MODERN MIDDLE EAST POLITICS, FALL 2015 CPO 3403 (213B) JST 3930 (1C27)
O F F I C E P H O N E : 3 5 2 - 2 7 3 - 2 3 7 0 E M A I L : P J W O O D S @ U F L . E D U
Dr. Patricia J. Woods, Ph.D.
Associate Professor222 Anderson Hall
Department of Political Science
Center for Jewish StudiesAffiliate, Center for Global Islamic Studies
Affiliate, Center for Women’s Studies and Gender Research
COURSE DESCRIPTION….
The course introduces Middle East politics in the modern period through analysis of texts addressing: the rise and fall of authoritarianism in the Middle East; urban politics and culture; social movements and political contestation in relation to the Arab Spring and beyond; heavy metal rock music as a form of political expression and resistance; and women’s status and lives in the Middle East today.
Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll, world famous musician from
Colombia, in the open market in Marrakech, Morocco.
Image credit: http://www.marraquexe.net/imagens/024.jpg
ASSIGNMENTS
Eight abstracts (5-7 sentences each) 30%
Two short papers (6-8 pages each) 60%
Discussion/Participation 10%
Possible quizzes (will figure in to abstract grade
if necessary)
No final exam
Characteristic tile work in Islamic art. Image credit: http://www.ihclt.org/events.php?cat=190
EXPLANATION OF ASSIGNMENTSAbstracts must be 5 – 7 sentences. They should explain the central argument in the reading for the day, using three major pieces of evidence to explain the argument. They may be submitted one per class period throughout the semester. You may submit through CANVAS or in hard-copy form in class.
Short Papers (6-8 pages each) will be in response to a question/prompt on the readings for that period of class. If you prefer to do a research paper, you must get your topic approved by me in advance. Please submit short papers in CANVAS only. Deadlines for short papers in CANVAS are hard deadlines. That means, you must have permission in advance to submit late. See University policies at the end of this syllabus for guidelines on late assignments.
Participation is an important part of your grade, making up roughly one letter grade. Participation means coming with the readings for the day prepared, and talking about them actively and on-point in class. Talking “on-point” means speaking directly about the readings themselves. It also includes a component of care for the feelings of our very diverse student body in this class. Limiting ourselves to the readings for the first part of the semester makes it easier to develop a balance between analytical clarity and sensitivity in the context of sometimes quite controversial topics that we will discuss in this course. Most of the topics in this course will be controversial to someone in class. Sticking to the arguments in the readings allows us to talk about the topics and data while giving ownership of the arguments to the scholars, rather than to ourselves. This “analytical distance” makes it easier to talk about Middle East politics to a hugely diverse student body, which, in this class, crosses the political and religious spectrums, both domesticand international. You are encouraged to talk about the readings directly and thoughtfully, while keeping your fellow students in mind. Developing analytical skills and a bit of diplomatic skills will likely come together in this course!
The course may include 3-10 pop quizzes if the class is not coming to class able to talk about the readings. Many semesters, I do not have to use quizzes at all. Some semesters, we have several pop quizzes. Quizzes usually ask you to write an abstract on the reading for the day. It is much more fun to talk about the readings, so come to class prepared and we should not have to have quizzes.
TEXTS….
Students will be assigned to THREE of the following texts on the second class day of the semester. We will read, concurrently, at a rate of one chapter per week per book throughout the semester. That means that in any given week, we will be reading three separate chapters total. When signing up for a book, it is a good idea to make sure you won’t be presenting on more than two books in a week. Students from each book will present on Monday, Wednesday, or Friday, respectively. There will be a few (3-5) articles on e-reserves in addition that everyone will be responsible for.
1. THE RISE AND FALL OF ARAB PRESIDENTS FOR LIFE: WITH A NEW AFTERWORD By Roger Owen. Harvard University Press, 2014.
2. CAIRO COSMOPOLITAN: POLITICS, CULTURE AND URBAN SPACE IN THE NEW GLOBALIZED MIDDLE EAST. Edited by Diane Singermanand Paul Amar. American University in Cairo Press, 2009.
3. SOCIAL MOVEMENTS, MOBILIZATION, AND CONTESTATION IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA, SECOND EDITION. Edited by Joel Beinin and Frederic Vairel. Stanford University Press, 2013.
4. HEAVY METAL ISLAM: ROCK, RESISTANCE, AND THE STRUGGLE FOR THE SOUL OF ISLAM by Mark Levine. New York: Broadway Books, 2008.
5. PARADISE BENEATH HER FEET: HOW WOMEN ARE TRANSFORMING THE MIDDLE EAST (COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS BOOKS). By Isobel Coleman. New York: Random House, 2013.
OVERALL READING SCHEDULE….SEE COMING PAGES FOR DAILY DETAIL
Weeks I - IV
Arab Presidents for Life
Social Movements
Heavy Metal Islam
Weeks V-VIII
Cairo Cosmopolitan
Arab Presidents for Life
Heavy Metal Islam
Weeks IX – XII
Paradise Beneath Her Feet
Cairo Cosmopolitan
Arab Presidents for Life
Weeks XII – XV
Paradise Beneath Her Feet
Social Movements
A few selections from e-reserves (Smathers Library website)
Islamic art: calligraphy in the
image of a horse.Image credit: http://www.writingfordesigners.com/?p=9563
READING SCHEDULE…DETAIL
Week I – Introductions, assignment of texts, lecture
Week II Monday, Owen, Chapter 1
Wednesday, Beinin and Vairel, Chapter 1
Friday, Levine, Chapter 1
Week III Monday, Owen, Chapter 2 (No class Mon. Labor Day.
We will talk about Owen on Wed and Fri).
Wednesday, Beinin and Vairel, Chapter 2
Friday, Levine, Chapter 2
Week IV Monday, Owen, Chapter 3
Wednesday, Beinin and Vairel, Chapter 3
Friday, Levine, Chapter 3
Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Fritware, glazed, cut to
shape and assembled as mosaic 23 1/2 DIA. x 1 1/4 in.
depth. The Madina Collection of Islamic Art, gift of Camilla
Chandler Frost. Image Credit:
http://www.lacma.org/islamic_art/Popups/images/fig32_M2002_1_19.jpg
READING SCHEDULE…DETAILWeek V Monday, Singerman and Amar, Introduction
Wednesday, Owen, Chapter 4 (No class. To commemorate: Yom Kippur, Waqf al Arafa – Hajj, and Eidal-Adha. We will talk about Owen on Friday with Levine).
Friday, Levine, Chatper 4
Week VI Monday, Singerman and Amar, Chapter 1
Wednesday, Owen, Chapter 5
Friday, Levine, Chapter 5
Week VII Monday, Singerman and Amar, Chapter 2
Wednesday, Owen, Chapter 6
Friday, Levine, Chapter 6
Week VIII Monday, Singerman and Amar, Chapter 5
Wednesday, Owen, Chapter 7
Friday, Levine, Epilogue
Turkish and Islamic Arts Museum, Istanbul. Image
credit: http://cache-graphicslib.viator.com/graphicslib/page-
images/360x240/128592_Destination_Istanbul_TurkishandIslamicArtsMuseum_shutter
stock_91287512.jpg
READING SCHEDULE…DETAILWeek IX Monday, Coleman, Chapter 1
Wednesday, Singerman and Amar, Chapter 6
Friday, Owen, Chapter 8
Week X Monday, Coleman, Chapter 2
Wednesday, Singerman and Amar, Chapter 7
Friday, Owen, Chapter 9
Week XI Monday, Coleman, Chapter 3
Wednesday, Singerman and Amar, Chapter 10
Friday, Owen, Chapter 10 (No class Friday. Homecoming. We will talk about
Owen on Mon with Coleman).
Week XII Monday, Coleman, Chapter 4
Wednesday, Singerman and Amar, Choose chapter 17 or chapter 19 (No class Wed.
Veteran’s Day. We will talk about Singerman and Amar on Fri with Owen).
Friday, Owen, Conclusion
Islamic Art. Image credit:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ae/Isla
mic_Art_(3).jpg
READING SCHEDULE…DETAILWeek XIII Monday, Coleman, Chapter 5
Wednesday, Beinin and Vairel, Chapter 4
Friday, Henriette Dahan-Kalev,
“You’re So Pretty – You Don’t Look Moroccan” in e-reserves
Week XIV (No class Wed or Fri. Thanksgiving. We will talk about
the readings for those days on Mon and Wed of Week XV, with the
readings for Week XV). Monday, Coleman, Chapter 6
Wednesday, Beinin and Vairel, Chapter 6
Friday, Nabila Espanioly,
“Palestinian Women in Israel: Identity In Light of the Occupation” in e-reserves
Week XV Monday, Coleman, Chapter 7
Wednesday, Beinin and Vairel, Choose chapter 7 or chapter 12
Friday, Sarab Abu-Rabia Queder (No class Friday. I will be in a Fulbright Foundation meeting in NYC. We will talk about the reading on Monday of Week XVI).
“Permission to Rebel: Arab Bedouin Women’s Changing Negotiation of Social Roles” in e-reserves
Week XVI – Conclusions
Christie’s, London. Islamic Art Week, 1-5
October, 2012.
Image credit: http://www.christies.com/sales/islamic-art-week-london-october-
2012/images/main-visual.jpg
MORE INFORMATION…UNIVERSITY POLICIES…
• Attendance & makeup policy: Requirements for class attendance and make-up exams, assignments, and other work in this course are consistent with university policies that can be found in the online catalog at: https://catalog.ufl.edu/ugrad/current/regulations/info/attendance.aspx.
• Late Policy: We have a lot of people in this class. Arriving late will be disruptive if many people do it. If you really have to be late, come in quietly and do not disrupt class, please. If you come in late frequently, it may affect your participation grade.
• Cell phone and texting policy: Please do not use cell phones in class unless specifically requested to look things up on-line in the course of class discussions. You may leave your cell phone on during class in case of emergencies (please set so that the phone does not ring).
• Grade Disputes: Should a student wish to dispute any grade received in this class (other than simple addition errors, for which you should contact the instructor), the dispute must be in writing and be submitted to the instructor within a week of receiving the grade. The dispute should set out very clearly, the grade that the student believes the assignment should have received as well as why he or she believes that he or she should have received such a grade.
• Academic Honesty: UF students are bound by The Honor Pledge which states, “We, the members of the University of Florida community, pledge to hold ourselves and our peers to the highest standards of honor and integrity by abiding by the Honor Code. On all work submitted for credit by students at the University of Florida, the following pledge is either required or implied: “On my honor, I have neither given nor received unauthorized aid in doing this assignment.” The Honor Code (http://www.dso.ufl.edu/sccr/process/student-conduct-honorcode/) specifies a number of behaviors that are in violation of this code and the possible sanctions. Furthermore, you are obligated to report any condition that facilitates academic misconduct to appropriate personnel. If you have any questions or concerns, please consult with the instructor or TAs in this class.
• Accommodations for Students with Disabilities: Students requesting classroom accommodation must first register with the Dean of Students Office. The Dean of Students Office will provide documentation to the student who must then provide this documentation to the Instructor when requesting accommodation. Contact the Disability Resources Center (http://www.dso.ufl.edu/drc/) for information about available resources for students with disabilities.
• Counseling and Mental Health Resources: Students facing difficulties completing the course or who are in need of counseling or urgent help should call the on-campus Counseling and Wellness Center (352-392-1575; http://www.counseling.ufl.edu/cwc/).
• Online Course Evaluation Process: Students are expected to provide feedback on the quality of instruction in this course based on 10 criteria. These evaluations are conducted online at https://evaluations.ufl.edu. Evaluations are typically open during the last two or three weeks of the semester, but students will be given specific times when they are open. Summary results of these assessments are available to students at https://evaluations.ufl.edu/results.
GRADING SCALE…
The grading scale for this class appears on CANVAS. It also appears below:
Grading Scale:
A 100-94 (4.0); A- 93-90 (3.67); B+ 89-87 (3.00); B 86-83 (3.0); B- 82-80 (2.67); C+ 79-77 (2.33); C 76-73 (2.0); C- 72-70 (1.67); D+ 69-67 (1.33); D 63-66 (1.0); D- 62-60 (0.67); E 59- (0)
