The Middle East, especially the “Holy Land” has been conquered and ruled by many generals, empires and kings. Today, it is probably more volatile than at any time in its history. This course looks at the long history that led to the events of October 7, 2023. We will not cover the events of that day and what has transpired since. Instead, this course will investigate the history of the interaction of all the peoples that have made up this region, and in most cases, still do, so that we can gain some understanding of why there is so much happening.

DELIVERY MODE

• Hybrid (F2F & Online simultaneously)

COURSE OUTLINE

• The Middle East in ancient times. The growth and division of settlement and the foreign invaders from the Egyptians to the Arabs
• The Middle Ages, the coming of Christianity and the effects of Europe’s Age of Exploration
• 19th century European persecution of Jews, modern Zionism and Jewish immigration to Palestine from 1882
• The Partition of Palestine and the events that this has put into place
• The geopolitics of the region from Saudi Arabia to Israel to Iran

LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of this course, students should be able to:

1. Understand the long timeline that is Middle Eastern history
2. Identify the religious motivations that have driven the Middle East
3. Understand modern Zionism and its development in Israel/Palestine
4. Understand the claims and counter-claims of the peoples in the Middle East