Announcements
Fall 2013 Course Offering:
HIST 103 History of Modern Middle East
MW 12:00 - 13:15 pm
Prof. George Vasquez
Course Description:
A survey of the modern Middle East since the invasion of Egypt by Napoleon at the
end of the 18th century to the present day. It will focus on several major issues
which have defined the region and continue to be of vital concern: imperialism and
the dissolution of the Ottoman Empre; World War I, the Mandate System, and the growth
of nationalism and secularism versusfundamentalist Islam: the formation of Israel
in 1948 and the enduing Israeli-Palestinian conflict; the Iranian Revolution and the
rule of the Ayatollahs: U.S./Middle East relations and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan
as well as the quest for oil; and the changing status of women in the Middle East.
Fall 2013 Events at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Library, Room 255/257 at 7pm
- September 4 (Wednesday) "Cyrus the Great & Achaemenid Persia in World History" with Prof. John Lee, Dept. of History, UC Santa Barbara
- October 8 (Tuesday) "The Cat and the Coup" with puzzle video game creator Prof. Kurosh Valanejad, USC. Historical background of the 1953 US backed coup d'etat will be presented by Prof. George Vasquez, History Dept., SJSU.
- October 10 (Thursday) "Iran as a Muse: Literature Inspired by Iran and Iranian Culture" Editor Meaghan Sayres and contributors read from Love and Pomegranates.
- November 7 (Thursday) "The Magic of Farid Attar's Conference of the Birds" with poet and translator, Sholeh Wolpe.