Contemporary World Issues: Middle Eastern Revolutions

Today in class we’ll look at some of the “revolting conditions” that sparked the uprisings in late 2010 and early 2011. Continue reading →

In class today we are going to start setting up one of the basic pieces of our digital projects: Diigo social bookmarking. Continue reading →

These slides break down the introduction to Controversies in Globalization according to the forces driving globalization, its effects, and the categorical views taken in analyzing it and formulating policies. We’ll do a short group activity today to get some practice with these views and gain a bit of familiarity with them. Friday we’ll look at some of our major assignments for the semester.

It seems like it might be a good idea to follow up some classes with my own reflections. First of all, it is an admittedly awkward situation to share your knowledge in the environment of a diverse class, so I hope no one felt uncomfortable with today’s exercise. I don’t have any expectations about anyone’s background knowledge; I only have an intention to build your confidence to know and discuss the contemporary Middle East. Continue reading →

This is a music video produced shortly after the revolution broke out in Egypt in January 2011. The musicians and producers are mostly Arabs and Muslims living outside the region. As you watch, make not of the themes in the video: How do they compare to the themes raised in the introduction to Battle for the Arab Spring?

I’ve uploaded the reading for Friday to Blackboard in the “Reading Assignments” folder for those of you who don’t have Battle for the Arab Spring yet.

As I suggested at the end of class today, you might think of the Arab Uprisings (or Arab Spring as many call it) as a second wave to emerge from the ashes of 20th-century Arab nationalism.

As you read these pages, think about a couple of things. Continue reading →

This is an interesting animated map of the Middle East showing several millennia of imperial conquests.