Fall/Winter Timetable
POL2418H1F L5101
Undergraduate Course Code: POL479H1F L5101
Topics in Middle East Politics
Contesting Authoritarianisms in the Middle East
Themes
The course examines authoritarian politics in the contemporary Middle East and North Africa. The first half of the course examines the theoretical literature concerning the historical evolution and political dynamics of authoritarian states in the region. The next part of the course examines debates about the application of social movement theory to the politics of protests in the region.
Texts
Quintan Wictorowicz, Islamic Activism: A Social Movement Approach, (2004); and Joel Beinin and Frederic Vairel, Social Movements, Mobilization, and Contestation in the Middle East and North Africa, 2nd Edition, (2013).
Format and Requirements
This is a seminar course entirely organized around student-led presentations and discussions facilitated by the instructor. The first part of the course is organized around discussions of weekly article presentations by students. The second part of the course will be organized around student seminars on a case study of protest politics in the region. These seminars will be the basis for the major paper. All students will also be required to write an analytical book review/critique.
November 14, 2023
Congratulations to Madalyn Hay, a recipient of a 2023-2024 Connaught PhDs for Public Impact Fellowship. Madalyn, one of our doctoral students, holds a BAH in Contemporary Studies and Classics from the...
August 24, 2023
Congratulations to alumna Meaghan Williams, a recipient of the 2022-23 Governor General’s Gold Medal for Academic Excellence, the highest academic honour available to graduate students in Canada. Awarded annually by the Office of the...
June 14, 2021
Great news from the Canadian Political Science Association, which held its annual awards ceremony (online) over the weekend of June 12 & 13: Professor Stefan Rencken’s book "Private Governance and Public...
April 22, 2021
Congratulations to two political science alumni now teaching at U of T who have both won Superior Teaching Awards! Igor Shoikhedbrod and Khalid Ahmed will be celebrated on May 5th at...
August 6, 2020
Q&A with 2020 Vanier Scholar Yojana Miraya Oscco Congratulations to PhD student Yojana Miraya Oscco who has won a prestigious Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship (SSHRC). Launched in 2008, the program enables...
April 30, 2020
Congratulations to our graduate student Kevin Edmonds who has won New College's June Larkin Award for Pedagogical Development. A PhD candidate specializing in Caribbean political economy, histories of alternative/illicit development, foreign intervention and...