History 463 meets in an ADA-accessible classroom on central campus. The instructor will provide the classroom location before the first day of class via the Canvas course website.
Synchronous presence is expected in this course. There are no routine Panopto recordings. The assessment methods require memorization of material and completion of closed-book quizzes and exams, including a midterm and a final, on which answers are written in complete sentences with pen (or pencil) and paper. There are no Scantrons and no AI assignments. I do not use so-called AI in any aspect of teaching. I write all feedback, grades, messages to the class, and course materials without machine assistance.
So, what is this course about?
Header of the newsletter of the People's Front for the Liberation of Oman (a.k.a. PFLOAG), 1976. Image from Digital Archive of the Middle East, University of Exeter.
In History 463, Modern Persian Gulf, we apply a critical, wide-ranging historical perspective to the Persian Gulf, the states that border it, and the people whose lives are linked to and through it. This course will treat the Gulf—including the Arabian Peninsula, Iraq, and Iran, as well as those countries’ transregional links—as an arena with distinct political, economic, and social dynamics. Today, the countries bordering the Gulf play critical roles in global politics and oil markets. This course will excavate, explore, and examine histories that contextualize and challenge common wisdom about recent events.
We will consider political shifts and transformations in the Gulf through eras of European and American imperialism; colonialism and anticolonialism; racism and enslavement; economic transitions, urbanization, and the social and political history of petroleum; and religious, leftist, and nationalist ideologies. We will also discuss the Gulf’s links with nearby states and regions, including Egypt, Palestine and Israel, and—further afield—South Asia and East Africa. We will read and view historical primary sources, including political documents, memoirs, fiction in translation, photographs, and film.
Among the objectives of this course is to understand central themes in the modern history of the Persian Gulf and articulate confidently the importance of major events and trends in the region. We also aim to achieve an in-depth understanding of the Gulf’s relationships with nearby and overlapping regions, as well as with imperial powers. Another objective is to hone your skills in historical thinking. History is a mode of inquiry and a way of knowing the world through analysis of primary materials from the past, as well as analysis of the work of other historians with those materials. Above all, the central objective of this course, like any history course, is to learn how to think historically by engaging with events, trends, patterns, and materials from the past that inform our present and future. By enrolling in this course, students agree that they are here to learn this way of thinking, which necessitates following the course’s parameters as set by the instructor.
Learn more about the course instructor, Arbella Bet-Shlimon, here.