New Lectures in History (300-0-28)

Topic

Jews of Iran

Instructors

Jonathan Brack

Meeting Info

Harris Hall L06: Tues, Thurs 11:00AM - 12:20PM

Overview of class

Iran is home to one of the oldest, and currently, the largest Jewish communities in the Middle East outside of Isreal. This course follows Jewish Iranian history from the 7th century to the present introducing students more broadly to the history of Iran and the historical role that religious minorities played in Iranian and Middle Eastern histories. We will situate the stories of Iranian Jews in comparison to that of other Jewish communities in the Middle East. We will focus on questions of identity, assimilation, and historical agency: To what extent were Jews integrated into their Persian speaking environment? How did Jews shape Iranian history? And how does the Jewish community of Iran endure to this day while other lively Jewish communities in Iraq, Yemen, Morocco, and Egypt emigrated elsewhere?

Learning Objectives

-Students will become familiar with key themes related to the history of Iranian Jews, and the relevant primary sources. - Develop skills of historical analysis using secondary and primary sources including texts, images, objects, maps, and more. This includes the ability the evaluate accounts in their historical context and assessing current scholarly discussions and debates in the history of Iran and religious minorities in the Middle East. - Consider broader historical social contexts and structures. - We will work on our transferable skillset: critical thinking and reading, argumentation and debate, and structured, evidence supported writing.

Evaluation Method

midterm, exam, quizzes, essay, participation

Class Notes

History Major Concentration: Asia/Middle East
History Minor Concentration: Middle East

Class Attributes

Historical Studies Foundational Discipline
SoC Additional Distro