George Mason University
M.A. in Middle East and Islamic Studies
MEIS 500: Critical Issues and Debates in Middle East and Islamic Studies
Wednesdays 7:20 pm – 10:00 pm
Robinson B 103
Office: Robinson B 375B
Office Hours: MW - 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm & by Appointment
Huseyin Yilmaz
Email: [email protected]
OVERVIEW
This course is an advanced survey of significant issues, paradigms, and methodologies in the study of the the Middle East and Islam. Its aim is to introduce M.A. students in Middle East and Islamic Studies to a wide spectrum of approaches and themes in both fields above, expose them to the methodological and substantive debates therein, and prepare them for conducting advanced research in their area of interest. The rationale for bringing together various topics, themes, regions, and disciplines is to emphasize the importance of contextualizing any related research agenda within a broader framework.
The course will have a designated instructor who coordinates and manages its development. However, most lectures will be given by guest lecturers who will provide an in depth exploration of the course's various themes. Each professor will assign readings for their respective lectures and students are expected to do a close reading of all assigned material.
Students will be expected to write three Theme Response Papers (2000-2500 words) on any of the designated themes in the course. The papers will be graded by the respective lecturer. In addition, students are required to write a final take-home essay drawing upon the themes and methodologies studied throughout the course in lieu of a final exam. This document (details TBA) is to be graded by the instructor of the course. Click here for more information.
Your final grade will be based on your four papers, whereby each is worth 25%
COURSE THEMES
August 28
Huseyin Yilmaz
Introduction to MEIS: The Middle East and the Muslim World
Mapping the Middle East
September 4
Bassam Haddad
The Politics of Knowledge Production: The Study of the “East,” the “Orient,” and Islam
September 11
Christopher Anzalone
On Islam and Social Inquiry
September 18
Elise Anderson
Islam and Muslims in Minority Contexts: Uyghurs in Northwest China
September 25
Sumaiya Hamdani
Historiography of the Middle East and the Muslim World
October 2
Benjamin Gatling
Folklore Studies of Central Asia and the Middle East
October 9
Ahmet Selim Tekelioglu
Islam in the Western Hemisphere: Patterns of Settlement and Indigenization
October 16
Huseyin Yilmaz
The Post-Abbasid Reconfiguration and the Ottoman Empire
October 23
Yasemin Ipek
Refugees and Displacement in the Middle East
October 30
Nathaniel Greenberg
The Subject of Revolt in Modern Arabic Literature
November 6
Cortney Hughes Rinker
Culture, Health, and Illness in the Middle East and North Africa
November 13
Abdulaziz Sachedina
The Muslim World: An Overview of Salient Issues and Themes
November 20
Maria Dakake
Islamic Sources & Contemporary Contexts
November 27
Thanksgiving Recess
No Class
December 4
Bassam Haddad
Afterlives of the Arab Uprisings
This course is an advanced survey of significant issues, paradigms, and methodologies in the study of the the Middle East and Islam. Its aim is to introduce M.A. students in Middle East and Islamic Studies to a wide spectrum of approaches and themes in both fields above, expose them to the methodological and substantive debates therein, and prepare them for conducting advanced research in their area of interest. The rationale for bringing together various topics, themes, regions, and disciplines is to emphasize the importance of contextualizing any related research agenda within a broader framework.
The course will have a designated instructor who coordinates and manages its development. However, most lectures will be given by guest lecturers who will provide an in depth exploration of the course's various themes. Each professor will assign readings for their respective lectures and students are expected to do a close reading of all assigned material.
Students will be expected to write three Theme Response Papers (2000-2500 words) on any of the designated themes in the course. The papers will be graded by the respective lecturer. In addition, students are required to write a final take-home essay drawing upon the themes and methodologies studied throughout the course in lieu of a final exam. This document (details TBA) is to be graded by the instructor of the course. Click here for more information.
Your final grade will be based on your four papers, whereby each is worth 25%
COURSE THEMES
August 28
Huseyin Yilmaz
Introduction to MEIS: The Middle East and the Muslim World
Mapping the Middle East
September 4
Bassam Haddad
The Politics of Knowledge Production: The Study of the “East,” the “Orient,” and Islam
September 11
Christopher Anzalone
On Islam and Social Inquiry
September 18
Elise Anderson
Islam and Muslims in Minority Contexts: Uyghurs in Northwest China
September 25
Sumaiya Hamdani
Historiography of the Middle East and the Muslim World
October 2
Benjamin Gatling
Folklore Studies of Central Asia and the Middle East
October 9
Ahmet Selim Tekelioglu
Islam in the Western Hemisphere: Patterns of Settlement and Indigenization
October 16
Huseyin Yilmaz
The Post-Abbasid Reconfiguration and the Ottoman Empire
October 23
Yasemin Ipek
Refugees and Displacement in the Middle East
October 30
Nathaniel Greenberg
The Subject of Revolt in Modern Arabic Literature
November 6
Cortney Hughes Rinker
Culture, Health, and Illness in the Middle East and North Africa
November 13
Abdulaziz Sachedina
The Muslim World: An Overview of Salient Issues and Themes
November 20
Maria Dakake
Islamic Sources & Contemporary Contexts
November 27
Thanksgiving Recess
No Class
December 4
Bassam Haddad
Afterlives of the Arab Uprisings