Intro Middle Eastern Studies - bmc.MEST.B200.001.SP21

This course introduces students to the interdisciplinary field of Middle Eastern Studies with a focus on the analytical approaches, methods, and tools used by specialists of the area. Students will become familiar with the dynamics of the region in the premodern and modern periods and the major issues and debates that dominate the various disciplinary approaches to the study of the Middle East. There will be a special emphasis on the disciplinary approaches used by scholars at Bryn Mawr and Haverford, including the History of Art, Political Science, Near Eastern Archaeology, Languages and Literature, Anthropology, Religious Studies, and History. Readings will include both canonical and alternative works in Middle Eastern Studies to examine the limits and possibilities of the field. This course will also feature visits by leading scholars from the Middle East Studies faculty at Bryn Mawr and Haverford who research and write on this region.