History Final Paper

Write a 6-page (Times New Roman, 11pt. double spaced) essay on the following:

Analyze the main characteristics, objectives, success, and failures of the state-building in the Middle East after the decolonization and independence movements between 1948 and present by explaining significant historical elements (such as global factors, local characteristics, natural resources, political and religious movements) and historical contexts (such as political events, war, coup d’etat etc.) that contributed and/or intervened to the state-building processes in the Middle East. Please make sure you provide specific examples from at least four different contexts among Egyptian, Syrian, Iraqi, Iranian, Palestinian, and Israeli experiences by weighing the roles of local and global political actors/actresses (social groups such as peasants, feminists, students; political parties, political or religious leaders… etc.)

All papers should be uploaded on Canvas. Please do not email me your papers.

Late Paper Policy: You will lose 5% of your grade for each day your paper is late.

Not submitting the final paper results in a F-ailing grade for the entire class.

Guiding Readings and Other Class Materials:

James L. Gelvin, The Modern Middle East: A History. 4th ed., Oxford University Press, 2016. Chapters 14-15-16-17-18-19 & Conclusion.
J. Liebling, “Letter from Gaza: Life in the Gaza Strip.” The New Yorker. 16 March 1957.
Laura Bier, “Our sisters in Struggle: State feminism and Third World Imaginaries,” in Revolutionary Womanhood: Feminisms, Modernity, and the State in Nasser’s Egypt. pp. 154-176.
Elizabeth Thompson, Justice Interrupted, Chapter 8: “Akram al-Hourani and the Baath Party in Syria: Bringing Peasants into Politics,” pp. 207-238.
Ervand Abrahamian, “The 1953 Coup in Iran.” Science & Society 65, 2 (2001) on [Canvas]
Ervand Abrahamian, A History of Modern Iran, Chapter 6: Islamic Republic. [Canvas]
Elizabeth Thompson, Justice Interrupted, Chapter 6: “Hassan al-Banna of Egypt: The Muslim Brotherhood’s Pursuit of Islamic Justice,” pp. 150-176. [Canvas]
Charles Hirschkind and Saba Mahmood. “Feminism, the Taliban, and Politics of Counter-Insurgency.” 339–354.

To Listen

Nationality and Citizenship in Mandate Palestine with Lauren Banko
http://www.ottomanhistorypodcast.com/2016/10/citizenship-in-mandate-palestine.html (链接到外部网站。)

Sara Pursley —- Crisis and Development in 20th Century Iraq: http://www.ottomanhistorypodcast.com/2019/01/crisis-and-development.html (链接到外部网站。)
To Watch

“The Settlers” by Shimon Dotan https://fandm.on.worldcat.org/oclc/1035150677
The Secret of the Seven Sisters: A four-part series that reveals how a secret pact formed a cartel that controls the world’s oil.
Episode 1

https://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/specialseries/2013/04/201344105231487582.html (链接到外部网站。)

“The Square” https://fandm.on.worldcat.org/oclc/956906238 (链接到外部网站。)
Nadia Murad “On her Shoulders”

Academic Integrity

Please note that plagiarism and cheating are grounds for failure in the course. No plagiarism will be tolerated. When you are writing your papers, make sure every sentence you write that is not your own is cited properly. Everything you read anywhere, including websites, wikipedia, the newspaper, or a book has to be cited. See the “Academic Honesty” Section in the Catalog for more information.

Tips on essay writing:

Read the question well and prepare your answer for this question. If the question is asking you to make a comparison between four elements, please make sure you include all of them in your answer. In your essay:

You should have an introductory paragraph where you provide the objectives and organizations of your essay. You are recommended to give these objectives in the order you will follow in the rest of your essay.
Each objective/argument/statement in your essay should be explored by providing examples to strengthen the content.
You should pay attention to the flow of the ideas and structure of your essay. The best way to do that is to prepare an extensive outline of your essay before you start writing.
If you are using a primary or secondary source, you should give references with proper format.

On Citation

For inside references (Surname, page number) [you will lose points if there is no page number]

For bibliography

James L. Gelvin, “Chapter Title” in The Modern Middle East: A History. 4th ed., Oxford UniversityPress, 2016: page numbers.

Do not take sentence-length quotes from the readings unless they are concepts.

Your essay should have a conclusion paragraph where you wrap up the objective and outcomes of your essay.
Take Home Essay Grading Guideline

Introduction to the essay (10pt)
Response to the question asked (10pt)
Grasp of the reading materials assigned in class (25pt)
Critical reading and analysis (meaning: don’t summarize the readings but engage them in a conversation) (25pt)
Style (did you follow the format? Are your references put in correct format? Did you borrow a thought and cite it properly? (10 pt)
Flow of the response: do you have a general structure where you develop ideas? (10 pt)
Conclusion (10pt)

Grade Breakdown:

A=94-100 A-=90-93 B+=87-89B=84-86 B-=80-83

C+=77-79 C=74-76 C-=70-73 D+=64-69D=60-63

F=below 59