This is a paper on the historical anthropology of the Middle East with a focus, primarily, on post-Ottoman and post-colonial Syria, Lebanon, Palestine/Israel, Iraq, Turkey, Iran and Egypt. Through a series of lectures and seminars, we examine, study and critically discuss historical and anthropological works on the following themes: Orientalism and cultures of representing the Middle East; colonial and post-colonial state practices; nation-building; gender, sexuality and intimacy; cultures of ‘modernity’; political cultures and subjectivities; contested geographies; sovereignty and the materiality of power; Islam, secularism and the governmentalization of religion; pious communities, ‘ordinary Islam’, and Islamist movements; violence and memory; minorities and minoritization practices; inter-communal relations and ‘sectarianism’; media, popular culture and literature. Lectures and seminars will be based on ethnographic and historical sources.
Further information including a list of lecture courses and background reading can be found in the Paper Guide in the Paper Resources section to the right of this page.