°®¶¹ÉçÇø

 Search | Directories |
UW Home > Discover UW > Student Guide 
UW Bothell Course Descriptions UW Tacoma Course Descriptions  | Glossary

COLLEGE OF ARTS & SCIENCES
HISTORY
HISTORY OF AFRICA AND THE MIDDLE EAST

Detailed course offerings (Time Schedule) are available for

HSTAFM 151 Africa in the Era of the Atlantic Slave Trade (5) SSc, DIV
Explores the African past from c. 1400 through the end of the nineteenth century. Uses the emerging evidence of historical, linguistic, and archaeological analysis to think critically about lingering notions that Africa and its peoples are static and unchanging, primitive and simple, and best understood in terms of racial difference.

HSTAFM 152 Introduction to African History, c. 1880 - Present (5) SSc, DIV
Examines Africa's pasts from approximately 1880 to the present. Through the theme of the politics of wealth, explores the history of European colonization, African social and cultural life under colonial rule, anti-colonial movements and decolonization, and the changes and challenges of the post-colonial present.

HSTAFM 161 Survey of the Muslim Near East (5) SSc
The Middle East (the Arab countries, Israel, Turkey, Iran, and Afghanistan) from the emergence of Islam in AD 622 to the present: culture, economics, politics.

HSTAFM 162 History of the Islamic World, Fifteenth-Eighteenth Centuries (5) SSc, DIV
Examines the history of the Islamic World during the age of mighty empires in Turkey, Persia, and South Asia. Highlights the powerful rulers, vibrant cultures, and human achievements of these states, while also exploring the region's ethnic, linguistic, religious, and sectarian diversity and conflicts. Uses political, social and cultural approaches to engage both the broad sweep and the personal stories of this history. Offered: S.

HSTAFM 163 The Modern Middle East (5) SSc, DIV
Provides an introduction the politics, society, and culture of the Middle East since the 19th century and through the present. Aims to foster an understanding of imperial power and anti-imperialism, ethnicity and sectarianism, religious and secular sociopolitical movements, authoritarianism, and the transformations wrought by modernity and economic development.

HSTAFM 253 African History in Real Time (5) SSc, DIV
Overview of the past 150 years of African history and representations of that history, highlighting power struggles over colonialism, race, ethnicity, religion, gender, class, and sexuality. Collaborative research projects and presentations focus on placing today's African news headlines in historical perspective.

HSTAFM 261 The Crusades: Middle Eastern Perspectives (5) SSc
Examines the impact of European Christians on the Middle East, from the establishment of the County of Edessa (1097) to the fall of Accon (1291). Explores how Muslims understood, reacted, and adapted to the crusades and how the close encounter with the "Franks" transformed medieval Middle Eastern societies.

HSTAFM 263 Identity and Politics in the Modern Middle East (5) SSc, DIV
Explores how people in the modern Middle East think about nation, religion, ethnicity, and the role of identity in politics. Examines topics in the social and political history of the modern Middle East, including Islamism, Zionism, anticolonialism, pan-Arab nationalism, Middle Eastern encounters with the West, resistance to authoritarianism, and oil modernity.

HSTAFM 268 Wars in the Modern Middle East (5) SSc
Examines the political, social, and cultural impact of war on Middle Eastern societies. Focuses on how the preparation for, conduct of, and aftermath of wars have affected the region. Examines the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, the Algerian War of Independence, the Lebanese Civil War, and the First Gulf War (1991).

HSTAFM 278 Modern North Africa (5) SSc, DIV
History of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya since the seventeenth century. Includes imperialism and local responses, development of national identities, the evolving role of Islam in politics and society, experiences of religious and ethnic minorities, impact of and on French culture, North African diaspora communities, and connections with the rest of Africa and the Middle East.

HSTAFM 288 Introduction to the Horn of Africa (5) SSc, DIV
Explores history, culture, and peoples of the Horn of the Africa. By placing Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Somalia at the center of inquiry, invites reconsideration of standard narratives of world history that all too often ignore or marginalize the region. Includes a broad range of assignments examining art, literature, and societies of the Horn, including vibrant Diaspora communities in America. Offered: jointly with MELC 288; A.

HSTAFM 314 History of Modern Israel/Palestine (5) SSc, DIV
Cultural, social, and political histories of Palestine, the Land of Israel, and the State of Israel; Zionist and Palestinian nationalist movements, in their larger regional, transnational, and global contexts. Offered: jointly with JSIS A 314.

HSTAFM 361 Middle Eastern History, 1453-1800 (5) SSc
Introduction to the early modern period in the Middle East, including an exploration of the political, economic, and cultural dominance of the Ottoman Empire and Safavid Iran. Explores the political and social dynamics and economic transformations of the two empires.

HSTAFM 451 Eastern and Central Africa Since 1500 (5) SSc
Explores the history of Eastern and Central Africa from the period prior to the slave trade through European colonialism to the post-colonial present. Focuses on political, economic, and social change and continuity. Emphasis on understanding how various historical actors and historians have interpreted these processes.

HSTAFM 452 Southern Africa Since 1500 (5) SSc, DIV
Explores the history of Southern Africa from pre-colonial social institutions through European colonialism and industrialization to the post-apartheid present. Focuses on the interplay between race, class, ethnicity, and gender in the structuring of political relations. Emphasis on understanding how various historical actors and historians have interpreted these processes.

HSTAFM 453 Health and Illness in Africa (5) SSc
Explores health and illness in Africa from the nineteenth century to the present. Focuses on the influence of colonial and post colonial history on patterns of health and health care in sub-Saharan Africa. Analyzes Western representations of health and illness in Africa.

HSTAFM 459 History of Jewish-Muslim Relations (5) SSc, DIV
Topics include Jews' and Muslims' linked encounters with empire, westernization, and nationalism; Jewish culture and identity in Islamic contexts migration and diasporic identities; the impact of Zionism, European Jewish settlement in Palestine, and the State of Israel on Jewish-Muslim relations in the Middle East and beyond; Islamophobia and antisemitism. Offered: jointly with JEW ST 459.

HSTAFM 461 History of the Middle East: 622-1300 (5) SSc
Political and economic analysis of the period circa AD 600, preliminary to rise of Islam, to arrival of the Turks. Muhammad's teaching and impact; Islamization and Arabization.

HSTAFM 462 History of the Middle East: 1258-1798 (5) SSc
Conquests by successors of Ghengis Khan; creation in Egypt, Syria, and Iran of cavalry-based states; domination of political, social, and economic history by Ottoman and Safavid empires. The Napoleonic invasion.

HSTAFM 463 Modern Persian Gulf (5) SSc, DIV
Introduction to the histories of Arabian Peninsula states, Iraq, Iran, and their linkages since the eighteenth century. Topics to be covered include imperialism and its legacies, political economy of oil, governmental structures and political transitions, identify formation, political ideologies, urbanization, and relations with the broader Middle East and Indian Ocean.

HSTAFM 465 Iran, Afghanistan and Central Asia, 1750-2001 (5) SSc
Introduction to the modern history of the Islamic republics of Iran and Afghanistan and the secular republics of Central Asia from 1750 to 2001. Includes discussion of colonialism, the role of the U.S., and diaspora and exile in these predominantly Muslim societies.

HSTAFM 490 Topics in African and Middle Eastern History (5) SSc
Examines special topics in African and Middle Eastern history.

HSTAFM 552 Field Course in African History (5)
Methodological and conceptual issues in African historiography, focusing on 1500 to the present. Examines topics including pre-colonial politics and economics, slavery and the slave trades, European conquest and colonization, resistance movements and nationalist politics, and post-colonial debates and dilemmas. Special attention to issues of gender, race, ethnicity, and class.

HSTAFM 559 History of Jewish-Muslim Relations (5)
Topics include Jews' and Muslims' linked encounters with empire, westernization, and nationalism; Jewish culture and identity in Islamic contexts migration and diasporic identities; the impact of Zionism, European Jewish settlement in Palestine, and the State of Israel on Jewish-Muslim relations in the Middle East and beyond; Islamophobia and antisemitism. Offered: jointly with JEW ST 559.

HSTAFM 561 Islamic History (3-6, max. 6)
Field course. Introduction to advanced study in the major periods and problems of Islam. Bibliographical guidance is stressed.

HSTAFM 562 Ottoman History (3-6, max. 6)
Field course. Introduction to the major periods and problems of Ottoman history, 1300-1914, by acquainting the student with the major works in at least two languages. An attempt is made to teach some use of Ottoman materials. A minor problem is investigated in detail by every student. Prerequisite: knowledge of at least one major language besides English (French, German, Russian, or other).

HSTAFM 563 Readings on the Modern Middle East (3-6, max. 6)
Field course introducing students to the major topics, methods, trends, and questions of modern Middle Eastern history.

HSTAFM 570 Readings in Israel/Palestine Studies (5)
Survey of significant scholarly texts on Israel and Palestine during the 19th-21st centuries. Topics may include: Jewish and Middle East context; medical and environmental history; economic history; intellectual history of Zionism and Palestinian nationalism; cultural history. Offered: jointly with JSIS A 570.

HSTAFM 590 Seminar on Special Topics and Middle Eastern and African History (5, max. 15)
Seminar on selected topics in the history of the Middle East and Africa.