A survey of the history of the Empire of the Romanovs from Peter the Great to the Bolsheviks' October Revolution. Examining the political and social origins of the empire, how it came to be ruled, who ruled it, who was ruled, and why the latter accepted the Romanov dynasty's rule for more than three centuries. Also looking at social movements, the plight of peasants and urban workers, of women and men as gendered beings, and the long-term causes of the convulsions of 1917.
This course examines what Türkiye and Russia have in common · a Tatar and Byzantine inheritance, a comparable process of westernization and, in the revolutionary period 1918-1938, much collaboration as Türkiye went ahead with state building. The reception of Russian culture in Türkiye will be considered, and so, also, will be the comperative succes of Türkiye as against Russia in modern times.
An historical analysis of great political ideas as put forth by ancient and modern philosophers and political theorists such as Plato, Aristotle, Machiavelli, Rousseau and Marx. Intellectual debates on the foundational questions of politics (forms of government, the relationship of the individual to the state, justice and morality).
The establishment and development of Middle Eastern political systems; social and political processes including the end of empires, formation of nation-states, and their foreign policies.
Analysis of history of the Ottoman Empire and Turkish Republic from the 19th century until 2000’s. Modules including Empires and Nation States; Citizenship and Minorities; Secularism; Elections and Democracy. The main goal is to familiarize students with these universal concepts while going through history of Türkiye.
Examines the evolution of modern diplomacy from the 19th century to the present. Studies topics such as the balance of power, the Concert of Europe, the secret agreements and open diplomacy. Investigates the transformation from the old to the new diplomacy including parliamentary and global diplomacy.
Compares Turkish social structures since the 1920s to other societies. Topics include constitutional structures, development of the civil society, economic policies and their impact on rural-urban differentiation, the impact of trends in international development on the environment and income distribution, Istanbul as a global city, gender and ethnicity with respect to economic, political, and social rights.
The evolution of local nationalism, social change and its effects on political structures, and problems of economic development in the emergence of nation-states in the Balkan region.
History of Europe from the end of the First World War up to the expansion of the European Union in the early years of the twenty-first century. The creation of nation-states after 1919, the great economic crisis of 1929-33; the emergence of Fascist movements, and the spread of Communist sympathies; the emergence of an apparently successful alternative to `capitalism? in the USSR. The Second World War and the sustained recovery of Western Europe after 1945; the making of the European Union.
This course explores the world of the seventeenth-century Ottoman globe-trotter Evliya Celebi as depicted in his Seyahatname (Book of Travels). Our readings of Evliya Celebi?s travels will take us into Ottoman cities such as Salonica, Istanbul, Bursa, Aleppo and Cairo, and will offer us glimpses into various areas of the social and cultural life, such as the bath houses, coffee shops, and Sufi lodges. The aims of this course are two-fold. First to introduce the students to some of the recent trends in Ottoman historiography, especially the new approaches to urban history. And second, to provide an opportunity to work closely with a primary source and to discuss the ways in which a seventeenth century Ottoman observed, and commented upon, the life in the Ottoman Empire (and neighbouring countries). Selections will be assigned from passages available in English translation, but students who have taken Ottoman Turkish could also read them in transcription. Lectures will include a couple day-trips in Istanbul to some of the major locations described by Evliya Celebi.
Examination of the first cities and states in the world and the earliest written records of human history. Study of the civilizations of the Sumerians, Akkadians, Babylonians and Assyrians through archaeological remains and historical sources.
Major issues in the history of the Ottoman Empire with a focus on the cultural life. Topics will include: life at the frontiers; relations between Ottomans and their neighbors; imperial ideology; the social fabric, gender, and ethnic structure; social unrest and religious movements; the new world order and the Ottoman response. Students will be encouraged to compare and contrast academic approaches to Ottoman History with its representation in historical novels and film.
Visual culture and built environment of Asia (China, Korea, Japan, India, Southeast Asia and Asian diaspora). Painting, sculpture, architecture, ritual objects, ceramics, textiles and other visual forms within the wider context of political, religious, social and economic developments of the region.
Development of architecture and urbanism in the Islamic world from the 7th through the 20th century. Different types of cities ranging from Spain through Central Asia. Urbanistic and formal developments as tied to social and economic changes. Major cities include Cordoba, Cairo, Istanbul, Damascus, Baghdad, Isfahan, Samarkand, and Delhi. Development of architecture and urbanism in the Islamic world from the 7th through the 20th century. Different types of cities ranging from Spain through Central Asia. Urbanistic and formal developments as tied to social and economic changes. Major cities include Cordoba, Cairo, Istanbul, Damascus, Baghdad, Isfahan, Samarkand, and Delhi.
The period between the late nineteenth and mid-twentieth centuries. The spatial focus of the course is the Ottoman port cities of Istanbul and Salonica, Haussmann?s Paris, immigrant New York, the new Turkish capital of Ankara, Soviet Moscow, and Berlin during the interwar period. Exploring the relationship between the urban space and social change the course aims to illustrate the specificities and similarities of concurrent historical experiences in these different social entities.
Discusses the political, economic, and social developments in Türkiye from the foundation of the Republic to the end of the 20th century. Focuses on the transition from the mono-party to multi-party system and its repercussions on Turkish state and society. In general, covers the evolution of reforms in the history of Türkiye taking into consideration its domestic and foreign dimensions.
A study of state theory and state transformations with a special emphasis on the 19th and 20th centuries. The end of multi-ethnic empires and the emergence of nation states will be analyzed by comparing the cases of the Hapsburg, Russian and Ottoman Empires.
The analysis of the political, economic, social, and cultural developments in the five Central Asian republics (Turkmenistan, Kazakistan, Kirgizstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan) and Azerbaijan in the Pre-Soviet (1900-1920), Soviet (1920-1991), and the Post-Soviet periods (1992-current) by focusing on the internal and external problems and challenges during these major transitions. The roles and policies of foreign countries (chiefly Russia, China, Iran, Türkiye, the US, EU, and Japan) in the region will also be studied.
The questioning of urbanism and modernity in the nineteenth and early twentieth century Ottoman Empire. Four Eastern Mediterranean Port Cities, namely Istanbul, Izmir, Salonica and Beirut. A growing world economy transforming the urban spaces of these cities. Cities located in the interior regions. Local social, political and economic dynamics of the Ottoman Empire. The process of how different segments of Ottoman society adapted to, challenged and reworked `modernity? through urban spatial organization.
The history of Palestine and the Arab-Israeli conflict from the 19th century to the present. Begins with the transformations in Ottoman Palestine and the development of Zionism in Europe in the late nineteenth-century and ends with the so-called peace process and its aftermath. A critical historical overview that will familiarize the undergraduate student with the background of the current situation.
Explores the complex ways in which religion and politics have been intertwined in European history, from the persecution or expulsion of infidels and heretics in the Middle Ages to the religiously based civil wars in the 20th century Balkans. Topics include religious affiliations that have been used to mark political differences, and countervailing forces that have allowed for religious coexistence and cultural pluralism.
A broad survey of Kurdish history, from the ethnogenesis and migrations of the Kurdish people(s) in the early Islamic period to the medieval and Ottoman-era Kurdish emirates to the birth of modern Kurdish nationalism. Special attention to the nature and use of primary sources used to write Kurdish history and to the critique of contemporary literature on the subject.
Using films as historical artifacts, a complex type of document to be explored critically with regard to its ostensible subject matter, perception by different, and historical context. Based on a combination of watching and reading. To develop a better sense of the forces, dispositions, and memories still shaping events in Russia and for many Russians and to make films speak to history in a non-naïve manner, by critical contextualization.
Detailed examination of current topics in History.