This seminar examines the multifaceted (cultural, political, economic, religious) nature of the United States' relationship with the peoples and polities that make up the modern Middle East. The course begins in the late Ottoman period, the Muslim empire that ruled much of the Middle East until WWI. In addition to reading primary sources left by American soldiers, merchants, and diplomats, students will study the peculiar role of Protestant
( American and Canadian) missionaries in Ottoman and post-Ottoman lands. The second half of the course focuses on escalation of U.S. intervention in the region from the Cold War onward as well as its impact on Middle Eastern and U.S. societies.
