This course will be an introductory overview to the 'Who, What, and Why' of the major political actors in the contemporary Middle East. This class will not be focused on American foreign policy, but on the region's nations and groups. We will begin with a dissection of common tropes used by the media when describing the Middle East, followed by an analysis of the major political trends underpinning recent events, and then take a look at the governmental systems and political cultures of the most important countries of the region. This course is not about discussing specifics in great detail. Instead, by the end of this course, we hope that the students will have the understanding of things like the appeal of Islamism or the political cultures of hybrid regimes needed to put events in context. Note that while we will certainly talk about Israeli and Palestinian politics, we will not be doing an in-depth coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict for reasons of time. Furthermore, while the course will cover Islamism, this is not a course on Islam - we will only be discussing religion as it directly relates to the politics of the region.

This course investigates the 'why' and 'how' of people on both sides of the 20th century colonial system. Why were colonized young men willing to serve in colonial militaries and even fire upon pro-independence protestors? How did colonial administrators prioritization of colonies' security affect imperial policy? How did the US government handle the questions of foreign colonies when they spilled into North America? Why did those who chose to resist colonialism do so? To answer these questions and many others, we shall use a case study model looking at colonial India in crisis - during the First World War, as the British tried to adapt the colonial system to the demands of modern war and the Indian Independence Movement first gained serious strength. We shall debate the motives of the more than 1 million Indians who fought for the British Empire in World War One, how World War One should be viewed in Indian History, violence in anti-colonial movements, and the fascinating case where Indian independence activists stood trial in US court on charges of using US soil as a base for a war to liberate India.

Over a million men from the Indian subcontinent served all over the world during the First World War, but their contribution has been mostly forgotten, even in the subcontinent itself. This course will be a brief introduction to both the military and social history of India during the period focusing mainly on the Indian Army and Independence Movement. It will use the Indian experience of the war as a lens into British India.

Interested in politics and/or debate? On the edge of your seat watching each passing presidential debate? Or are you just interested in talking about policy and how the country is run? Enroll to participate in a seminar on the important issues for this presidential race, focusing primarily on fact-based policy.

From Wilhelmine Germany’s decision to build a navy to challenge Britain in 1897, up to the First World War, and again from its end up to the Washington Naval Conference in 1922, Europe’s Great Powers, as well as secondary powers across the world, engaged in an intense naval arms race, generally considered the first serious modern arms race, which eventually ended in the first international arms control conference, the Washington Conference, successfully limiting the navies of the world for over a decade before breaking down in the 1930s. This course will examine the technological, political, and cultural developments surrounding the first, and arguably most widespread, arms race of the 20th century, reflecting on study of disarmament in general and current challenges to American naval dominance. I will mostly focus on the Anglo-German Dreadnought race and the Washington Treaties, but I will touch on the various smaller naval races in the period, especially the South American Dreadnought Race.

Over a million men from the Indian subcontinent served all over the world during the First World War, but their contribution has been mostly forgotten, even in the subcontinent itself. This course will be a brief introduction to both the military and social history of India during the period focusing mainly on the Indian Army and Independence Movement. It will use the Indian experience of the war as a lens into British India.