REL 372.001
Advanced Studies in Mid-East & European Religion: Religion & Politics of the
Middle East

Professor
Dr. Steven L. Jacobs
sjacobs@bama.ua.edu

Office: 201 Manly Hall
Office Phone: 348-0473
Office Hour: to be announced
Course: TR 12:30-1:45
Course Number: 47255
Location: 210 Manly Hall

About Online Readings

Some course readings are placed in a "secure" folder; you can only access these PDF files (Portable Document Format, that can be opened with the free Adobe Reader) by clicking each link and then entering your Bama User Name and Password. If you have difficulty accessing these readings, contact the instructor by email.

If you have forgotten your Bama ID, but know your Campus Wide ID (CWID), then go here.

Description

The reassertion of religious values for political ends in the Middle East and beyond suggests a need for reconsideration of the process of social change. This course will examine the stories of Turkey, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Iran, and the Arabian Penninsula as well as the concepts of Middle East Islam, Arab nationalism, Judaism and Zionism as well as the supposed "clash of civilizations" to develop a clearer understanding of a little known but important part of the world and the birthplaces of the world's three dominant monotheistic religious traditions.

Syllabus

Fall 2008 (PDF)

Books (required)

Fraser, T.G.
The Arab-Israeli Conflict
NY: Palgrave Macmillan 2008
ISBN: 0230004695

Gorenberg, Gershom
The End of Days: Fundamentalism and the Struggle for the Mount Temple
NY:Oxford Univ
ISBN: 0195152050

Smith, Dan
The State of the Middle East: An Atlas of Conflict and Resolution
Univ CA Press
ISBN: 0520248687

The Middle East Washington, CD 11th Ed
CQ Press
ISBN: 9780872893696

Yanbert, Karl, ed
The Contemporary Middle East
Boulder: Westview Press 2006
ISBN: 0813343399

Online Readings

To be announced