Early Islam and Middle East
The Early History of Islam and the Middle East This course is an introduction to the history of Islamic civilizations from the advent of Islam around 610 C.E. to the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453. The principal geographic areas covered are the Middle East and North Africa. Since "Islam" encompasses not simply a religion but an entire cultural complex, this course will trace the development of religious, political, economic, and social institutions in this region. Topics covered include the early Islamic conquests, the rise of religious sectarianism, gender relations, and the expansion of Islamic empires. Pre-1800. 2 hrs lect./1 hr. disc.
The Early History of Islam and the Middle East This course is an introduction to the history of Islamic civilizations from the advent of Islam around 610 C.E. to the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453. The principal geographic areas covered are the Middle East and North Africa. Since "Islam" encompasses not simply a religion but an entire cultural complex, this course will trace the development of religious, political, economic, and social institutions in this region. Topics covered include the early Islamic conquests, the rise of religious sectarianism, gender relations, and the expan …Read more
I took this class as a First Year and found that it was a great class for my first semester. The lectures were very informative and fast paced. As long as you take notes on everything, the entire lecture you will be okay. There is a lot of material from the 600s to the mid 1400s so this class covers a lot of different perspectives over a long period. Discussions were helpful as they allowed us to synthesize what we learned. You are expected to do the readings for discussion which were usually excerpts. There was 2 books we read and a paper on each. Other than that, this class was very easy as long as you do a little reading each day.
I took this class as a First Year and found that it was a great class for my first semester. The lectures were very informative and fast paced. As long as you take notes on everything, the entire lecture you will be okay. There is a lot of material from the 600s to the mid 1400s so this class covers a lot of different perspectives ov …Read more
Febe Armanios is a great lecturer. You get most of the context from her lectures. At least for this class, however, you are expected to keep up with the readings. You can get by the discussion just fine without reading, but her papers are always around 1250 words and require you to have extensive knowledge on the topic at hand. If you can take notes in lecture and keep up with the required readings (in this class it was the books you had to buy), then you'll have an easier time writing these papers. Papers are the highest load of the class, otherwise it's an easy class to throw on the back burner when your schedule gets busy.
Febe Armanios is a great lecturer. You get most of the context from her lectures. At least for this class, however, you are expected to keep up with the readings. You can get by the discussion just fine without reading, but her papers are always around 1250 words and require you to have extensive knowledge on the topic at hand. If yo …Read more
Professor Armanios is a great professor and you can tell that she is deeply passionate about the topic. This class is at 8:40 but she makes lectures interesting, engaging, and fast paced so you don't end up feeling tired in her class. Papers can be a bit difficult because they're 1250 words and Professor Armanios has high standards of writing, but you should be good if you have detailed notes from the readings/class books.
Professor Armanios is a great professor and you can tell that she is deeply passionate about the topic. This class is at 8:40 but she makes lectures interesting, engaging, and fast paced so you don't end up feeling tired in her class. Papers can be a bit difficult because they're 1250 words and Professor Armanios has high standards o …Read more