CONTEMPORARY HISTORY OF THE MIDDLE EAST
A basic knowledge of the history, geography and religions of the Middle East is required. Such basic knowledge will be provided in the seminar on the Basics of the Contemporary History of the Middle East (taught by Prof. Sabahi on Tuesday morning, online TBC).
The written exam will be structured in two open questions on the history of Iran, and two open questions on the history of Yemen. The exam will take place in written form in order to ensure that students will have enough time to provide coherent answers. Oral skills will be tested during the discussion in class.
The course examines the historical developments of the Middle East since the end of the XIX century to nowadays. At the end of the course, students who attended the course and passed the final exam will have acquired a solid knowledge of two countries in particular: Iran and Yemen. We'll focus on the constitution of the nation state, on modernization, on religious and ethnic minorities and gender issues.
The course is structured in two parts. The first one will be focused on Iran since 1892. The second part will be on Yemen since the reign of Imam Yahya till the latest developments.
The course is mainly structured in lectures. PowerPoints and short documentaries will be used. Those students who will attend will be required to make presentations on specific topics (do check the topics you wish to tackle with Prof. Sabahi).
TEXT: for the first part on Iran: Farian Sabahi, Storia dell'Iran 1890-2020, Saggiatore, Milano, 2020.
For the second part on Yemen: Farian Sabahi, Storia dello Yemen, Istituto C.A. Nallino, Roma, 2021.