International Relations of the Middle East

End of this week

Your research prospectus is due at the end of the week!

What to do:

The prospectus is a research proposal. In it you will, 1. define your research question and 2. provide brief background on your topic.

But how do I come up with a research question?! We just started this class! 

• Actually, we have covered a lot and if you look over notes, you may find their are questions that you wish to explore?

But I have no questions so far!

• Go to your syllabus and scan what topics in the future will be covered. If something interest you, start there and review the readings for that week.

Still...

• Think outside of class topics. Think about an issue that you want to know more that is not covered in this class.  (It has to be related to the region and class content). There are loads of topics

Topics:

• A state without government (Lebanon)
• Iran's influence in the central  Middle East 
• Hizbollah
• Environment and the building of national feeling and control in Israel-Palestine
• Middle East politics through art
• and so much more!!!

Once you have your topic, do some preliminary research.

• This is an opportunity to use google and wikipedia to the max.
• Start scanning article abstracts (Jstor is always handy).

Once you have done some preliminary work, define your research question.

Lila Abu Luhgod

Prospectus:  " Do Muslim women need saving"

After doing quick research through the speeches of past presidents and first ladies as well as historical records of colonial engagement in the Middle East, I have discovered that there is a fascination with women and their dress. In Time magazine's archive, I have discovered photos of ... After reviewing this content I sense that there exists on the side of Western power a need to ensure the rights and safety of Muslim women. In this paper I want to explore this issue further and discern whether these moments are wholly altruistic.

Specs:

• 1-2 pages
• Times New Roman, font size 12
• Yes, do have a works cited section, Chicago style.
  • I encourage you now to get a reliable citation program. Zotero is free and works with Firefox.
• Email it by Sunday night, 8pm via moodle

State

"Organizational structure outside other socioeconomic hierarchies with relatively autonomous office-holders"

Nation

"Social group linked through common descent,culture, language"

-Dean and Ritzer 2015

A burgeoning desire for nation states in the 20th century

1.5 million Armenians dead

• The Armenian Genocide
• the national swap of Greek and Turkish citizens
• The founding of Israel and Al Nakba

Take a moment and reflect on the following:

"In an anthropological spirit, then, I propose the following definition of the nation: it is an imagined political community  - and imagined as both inherently limited and sovereign....In fact, all communities larger than primordial villages of face-to-face contact (and perhaps even these) are imagined. Communities are to be distinguished, not by their falsity/genuineness, but by the style in which they are imagined."

-Benedict Anderson

Are you part of a nation? If yes, what is it?

What traits, beliefs, values define this space?

What does it mean for you and your life to belong to a nation?

Is America a nation?