Violence, Urban Conflict and the Making of the Modern Middle East

This course explores how various forms of violence and urban conflict made the modern Middle East and offers an understanding of how violence is both a destructive and a constructive act. Students will explore different modes of violence as an individual and collective experience, an urban process, and a historical event. Through critical considerations of middle eastern spaces, the course focuses on the transformative powers of violence, its ability to draw the boundaries of urban life, to create and divide communities, and to affect the ruling strategies of governments, local elites, and transnational political players.