Middle Eastern Studies 240: Images of the Middle East

An investigation into the culture, history, and politics of the Middle East through a wide range of sources, with an emphasis on analyzing how our knowledge of a culture or region is both created and processed through different forms of representation. Using film, literary texts, and media representations as primary resources (augmented by readings that provide cultural, historical, political, and theoretical background), students negotiate issues of narrative, point of view, and cultural history in order to explore the complexities of Middle Eastern cultures and peoples in both contemporary and historical contexts.