Course Description
Varying topics in twentieth-century U.S. history including Progressive Era, World War I, the 1920s, the Great Depression and New Deal, World War II, McCarthyism, Civil Rights Movement, Vietnam War, the 1960s. Notes: May be repeated once for credit when topic varies.
Syllabus
Student Learning Outcomes, Goals, Objectives:
Students successfully completing this course will be able to:
Explain how relations between the Middle East and the United States have affected the political, social, and cultural development of each other from the end of the 18th century to the present
Analyze the role of different forces in shaping foreign relations, including military and geopolitical power, economic interests, transnational communities, culture, religion, ideology, and historical memory
Summarize the main arguments and methodologies of secondary sources written by historians
Write original interpretations of the past using historical analysis
Course Grading Information:
Activity/Performance Measure | Percentage/Points |
|---|---|
Reflections | 60% |
Final Paper | 40% |
Grading Scale:
Percentage | Letter Grade |
|---|---|
93–100% | A |
90–92% | A- |
87–89% | B+ |
83–86% | B |
80–82% | B- |
77–79% | C+ |
73–76% | C |
70–72% | C- |
67–69% | D+ |
63–66% | D |
60–62% | D- |
0–59% | F |
Attendance/Participation:
Any student who does not submit a minimum of two reflections by October 20, 2026 will be deemed to have a lack of attendance in the course and automatically withdrawn from the course.
Be sure to submit at least two reflections by October 20, 2026 to avoid this automatic withdrawal.
Course Materials Purchased by the Students:
Bacevich, Andrew. America’s War for the Greater Middle East: A Military History. New York: Random House, 2016.
Makdisi, Ussama. Faith Misplaced: The Broken Promise of U.S.-Arab Relations: 1820-2001. New York: PublicAffairs, 2010.
Shannon, Matthew K. Losing Hearts and Minds: American-Iranian Relations and International Education during the Cold War. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2017.
Walther, Karine. Sacred Interests: The United States and the Islamic World, 1821-1921. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2015.
Yaqub, Salim. Containing Arab Nationalism: The Eisenhower Doctrine and the Middle East. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2004.
Scholarly Perspectives
This course engages diverse scholarly perspectives to develop critical thinking, analysis, and debate and inclusion of a reading does not imply endorsement.