MES 1199 Anti-Semitism, Racism, Anti-Zionism: Debates, Contexts, Stakes
Thursday, 4:00 – 6:30 p.m.
Professor: Adi Ophir
Location: Paige-Robinson Hall 503

Over the last two decades, negative perceptions, conceptions, and treatment of Jews, and the effort to preempt and suppress them have been marked by fierce debates about “antisemitism.” Everything about the term – what it designates, its historical, theological, and scientific origins, its current targets, how to trace and fight it, and its relation to racism, colonialism and anti-colonial struggles, anti-Zionism, and Islamophobia – is disputed among scholars, educators, and political actors, creating odd alliances and dividing old communities. The seminar offers a study of contemporary antisemitism in the context of these debates and their historical background, theoretical presuppositions, and political stakes.

RPP | WRIT

MES 1301 Interventions and Activism in the Contemporary Middle East
Wednesday, 3:00 – 5:30 p.m.
Professor: Fulya Pinar
Location: Rockefeller Library 205

It is not uncommon to hear simplifying perspectives when it comes to analyses of politics and the everyday lives of people in the Middle East. Instead of reducing lived experiences into binary categorizations (success or failure, authoritarian or democratic), this course examines the intricate relations between top-down political decisions, interventions and bottom-up resistance movements. It raises questions about the connections among economy, crises, democracy, and humanitarianism, and introduces diverse stories and perspectives. Using comparative historical and social scientific analysis, we will discuss topics ranging from struggles against colonial containment to the role of urban movements in social change; from the impacts of Global North-induced crises on Islamic mobilization to the use of humanitarianism as a governance tool; from LGBTQ+ movements to artistic and digital unrest; and from “Arab” Spring to the intersectionality of struggles across identities.

WRIT

MES 1501 The Palestinian Revolution, 1948-1982
Tuesday, 4:00 – 6:30 p.m.
Professor: Abdel Razzaq Takriti
Location: Friedman Hall 101

The phenomenon generally referred to in Arabic as the Palestinian Revolution (al-Thawra al-Filastiniya) was momentous by any standard. Unfolding over several decades between 1948 and 1982, it had profound implications for the history of Palestine, the Middle East, and global anti-colonialism. Traditionally, it is studied using top-down state, diplomatic and military themes in history and politics. In contrast, this course focuses on the grassroots level, approaching Palestinian revolutionaries as subjects, rather than objects, of politics and history. While taking account of the role of external historical forces, the focus here is on Palestinian popular structures, movements, cadres, philosophies, feminist initiatives, songs, poetry, art, tactics, and strategies. As such, the course explores the development of collective agency, political production, and active engagement with history. It also addresses transnational connections that bound the Palestinian revolution with other anti-colonial struggles and solidarity movements worldwide.

RPP | WRIT