Jewish Histories of the Modern Middle Ea

This seminar explores the many ways in which Jews participated in the social, cultural, political, and economic life of the modern Middle East. Together we will seek to nuance narratives of Jewish histories as we move both chronologically and thematically to trace transformations in daily life, popular culture, political belonging, education, religious practice, and more. We will examine Jewish history in conjunction with global and interregional processes in the Middle East and beyond, such as colonialism, imperialism, nationalism, the formation of modern nation states in the Middle East, and the Israeli-Arab conflict.

Through reading scholarly literature and analyzing primary documents—including letters and petitions, newspapers and state records, literature, music, and photography—this course guides students in thinking like historians, reading texts, and formulating interpretations. By centering a wide range of historical voices, we will examine how Jews’ historical experiences were shaped by gender, class, race, religious practice, and regionality. In taking our guiding frameworks and approaches from various disciplines and fields, including history, anthropology, visual culture, and postcolonial studies, we will work to better understand the many historical trajectories of Jewish life in the modern Middle East.