IAFF 6378 Forced Displacement and Migration in the Middle East

Reva Dhingra

Thu 5:10 – 7:00 PM

This course offers students the opportunity to learn about the current dynamics of displacement and migration in the Middle East. The Middle East is the site of significant forced displacement—both across and within borders. Conflicts in the region over the past decade have driven millions from their homes. Yet states in the region are also the destination and origin for millions of migrants seeking economic and social opportunities. Rapidly intensifying climate change is also driving increasing movement primarily within countries. Together, these mobility dynamics have indelibly shaped the region’s politics, society, and economy. Students will engage with academic literature from across disciplines as well as policy texts reflecting important current debates. We will cover key topics including: forced migration including refugees and internal displacement, climate change and mobility, labor migration, determinants of immigration policy, and the role of non-state and humanitarian aid. We will also discuss specific cases, including Syrian and Palestinian displacement and labor migration in the Levant. Taught Fall 2024.

Thu 5:10 – 7:00 PM

IAFF 6378/ANTH 6591 Gender & the Middle East

Attiya Ahmad

Thu 5:10 – 7:00 PM

Why is there such an emphasis on gendered power relations in the Middle East? How do we go about examining the significance of gender to the contemporary Middle East? To address these questions, this course provides students with the historical and analytical foundations to examine the role gender—understood as forms of interrelations through which difference and power are produced—plays in the contemporary Middle East. Two major objectives animate this course. The first is to learn about the diversity of gender relations and gendered experiences in the contemporary Middle East. The second is to develop a robust analytical vocabulary that will enable us to critically interrogate gendered power relations and how these intersect with colonial modernity, geopolitics, religion, kinship, sexuality, dis/ability, political economy, and affect. Taught Fall 2024.

Thu 5:10 – 7:00 PM

PSC 6377 Comparative Politics of the Middle East

Nathan Brown

Tue 5:10 – 7:00 PM

This course will concentrate on four aspects of the comparative politics of the Middle East: Islam and politics; regime type and change; political economy; and ideology. These aspects will be woven together rather than addressed as separate topics. Taught Fall 2024.

Tue 5:10 – 7:00 PM

IAFF 6378 Readings in Arab Politics & Society

Dina El-Hefnawy

Thu 5:10 – 7:00 PM

This course offers individual advanced level Arabic instruction on themes related to the student's academic course of study and intellectual interests. Topics, readings, and assignments will be discussed with the instructor at the beginning of the semester, with instruction and expectations targeted at the student's current level of proficiency. Please note that this course may be taken more than once, with a new individualized syllabus each term, and can be used to satisfy Middle East Electives or Professional Field courses on the MESP course of study. Taught Fall 2024.

Thu 5:10 – 7:00 PM

IAFF 6378 Iran in the Middle East

Sina Azodi

Mon 5:10 – 7:00 PM

Iran has long played a critical role in the international relations of the Middle East –historically one of the most tumultuous regions in the world. In this graduate course, we will critically discuss Iran's foreign and security policies, against the backdrop of its controversial nuclear and missile programs, support for proxy groups, and its contentious relations with other regional players, especially Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Israel. The aim of this course is to familiarize students with goals, characteristics, and evolution of Iran’s regional policies and the daunting challenges it faces. Some of the questions that this course aims to address: How do Iranians look at the region? What are Iran’s strategic goals in the Middle East? How does the rest of the region look at Iran? What are the driving forces behind Iran’s foreign and security policies? Taught Fall 2024.

Mon 5:10 – 7:00 PM

IAFF 6378 Political Economy of the Middle East

Shana Marshall

Thu 7:10 – 9:00 PM

This course will introduce students to the political foundations of the region’s economy. We will examine how the economy of the MENA has been shaped by encounters with external actors (foreign traders, colonizing governments, transnational firms, international financial institutions, development agencies, etc.) but also how the region has impacted the global economy, with a special focus on the Gulf states and their role in shaping global financial markets. We will examine the legacy and ongoing impact of Western development and reconstruction agencies and their discourses, with special attention to the region's agrarian zones as well as zones transformed by imperial wars. Other important regional actors such as militaries, oil companies, sovereign wealth funds and labor movements will also be examined. This course will introduce students to mainstream political economy approaches concurrently with their critiques, in order to provide an understanding of the evolution of theories and practices of economic development and their political origins. Taught Fall 2024.

Thu 7:10 – 9:00 PM

IAFF 6377 Middle East Studies Capstone

Arie Dubnov

Fri 5:00 – 6:00 PM

Second in a two-course sequence with IAFF 6377. A project-oriented course, designed to synthesize the skills and knowledge that students have acquired in their graduate study. Restricted to students in the MA in Middle East studies program. Taught Fall 2024.

Fri 5:00 – 6:00 PM

IAFF 6361 Middle East Studies Cornerstone

Arie Dubnov

Wed 7:10 – 9:00 PM

Multidisciplinary foundation course for the Middle East studies program. Introduction to key issues. Taught Fall 2024.

Wed 7:10 – 9:00 PM

IAFF 6378 U.S. Foreign Policy in the Middle East

Ambassador Gordon Gray

Tue 5:10 – 7:00 PM

This course examines U.S. engagement in the Middle East since the 1940s by studying the evolution of U.S. policy, reviewing key decisions, and assessing 21st century challenges. Students will build on this foundation to determine what U.S. national security interests are – and what U.S. priorities should be – in this region, and how the current inflection point in the global world order affects them. The course also seeks to provide an analytical framework for better understanding differing perspectives on U.S. policy. Student presentations, writing assignments, and active class discussion will help students improve the analytical, written, and oral communications skills essential for a successful career in international affairs. The instructor is a former career diplomat who served as a U.S. Ambassador and as a Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs. Taught Fall 2024.

Tue 5:10 – 7:00 PM

IAFF 3188 U.S. Foreign Policy in the Middle East

Ambassador Gordon Gray

Wed 12:45 – 3:15 PM

This course examines U.S. engagement in the Middle East since World War I by studying the evolution of U.S. policy, reviewing key decisions, and assessing 21 st century challenges. Students will build on this foundation to determine what U.S. national security interests are – and what U.S. priorities should be – in this region, and how the current inflection point in the global world order affects them. The course also seeks to provide an analytical framework for better understanding differing perspectives on U.S. policy. Student presentations, writing assignments, and active class discussion will help students improve the analytical, written, and oral communications skills essential for a successful career in international affairs. The instructor is a former career diplomat who served as a U.S. Ambassador and as a Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs. Taught Spring 2024.

Wed 12:45 – 3:15 PM