Contemporary World Issues: Middle Eastern Revolutions

Each of you will share a brief showcase of your blog on a scheduled day during the final week of classes this semester. Your showcase will only be 4 minutes long to accommodate everyone. Rather than have open discussion, I want you to write comments on your classmates’ blogs during the showcasing week. This feedback will be helpful to you in refining and revising your final research summary. Continue reading →

On Wednesday we will try to tie together our discussion of the Islamic State and the diversity of Islamist ideologies from Monday with some attention to the overthrow of the Morsi presidency in Egypt, the crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood, and the return of the military to open governance in Egypt. There are two blog articles below to read along with the “Afterword” of Battle for the Arab Spring. Also look below for some explanations of what work is due when in the coming weeks. As you read this material, think about the questions I posed at the end of class on Monday:

1) Is there an ethical or constructive way for Arab and/or Islamic peoples to preserve their culture against globalization?

2) How (if you believe so) is the Islamic State a threat to US national security?

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Note: Don’t forget the screening of Ali Zaoua in Moody 126 Tuesday, Nov. 12 at 6:00 pm.

On this sunny, windy Monday morning we talked about controversies surrounding globalization of culture and indigenous rights. We focused on three basic topics: the dominant development paradigm, indigenous rights, and globalization as a hybridizing, cosmopolitanizing force rather than a homogenizing force. These topics will shape our understanding of the material we’ll be looking at next: the Egyptian graphic novel Metro and the rise of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. Here below are a couple of articles to read for Wednesday about comic book culture and science fiction in Egypt. I’m also throwing in a few other things to look at (at your leisure) related to some of the things we discussed on Monday. Continue reading →

Today in class we will discuss the outcome of the Syria Simulation and consider how it compares to the real events. We’ll also look at the guidelines for writing the reflection paper and talk about your digital projects. I also have a list of co-curricular events through Nov. 21 (remember that you have to do one event of your choosing and at least one of the Middle East films, though your two co-curricular papers can both be ME films.)

Regarding digital projects, the last day to post on Diigo is coming up on 11/21. Because we won’t have class at all the next week, anyone who hasn’t made progress on their projects needs to meet with me next week. I’m also going to check your blogs at 1:00 pm on Tuesday, Nov. 11 and mark anything everything as zero credit that is not up-to-date. Check your rubric to see where you should be.

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Happy Halloween! What a perfect occasion to practice inhabiting someone else’s perspective. Following the rules of the game,  your teams will be introduced to your cards and will have a short 10 minutes to research and plan an action. The actions you take will be recorded on this leader board. As we play over the next three class meetings, continue reading the assigned chapters from Controversies in Globalization and reflect on how the issues those chapters debate affect the dynamics of our game.

Here is the list of teams:

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Leading up to the Syria Simulation that starts on Friday, we will discuss some of the nuances and complications of authorizing humanitarian military intervention. Here are the slides we’ll be using in class for discussion today.

We’ll be using these slides to guide our discussion in class today about gender equality and US foreign policy.

For the next few weeks we will be studying Syria since about 1963 to the present. Because the trajectory of the civil conflict in Syria has led to the establishment of the Islamic State, we will return to questions of Islamist politics and revolution after we run the Syria simulation game in class.

For Friday, read the last chapter of Diaries of an Unfinished Revolution and pay particular attention to the grand historical events that the author, Khawla Dunia, weaves into the experiences of her and her compatriots’ daily lives in Syria. (And do anticipate some kind of reading quiz to start things off Friday.) Next week we will read the chapter on gender and military intervention in Controversies In Globalization (and there will probably be reading quizzes for those, too.)

These films can count as one of your co-curricular events this semester (along with one of the two remaining Middle East films). Continue reading →

Next Wednesday we’ll have the in-class midterm examination. This week’s blog entry will give you details on what the exam will cover and how to prepare for it. Please do take advantage of the commenting section on this blog post to ask questions about the midterm. Continue reading →