HST240 History of the Arab Peoples

[3–0, 3 cr.]

The focus of this course is on the Arabs as a people and their achievements throughout history. From their Semitic origins in Arabia to their many succes­sive sub-variations throughout the Middle East the course traces the develop­ment of the Arabs and their civilization into modern times. The rise of Islam and the revelation of the Koran in the Arabic language to an Arab Prophet made the Arabs special in their own eyes and in those of all Muslims. Whether it is the life of the courts and cities under the Umayyads, the Abbasids, and in Arab Spain, or the everyday existence of common people in the countryside, the course provides students with a rich portrait of Arab culture and history. Critiques such as those of Ibn Khaldun and some of the later writers of the Nahda period starting in the second half of the 19th century could be germane to the presentation. How the Arabs interacted with Turks, Persians and Euro­peans and how these outsiders perceived the Arabs could also be central to the course’s thematic approach.