REL 236 - Islam, the Middle East, and the West

This course examines major religious, social, and political transformations in the Middle East (Southwest Asia and North Africa) from the rise of Islam to the present. It pays special attention to the region’s relationship with the West (Europe and North America), historically and today. Class topics include the rise and spread of Islam, Muslim beliefs and practices, the Crusades, the Ottoman Empire, Western colonialism, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, political Islam, veiling practices, and the Arab Spring. Two semester course sequence

3 credits