5% Ongoing
Total 100%

IN-CLASS EXAMINATIONS (MIDTERMS/FINAL): Exams consist of a short answer and an

M Explanation of
essay section. Students will choose 4 of 8 short answer identifiers. For each identifier they will
Assessments
write a detailed paragraph explaining why the concept is important for Arab history. Next, the
students will choose 1 of 4 essay questions, which they will answer in a coherent, well
organized argumentative essay. Essays must have a strong thesis statement and use support from
lectures and readings. Grading will be based on strength and accuracy of argument, command of
the material, organization and technical writing skills.

PAPER ASSIGNMENT: Students will choose an essay topic based on some aspect of Arab
history, then develop a research question to concentrate their investigation. They will be
responsible for researching the topic using secondary and/or primary sources, from which they
will write an 8-10 page argumentative paper. Grading will be based on the quality and accuracy
of the argument, the quality of the research and citation, organization and the proper use of
scholarly language. A prospectus is due a month before the final due date a paper that does not
have a prospectus approved by me will lose 5 percent immediately.

ATTENDANCE and PARTICIPATION: Attendance is mandatory, per AUS policy. Students

will be expected to have done the reading and contribute to class. Attendance is mandatory.
Students who miss more than 5 classes will have points deducted from their grade.

PRESENTATIONS: Students will be assigned to groups, which will present on assigned topics
on the given dates. Presentations will be assessed for the quality of research that they
themselves presented, on their ability to work as a group, and on delivery.

RESPONSE PAPERS: Students will be assigned thought response papers of at least 300 words
at various dates throughout the semester. Responses require the students to analyze the issues
presented in the readings and discussed in class to answer the question posed on the syllabus for
the given week.

Students must abide by the Student Academic Integrity Code as stated in the AUS
A Student Academic
Undergraduate Catalog 2015-2016, pp. 17-19.
n Integrity Code
Statement
In the case of suspected violations of the code (including cheating, plagiarism or work
performed on the students behalf), the issue will be dealt with according to AUS policy.
 COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES

Possible consequences of violations of the academic integrity policy include failure of the
course and a grade of XF on the students transcript.

Academic violations include but are not limited to:

Plagiarism
Inappropriate Collaboration
Inappropriate Proxy
Dishonesty in Examinations and Submitted Work
Work Completed for One Course and Submitted to Another
Deliberate Falsification of Data
Interference with Other Students Work
Copyright Violations
Complicity in Academic Dishonesty

Students MUST read the Student Academic Integrity Code outlined in the AUS Catalog and
agree to abide by the standards for academic conduct, students rights and responsibilities and
procedures for handling allegations of academic dishonesty.

SCHEDULE

CHAPTER NOTES
# WEEK

Introduction, Definitions and Perspectives: How Do

We Delineate Modern Arab History?
Setting the Stage Albert Hourani, The Ottoman Background of the Add/Drop period ends on Tuesday,
1 Modern Middle East (1-18) August 30
29/8-31/8
Who Were the Arabs? A Diverse Group Geography Lesson
Baki Tezcan, Ethnicity, Race, Religion and social Class:
Ottoman Markers of Difference
The Ottoman Arabs: The Arabs at the time of
Arabs in the Conquest
Eugene Rogan, The Arabs, Chapter 1 Eid al-adha holiday from September
Ottoman Empire
2 8-18th. Class resumes on the 19th
5/9-7/9 Challenges to Rule: Challenges from Arabia to Egypt
Rogan Chapter 2

Europeans, Governors, and Rebellious Subjects:

Ottoman Arabs in Global, Imperial and Local Thought Response: Why and how
Context was Ottoman legitimacy challenged
Imperialism and in the Arab world at the turn of the
Rogan Chapter 3 19th century? What effect did this
Reform
3 have? September 21
Recommended Reading: M. kr Haniolu A Brief
19/9 21/9
History of the Late Ottoman Empire, Responses to the
Challenge of Modernity
Presentation: Nizam- Cedid
Troops September 21
Arabs and the Tanzimat: Imperialism, Reform and
 COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES

Resistance
Rogan Chapter 4

Divided Fortunes: The Ottomans in the World

Economy
Roger Owen, The Middle East in the World Economy, p.
64-82

Nationalism, Citizenship and Identity near the Turn

Interests and of the Century Presentation: The Steam Engine
John Chalcraft, Engaging the State: Peasants and Petitions on and the Arab Economies -
Identity
4 September 26
the Eve of Colonial Rule
26/9 28/9 http://www.jstor.org/stable/3880103
Start of Hijra Holiday Thursday
Recommended Reading: Ussama Makdisi, Religion as the Site we dont miss class!
of the Colonial Encounter

Primary Source: Khater, An Ottoman Decree Defines the

Official Notion of a Modern Citizen

Imperialism, Politics and the 19th Century Arab

World
Rogan, Chapter 5

Primary Source Khater: Bahithat al-Badiya Advocates Greater Thought Response: How was Islam
Educational and Economic Rights for Egyptian Women used to justify both change and
Ottoman conservatism in the Arab world at
Responses and the the turn of the 20th century? -
5 Calamity of WWI October 5
Cesar Farah, Anglo-Ottoman Confrontation in the
3/10 5/10 Persian Gulf in the Late 19th and Early 20th Centuries,
(117-132): http://www.jstor.org/stable/41223757 Presentation: The Trucial System
October 3

The Calamity of World War I and the End of the

Ottoman Era
Rogan, Chapter 6

The Division of the Arab Lands

Charles Smith, Palestine and the Arab Israeli Conflict,
Chapter 2
The Postwar
Division
6 Primary Sources: Khater, The Balfour Declaration, The
Husayn-McMahon Correspondence, The Treaty of Sevres Midterm 1, October 12
10/10 12/10

Midterm 1

British Mandates, The Arabian Peninsula in the Interwar Period

7
Colonial Madawi al-Rashid, The History of Saudi Arabia , chapter Presentation: Nuri al-Said -
October 19
Occupations, and 2
 COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES

the Gulf States

British Imperialism in the Region
17/10 19-10
Rogan Chapter 7

Recommended Reading: Charles Tripp, West Asia from

WWI

The French Mandates and French Colonies

French Occupation Thought Response: How did French
Rogan Chapter 8 and British ruling strategies differ in
and Palestine
8 the Arab lands? - October 26
24/10 26/10 Zionism and the Mandate in Palestine
Presentation: The Arab Revolt of
Charles Smith, Chapter 3
1925-1927 October 24

World War II
Aviel Roshwald, The Spears Mission in the Levant,
The End of
1941-1944,
Colonialism in the Paper Prospectus Due October 31
9 Region Recommended Reading: Albert Hourani, Lebanon:
Historians and the Formation of a National Image Presentation: The Haganah
31/10 2/11 November 2
The Nakba and its Consequences
Rogan, Chapter 9

Nasser, Arab Nationalism and the Cold War

Rogan, Chapter 10

Matthews, John Foster Dulles and the Suez Crisis of

1956 Midterm 2, November 11
The Rise of
http://www.unc.edu/depts/diplomat/item/2006/0709/matt/
Nationalism
10 matthews_suez.html Deadline to withdraw from class
7/11 9/11 without penalty November 10
Primary Source: Khater, Michel Aflaq Addresses the
Relationship between Arabism and Islam

Midterm 2

The Arab Israeli Conflict from the 1950s to the 1967

War
PLO, Sadat and William Cleveland, A Modern History of the Middle
1973 East, Chapter 17
11
Presentation: Water Rights
14/11 16/11 November 14
The Collapse of Nationalism and the Arab States
Rogan, Chapter 11

The Gulf and the The Rise of the Gulf States and Arab Independence Thought Response: What forces
12 Age of Oil and increased or influenced conflicts in
Rogan, Chapter 12
Civil War the Arab world during the 1980s? -
November 23
 COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES

21/11 23/11 The Lebanese Civil War

Robert Fisk, Pity the Nation Chapter 8
Presentation: Sabra and Chatila
Primary Source: Khater, Document about One of the November 23
Major Political Arguments underlying the Lebanese Civil
War

Primary Source: CIA Declassified Document on Assad and

Arafat

The 1980s: War and the Rise of Political Islam

Rogan, chapter 13 Presentation: The Amal
The Arab World in Movement in Lebanon -
the 1980s Primary Sources: Khater, Saddam Hussein Proclaims History November 28
13
as a Tool for Educating the Masses, The Massacre of the
28/11 30/11 Muslim Brothers in Hama
FINAL PAPER DUE November 30
The First Intifada
Khater, Hanan Ashrawi on the Meaning of the Intifada
The U.S. in Iraq: The Gulf War and Beyond
Rogan, Chapter 13

Recommended Reading: Toby Dodge, Iraq: The

Contradictions of Exogenous State Building in Historical
Perspective
The End of the
Cold War and
14
Israel and Palestine: The Collapse of the Peace
Palestine
Process Presentation: UN Sanctions on
5/12 7/12 Lev Grinberg The Derailment of Peace Iraq December 5

Jamil Hilal and Ilian Pappe, After Gaza

Primary Source: Khater, Prime Minister Rabins Speech to the

Israeli Knesset

The Post 9/11 World and the Arab Spring in

Perspective
Bahgat Korani A Microcosm of the Arab Spring: The
Sociology of Tahrir Square
The Middle East Presentation: The Arab Spring -
Today December 12
15 Primary Sources: Khater Reflections on the Terror
12/12 Attacks of September 11

The Middle East of Today

Primary Source: Khater al-Jazeera, the World through
Arab Eyes
 COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES

Final Exam