The Middle East and US Foreign Policy : Alternative Voices
GloS 3900, Sec. 06
1 credit course / Fall 2006 (10/6 – 12/13)
Meeting time: Fridays 12-1 pm, Blegen 230
Instructor: Professor Vinay Gidwani
Office: 560 Social Science
Email: vgidwani@geog.umn.edu
Phone: (612) 625-1397
NOTE: First class meets Friday, October 6. But students may register for the course subsequently. Contact instructor, if interested.
The recent war in Lebanon is only the latest development in the Middle East that North Americans have struggled to understand, following hard on the heels of the American invasion of Iraq, the ongoing siege of Gaza, rising tensions between the U.S. and Iran, growing support for Islamist political parties like Hezbollah and Hamas, and increasing discontent among the citizens of authoritarian Arab regimes allied with the United States. While diverse positions on these events have been debated widely in the Middle East, Europe, and elsewhere, there has been much less room for alternative voices to be heard in the United States and Canada, as evident in the unanimous vote in support of Israel in the U.S. Senate and the recent statement by the Canadian deputy Prime Minster likening Hezbollah to the Nazi party of the 1930s.
This special 1-credit course is assembled around an exciting speaker series that will take place at the University of Minnesota (Minneapolis campus) this fall. The series, titled The Middle East and U.S. Foreign Policy: Alternative Voices, is intended to provide students and faculty at the university with an opportunity to hear information and analysis about current events in the Middle East from viewpoints not widely reported in the media or represented in political debate in the United States today. The series will consist of six public lectures and one panel discussion beginning on October 11, 2006 and concluding on December 8, 2006. Each invited speaker is a well-respected scholar, journalist or activist currently working or writing on Middle East issues.
The 1-credit course that is coupled to the series strives to give undergraduates registered at the University of Minnesota an opportunity to develop a more thorough understanding of current events in the Middle East, and thus to contribute to more thoughtful political debate of U.S. foreign policy in the region. With two exceptions, the public lectures are for noon on Monday, Wednesday or Friday (please see next page for details about the series).
Course Requirements
- Attend at least 5 of the 7 events in the series
- Read supplementary articles (no more than 15-20 pages per week) on themes linked to the speaker series
- Meet once a week for one hour to discuss the series and assigned readings
- Write a 4 to 5 page (double-spaced, 12 pt font) reflection on the Middle East and U.S. foreign policy based on course readings and the 5 events you attended
Course Readings
- Khalidi Chapter 1 - Part 1;
- Khalidi Chapter 1 - Part 2;
- Khalidi Chapter 2 - Part 1;
- Khalidi Chapter 2 - Part 2;
- Martin Sampson, A Short History of the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict
- Jeff Halper, When a Country doesn't Take Responsibility
For a schedule of the lectures in the series, click in The Middle East and US Foreign Policy: Alternative Voices.