Near East Studies

While questioning the relevance of the concept of the "Iranian world," this course provides fundamental knowledge in the political sociology of contemporary Iran and Afghanistan, from a comparative perspective. The course considers together the political, economic, and cultural developments of these two states over a long period, from the fall of Isfahan in 1722, under the blows of an Afghan invasion, to the fall of Kabul in 2021, via the Anglo-Persian war of Herat in 1856-1857 and the concomitant upheavals of 1978 and 1979. Methods of comparative politics are combined with those of connected history to better understand the "Iranian world" as a whole, as well as each of its two major components, highlighting their differences as much as their similarities. The comparative study of Islamic currents of thought in the two countries forms an important part of this course. This includes a focus on the Arab world, as well as the Indian subcontinent. Finally, while the course focuses on Iran and Afghanistan, it also includes Tajikistan, the only other state where Persian is the official language. The course includes a visit to the Guimet Museum.

Relying on a multidisciplinary perspective, this course provides theoretical and empirical tools to understand contemporary Iran. It studies decisive historical events, figures, and ideologies to understand how Iran interacted and interacts with regional and global powers. It analyzes the Iranian political and religious model to understand continuities and discontinuities in Iranian domestic policies (institutional and political structure, state ideology) as well as the evolution of alliances and balances of powers (regionally and internationally). The course encourage reading and familiarization with the global academic literature to develop critical thinking and methodological skills.

Through classroom study and field trips, this course embarks on a journey of Jerusalem through time and space, over the course of three thousand years, from a regional center to a national capital to the spiritual center for the world’s three great western monotheistic religions. It bulids an understanding and appreciation of its present and future, how the city developed, and how the city seems to touch everyone in the world today.

This course examines Western perspectives on the Middle East and North Africa. What are the origins, presuppositions, and theoretical foundations of these? Having examined Western perspectives, students are given the opportunity to hear the views of undergraduates in universities throughout MENA region. How do Western interventions and perspectives look from their point of view? Students critically examine Western perspectives on MENA and learn to assess the societal impact of Western interventions, beginning in the 18th century up until the present. Students explore the themes of refugee crises; war and genocide; law and human rights; gender; and national, religious, and ethnic identities of the region. 

This course is an introduction to the political, economic, social, and cultural history of the Middle East from 1800- c.1950. Opening at the beginning of the 19th century it examines the program of reform and state-building of the Ottoman Empire to defend itself against the growing military and economic power of Europe. The course then goes on to address the defeat of the Ottomans in World War I, the post-1919 settlement and the rise of nationalism in the interwar period, and ends with the establishment of Israel in 1948.

This course focuses on the ancient history of the Middle East as a textbook case illustrating the transition from prehistory to history, via the establishment of a centralized power served by a powerful administration, an influential religion, a codified practice of writing, and subtle economic and diplomatic networks. It investigates the unifying factors behind the extension of the geographical contours of this cultural area, what memories classical antiquity retained of this distant East, and the discoveries it made. The course examines this abundant premise, at the crossroads of political, cultural, religious, and artistic sources, to shed light on a few fundamentals with parallels to our own times that should be considered with as much curiosity as caution.

This course offers an introduction to the major geographical and historical dynamics that structure (and divide) the Middle East region; the national, ethnic, and religious identities that divide the region; as well as the major transnational movements shaping the region in the contemporary era (anti-imperialism, “Arab nationalism,” political Islam, along with relevant concepts and terminology). It characterizes the evolving and shifting roles of key external actors (United Nations, United States, Russia, China, European states, European Union) All of this is based on the use of open sources, including those from American and European think tanks (though not exclusively).

This course provides an introduction to the history of the Middle East from the late eighteenth century to the end of the twentieth century. It focuses on the main transformations the region experienced during the ages of imperialism and nationalism, including the foundations of Ottoman rule in the region and its long decline; the entrance of nationalism and its dramatic effects on the political identities of its inhabitants, as well as the formative period of the Arab Israeli conflict. It also discusses the struggle for independence of some of the nation-states in the region, as well as their challenges in its aftermath: the formation of national identity and competing identities to overcome.

This course introduces the history of political thought and state-building in the Middle East from the end of the Ottoman empire (1923) to present days. From the creation of the “Middle East” area by British and French mandatory administrations, this course analyzes how various political ideologies (Kemalism, Zionism, Nasserism, Khomeynism, Ba'athism, and Islamism) have influenced state-building processes in Iran, Turkey, Israel, and in the Near East. By providing methodology and tools based on historical sources, this course addresses the spread of nationalism in the Middle East to encourage a reflection on a question raised by Henry Laurens in 2019: will the 21st century witness the “end of the Middle East?”

This is the second course of Persian language, following LENGUA PERSA I. It offers additional standard vocabulary and covers the following verbal conjugations: the preterite imperfect, the present perfect, the past perfect, the continuous present, the future imperfect, and the imperative, subjunctive, and conditional modes.