Middle Eastern and North African Studies I

About this programme

Within the framework of this course, the student acquires knowledge about the history of the Middle East and North Africa and the three largest religions in the region; Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The course also introduces the student to the region's contemporary political and economic landscape. The Middle East: Religion and Early History , 7.5 credits (ECTS) This course gives an overview of the historical cultural, socio-political and economic developments in the Middle East and North Africa from approximately 1800 BCE to 1500 CE. The course covers the rise of monotheism amid other religious traditions and especially the relationship to the emergence of the three Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam), their history, tenets of belief, holy scriptures, rites and central doctrinal groupings. Middle Eastern Modern History: 1500-1920 , 7.5 credits (ECTS) This course provides an overview of the modern history of the Middle East, from the decline of the Abbassid and Seljuk emirates to the Rise of the Ottoman Empire until the end of World War I. It adopts both a chronological and a thematic perspective, in order to outline the most relevant dynamics that the regions included in the expansion of the Ottoman Empire, with a particular focus on political and legal structures, socio-economic transformations and relations with emerging European empires such as Russia, the Habsburgs, Portugal, Britain, France, Italy, Sweden and the Netherlands. Contemporary Middle Eastern history: 1820-2020 , 7.5 credits (ECTS) This course charts the evolution of Middle Easter