Asian/African/Middle Eastern History

The People's Republic of China has emerged as the second largest economy in the world and a major player on the global stage, and that has quickly turned it into an object of both admiration and fear, appreciation and vilification. How we view China depends in part on our political leanings, what kind of media we consume, but, most importantly, on what we actually know about the country, its people, and its history. This course explores some of the most important issues concerning today's China and its relationship with the rest of the world, by viewing them in a longer historical perspective and focusing on the complex legacy of the last two hundred years.

While we will adopt a historian's approach, we will read and use works by sociologists, anthropologists, and political scientists. And while the focus of the course is China, the methodology we deploy here can and should be applied to other cases.

This course focuses on the ancient history of the Middle East prior to the rise of Christianity and Islam. In reflecting on modern agendas and assumptions that have defined a certain image of "the classical world" in distinction to that of "the ancient Near East", we take a critical approach to Mesopotamian, Anatolian, Levantine, and Persian history from the development of writing to the conquest of Alexander the Great (fourth millennium to fourth century BCE).

This course asks how the city was understood and urban space was experienced in China from the late imperial period to the twentieth century, from the walled cities of Ming and Qing to the neoliberal remaking of Beijing and Shanghai, passing through the modernist experiments of the Communist and Republican periods. Examining some of the key social, cultural and political factors that shaped urban life, we will address such questions as: how did changes in media shape conceptions of urban space and one's place within it, what did the Chinese urban landscape look like, what were some of its key features, and how did political changes at the national level affect life and governance in the city? Our investigations will also lead us into the realm of cultural and intellectual history. We will look at how such notions as cosmopolitanism, nation-mindedness, and scientific rationality developed in and around the city. In more general term, we will use the case of China to investigate how a history of "modern urban life" and urban space can be written, and what its significance might be. This course maintains a focus on the distinctive character of various Chinese cities while attempting to elucidate deeper commonalities and similarities that shape urban experience in China and elsewhere. Comparisons with other national experiences as well as theoretical reflections on issues of urbanism and urban life will then be integral part of the course.

Survey of political, social, economic and cultural transformations undergone by China from ca. 1800 to the present. Provides students with a sense of both the major themes and the substance of the last two centuries of history of one of the world's major civilizations, as well as a better understanding of China's prominent position in the world today.

Survey of political, social and economic developments in South Asia from the mid-18th century to the present. Writing emphasis for India-Pakistan specialization.

This course explores the mutual impact of culture and nature - how the natural environment has shaped culture, and how humans have impacted the natural environment (and to take this full circle, how human-induced changes in the natural environment subsequently impact societies). The relatively rapid and thoroughgoing transformations in East Asia over the past century allow us an ideal setting to explore the interaction between culture and nature. Focusing largely on China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam, this course explores how the relatively new field of environmental history opens new dimensions of historical inquiry.

Examination of the roles women have played throughout Islamic history and of the changing discourse in the Islamic community about women and their roles.

How have humans interacted with the varied environments of the Middle East: deserts, oceans, mountain slopes, river valleys, grasslands, farmlands, cities, ports? How can we study those interactions, with what sources and methods? How have they been affected by changes in climate or technology? What is the impact of the many conquests and colonialisms that have swept over the region up to the present day? How do Middle Easterners view their own environment, how do they understand nature? What are they doing now to preserve their environments from destruction?

Africa is an enormous continent. The course explores different themes and issues in African history both temporally and thematically. Lectures will introduce key themes and ideas and in-class discussions will expand on historical evidence for African communities, cultures and ideas. This course is suitable for anyone interested in Africa, particularly those who have taken HIS208: History of Africa.

Examines the changing relationship between Islam and politics from the time of the Prophet to the present day.