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

IAFF 6378 North Africa After the Arab Spring

Ambassador Gordon Gray

Tue 5:10 – 7:00 PM

The popular protests that began in Tunisia over a decade ago catalyzed the uprisings in North Africa and the Middle East that came to be known as the Arab Spring. The outcomes in the four countries of North Africa – Algeria, Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia – have been dramatically different. They therefore offer a fascinating platform for understanding the challenges of transition and stabilization. This course will examine the unique characteristics and policies of each country, as well as the drivers of popular discontent that they share.  It will also look at how foreign actors and transnational issues (e.g., migration and terrorism) continue to affect developments in these four countries. By the end of this course, students will have developed an analytical framework to assess current and future developments in North Africa, the Middle East, and beyond. They will be able to identify core U.S. interests in the region, understand the different tools available to policymakers, and explain how best to orchestrate those tools. The instructor served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Morocco and as the U.S. Ambassador to Tunisia when the Arab Spring began there. Taught Spring 2024.

Tue 5:10 – 7:00 PM