Examination of the first cities and states in the world and the earliest written records of human history. Study of the civilizations of the Sumerians, Akkadians, Babylonians and Assyrians through archaeological remains and historical sources.

Development of architecture and urbanism in the Islamic world from the 7th through the 20th century. Different types of cities ranging from Spain through Central Asia. Urbanistic and formal developments as tied to social and economic changes. Major cities include Cordoba, Cairo, Istanbul, Damascus, Baghdad, Isfahan, Samarkand, and Delhi. Development of architecture and urbanism in the Islamic world from the 7th through the 20th century. Different types of cities ranging from Spain through Central Asia. Urbanistic and formal developments as tied to social and economic changes. Major cities include Cordoba, Cairo, Istanbul, Damascus, Baghdad, Isfahan, Samarkand, and Delhi.

A study of state theory and state transformations with a special emphasis on the 19th and 20th centuries. The end of multi-ethnic empires and the emergence of nation states will be analyzed by comparing the cases of the Hapsburg, Russian and Ottoman Empires.

The history of Palestine and the Arab-Israeli conflict from the 19th century to the present. Begins with the transformations in Ottoman Palestine and the development of Zionism in Europe in the late nineteenth-century and ends with the so-called peace process and its aftermath. A critical historical overview that will familiarize the undergraduate student with the background of the current situation.

Using films as historical artifacts, a complex type of document to be explored critically with regard to its ostensible subject matter, perception by different, and historical context. Based on a combination of watching and reading. To develop a better sense of the forces, dispositions, and memories still shaping events in Russia and for many Russians and to make films speak to history in a non-naïve manner, by critical contextualization.

Major issues in the history of the Ottoman Empire with a focus on the cultural life. Topics will include: life at the frontiers; relations between Ottomans and their neighbors; imperial ideology; the social fabric, gender, and ethnic structure; social unrest and religious movements; the new world order and the Ottoman response. Students will be encouraged to compare and contrast academic approaches to Ottoman History with its representation in historical novels and film.

The period between the late nineteenth and mid-twentieth centuries. The spatial focus of the course is the Ottoman port cities of Istanbul and Salonica, Haussmann?s Paris, immigrant New York, the new Turkish capital of Ankara, Soviet Moscow, and Berlin during the interwar period. Exploring the relationship between the urban space and social change the course aims to illustrate the specificities and similarities of concurrent historical experiences in these different social entities.

The analysis of the political, economic, social, and cultural developments in the five Central Asian republics (Turkmenistan, Kazakistan, Kirgizstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan) and Azerbaijan in the Pre-Soviet (1900-1920), Soviet (1920-1991), and the Post-Soviet periods (1992-current) by focusing on the internal and external problems and challenges during these major transitions. The roles and policies of foreign countries (chiefly Russia, China, Iran, Türkiye, the US, EU, and Japan) in the region will also be studied.

Explores the complex ways in which religion and politics have been intertwined in European history, from the persecution or expulsion of infidels and heretics in the Middle Ages to the religiously based civil wars in the 20th century Balkans. Topics include religious affiliations that have been used to mark political differences, and countervailing forces that have allowed for religious coexistence and cultural pluralism.

Detailed examination of current topics in History.