Course Syllabus

Modern Middle Eastern History

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Course Description

This is a political, social, cultural, and economic study of the modern Middle East, focusing on the 20th century. Students explore Middle Eastern religious traditions, interactions between Middle Eastern and Western cultures, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the resurgence of Islamic politics, and nationalism, rebellion, and terrorism in the region.

Essential Objectives

1. Describe the geography, resources, religions, and governance of the region's nations.
2. Explain the modern implications of Middle Eastern religious traditions.
3. Identify the political and economic influence of Western powers in the Middle East.
4. Define nationalism and rebellion in the modern Middle East.
5. Outline the origins and evolution of Israel.
6. Examine the causes of the "Suez Crisis."
7. Discuss the resurgence of Islamic political power.
8. Analyze the causes and consequences of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Required Technology

More information on general computer and internet recommendations is available on the CCV IT Support page. https://support.ccv.edu/general/computer-recommendations/

Please see CCV's Digital Equity Statement (pg. 45) to learn more about CCV's commitment to supporting all students access the technology they need to successfully finish their courses.

Required Textbooks and Resources

This course only uses free Open Educational Resources (OER) and/or library materials. For details, see the Canvas Site for this class.

Artificial Intelligence(AI) Policy Statement

CCV recognizes that artificial intelligence (AI) and generative AI tools are widely available and becoming embedded in many online writing and creative applications.

Prohibited: The use of generative AI is not allowed in this course, with the exception of spellcheck, grammar check and similar tools. This course rests in the value of students engaging in the learning process without relying on AI-generated content. Students will develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills independently, owning their learning journey from start to finish. If you use these tools, your actions would be considered academically dishonest and a violation of CCV's Academic Integrity Policy.

Use of generative AI like ChatGPT is not allowed for any work submitted in this course. The goal of the assignments is to foster your ability to read closely, think critically, and write clearly, and generative AI provides a “shortcut” that can hamper your ability to learn these important skills.

If you have ideas about how to use AI to do historical research, by all means let’s have a conversation about it. There are many legitimate uses for computational philology (computer analysis of written texts) and other forms of digital humanities, and I would love to hear about ways that AI can augment the work of historians.

Methods

- online group discussions

- reading primary sources, secondary literature, and news articles

- writing reflection papers

- taking weekly reading quizzes

- analyzing primary sources

Evaluation Criteria

Course grade

40% 16 Discussions = Participation (@ 2.5% ea.)

15% 10 Weekly Quizzes (Weeks 2-12 = 11 quizzes, lowest grade is dropped @ 1.5% ea.)

25% 6 primary source analyses (@ 4.17% ea.)

20% 3 reflection papers, due end of Week 5, Week 10, and Week 15 (@ 6.67% ea.)

100% = Total

Grading Criteria

CCV Letter Grades as outlined in the Evaluation System Policy are assigned according to the following chart:

	High	Low
A+	100	98
A	Less than 98	93
A-	Less than 93	90
B+	Less than 90	88
B	Less than 88	83
B-	Less than 83	80
C+	Less than 80	78
C	Less than 78	73
C-	Less than 73	70
D+	Less than 70	68
D	Less than 68	63
D-	Less than 63	60
F	Less than 60
P	100	60
NP	Less than 60	0

Weekly Schedule

Attendance Policy

Regular attendance and participation in classes are essential for success in and are completion requirements for courses at CCV. A student's failure to meet attendance requirements as specified in course descriptions will normally result in a non-satisfactory grade.

• In general, missing more than 20% of a course due to absences, lateness or early departures may jeopardize a student's ability to earn a satisfactory final grade.
• Attending an on-ground or synchronous course means a student appeared in the live classroom for at least a meaningful portion of a given class meeting. Attending an online course means a student posted a discussion forum response, completed a quiz or attempted some other academically required activity. Simply viewing a course item or module does not count as attendance.
• Meeting the minimum attendance requirement for a course does not mean a student has satisfied the academic requirements for participation, which require students to go above and beyond simply attending a portion of the class. Faculty members will individually determine what constitutes participation in each course they teach and explain in their course descriptions how participation factors into a student's final grade.

Participation Expectations

Since this is an online asynchronous course, we don’t have the face-to-face interactions in the classroom that in-person courses have. So, your conversations with me and with each other in our Discussions will fill that role. It’s important that you put a lot of thought and time into both your initial posts and your responses to enhance your and your classmates’ understanding of the material. Discussions are worth a high percentage of the final grade (45%), which reflects how important they are.

Initial Discussion posts will be due Thursday at 11:59pm, and your responses to two of your classmates will be due Sunday at 11:59pm.

Each Discussion has specific instructions/ questions you must address, both in your initial posts and in your responses. Please refer to the Rubric for Discussion posts for the grading standard I use, and note that responses along the lines of “I agree/ disagree” without further elaboration will not be counted. If you are ever having trouble coming up with more to say, simply answer the question of why you feel how you feel.

If you log in and post at least 3 times a week, you will get full participation marks (5pts) for that week’s Discussion. If you log in and post twice a week, you will get 4pts. Once a week is 3pts and if you don’t post at all, you receive 0pts.

Missing & Late Work Policy

The deadlines are a very important part of this course, because it moves quickly and you can easily fall behind if you don’t stay current with your work. In Discussions, you will also lose the benefit of being in conversation with your classmates if you miss the response deadlines.

Therefore, all late work will be penalized 5% per day late, unless you have contacted me beforehand. Please do not hesitate to reach out if you know you have to miss a deadline, or if you find yourself having trouble meeting deadlines generally. I am happy to work with you on strategies to manage your workload for this course.

Accessibility Services for Students with Disabilities:

1. Provide disability documentation to the Accessibility Coordinator at your academic center. https://ccv.edu/discover-resources/students-with-disabilities/
2. Request an appointment to meet with accessibility coordinator to discuss your request and create an accommodation plan.
3. Once created, students will share the accommodation plan with faculty. Please note, faculty cannot make disability accommodations outside of this process.

Academic Integrity