Course Title:
| Contemporary Middle Eastern Life and Culture | |
Course Materials:
| Bates, Daniel G. and Amal Rassam. Peoples and Cultures of the Middle East. 2nd ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 2001. ISBN: 0-13-656489-5 | |
Course Description:
| An introduction to the contemporary societies and cultures of the Middle East, focusing on the linguistic, literary, artistic, social, and religious traditions of the peoples of Egypt, Palestine, Israel, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, Iraq, Turkey, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates. | |
Course Goals/Objectives:
After completing this course, students should be able to do the following:
· Describe the physical and political geography of the Middle East
· Understand how the history of the region has given rise to its contemporary structure
· Identify the main ethnic groups of the region, and their social customs, religions and languages
· Understand the predominant role of Arabic culture in the region and its interaction with other ethnic cultures of the region
· Understand the predominant role of Islam in the region and its interaction with other religions of the region
· Understand the differing social structures of the region, to include its urban, agricultural and nomadic communities
· Understand the differing familial structures in the region, to include the importance of kinship and the place of women | |
Course Introduction:
| The Middle East is continually in the world's headlines and appears to be a region of permanent political crisis. But what are the people like who live there? What kinds of lives do they live? What are the beliefs, traditions and customs that motivate the way they think and act? This introductory seminar to the Middle East does not focus on the big political issues but on the day-to-day lives of the peoples in the region. The main focus will be on the Arabs and the religion of Islam, but the seminar will also consider the wide variety of other ethnic communities and religions in the region. In addition, the seminar introduces students to the urban, rural, and nomadic communities of the region, as well as examining family and kinship structures. | |
Grading Information and Criteria:
|
Grades in this course will be determined as follows:
Participation: 25%
Quiz at start of Day 2 on content of Day 1: 25%
Final test: 50%
The grading scale in this course will be determined as follows:
A = 90%-100%
B = 80%-89%
C = 70%-79%
D = 60%-69%
F = 0%-59% | |
Other Information:
Any other information the instructor wishes to add. This might include:
¨ General expectations of students, such as hours per week students should expect to devote to the class
¨ Turnaround time for faculty to respond to email and return papers
¨ Unique class procedures or activities (such as cooperative learning exercises, panel presentations, case study methods, class journals or learning logs)
¨ Supplemental objectives (such as development of skills like teamwork, writing, oral presentation; integration of knowledge on focus topics)
¨ Optional activities such as study groups | |
Project Descriptions:
| Project Descriptions go here.... | |
Academic Policies:
| Academic Policies go here.... | |
Course Schedule:
Session Topics & Coursework
Day 1/1 The history and geography of the Middle East Bates and Rassam, Chapter 1
Day 1/2 The religion and culture of Islam Bates and Rassam, Chapters 2 & 3
Day 1/3 The variety of ethnic and religious communities in the Middle EastBates and Rassam, Chapter 4
Day 1/4 Pastoral, nomadic, agricultural and village life in the Middle EastBates and Rassam, Chapters 5 & 6
Day 1/5 Question and discussion session
Day 1/6 Review of material covered in Day 1
Day 2/1 Thirty-minute written quiz on content of Day 1
Day 2/2 Urban life in the Middle East Bates and Rassam, Chapter 7
Day 2/3 Kinship, marriage, family and the place of women in Middle Eastern societiesBates and Rassam, Chapters 8 & 9
Day 2/4 Question and discussion session: the Middle East todayBates and Rassam, Chapter 10
Day 2/5 Review of entire course
Day 2/6 Final 60-minute comprehensive test | |
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