David Rahimi

Type: Asynchronous Online

This undergraduate course acquaints students with the history of British imperialism in the Middle East from 1821 to 1971, while situating this specific region within the larger question of the global British Empire and what it means for us today. The course begins by contextualizing the origins of the so-called Second British Empire in the early, post-Napoleonic nineteenth century. It ends with the British withdrawal from the Gulf. The class highlights the key economic, social, political, cultural, and religious themes and problems that surfaced during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, such as the problem of Orientalism, the politics of oil nationalization, and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. By the end of the course, students will be able to identify the main factors facilitating the origins of the second empire, explain the various purposes and effects of empire, identify the major challenges to empire like nationalism, and explain what changed post-WWII that led to the end of empire. As an upper-division course, this class emphasizes intensive reading, analytical writing, and critical thinking. Through repeated writing exercises and class discussion, students are encouraged to think deeply and sensitively about the complexities and modern legacies of colonial rule in our world.