History

Culture and Revolution in the Middle East and North Africa since 1914

Module code: V4122
Level 5
15 credits in autumn semester
Teaching method: Lecture, Seminar
Assessment modes: Essay

In this module, you’ll study the twentieth-century history of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), examining this tumultuous period of history through the eyes of the people who lived through it.

You'll study the major political upheavals of the twentieth century, understanding local people as agents in their own history.

The political and social struggles of the Arabic-speaking world take centre stage as we examine how powerful global ideologies and structures such as nationalism, imperialism and the Cold War, were negotiated and experienced by local actors in the MENA region.

Topics include:

• the late Ottoman Empire
• the First World War
• anti-colonial struggles of the interwar years
• the politics of gender
• religious movements
• the formation of postcolonial states, cinema, music and the digital revolution.

The connecting thread through all of these topics is the struggle for participation and representation in the public sphere, a struggle that continues in today’s MENA region.

Module learning outcomes

• Deploy existing knowledge of topics of broad historical significance to the analysis of the national history of a particular country or region.
• Apply understanding of the historical concept of change over time to varied and contested national and regional chronologies.
• Deploy existing knowledge of historiographical debates to questions specific to particular national histories.
• Communicate information, arguments and analysis relating to national and regional history in written forms suitable for an informed audience.