2020-21 Academic Catalog

This course examines processes of nation-building in the modern Middle East, when competing enterprises were at work to establish an “authentic national character” with a focus on religious identity. We will look at political essays, literary creations, images, and songs to study the diverse ways in which the nation is imagined and critiqued in the region, along with sources on modern political thought. Our primary countries of focus will be Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.