Summer 2009 Graduate Courses
PLEASE NOTE: This information is subject to change prior to the beginning of
registration, so please verify your course selections against the University Bulletin listings.
Contact Rhea Myerscough (mesp@gwu.edu) if you have any questions about the course offerings.
1st Summer Session (May 18- Jun 27)
International Relations of the Middle East (PSC 278.10)
Jon Alterman
Conflict and Peacebuilding in Divided Societies (IAFF 358.14)
Adina Friedman
This course examines the phenomenon of deep-rooted conflict in divided societies, and focuses on different peacebuilding approaches and strategies utilized in different contexts.. The course aims to: (1) identify and understand the characteristics of deep-rooted conflicts and the nature of ethnic and other relations in divided societies; (2) examine various theoretical frameworks which underline certain peacebuilding strategies and approaches; (3) understand the complexity and challenges involved in implementing peacebuilding strategies in the context of deep-rooted conflicts.
The course takes as primary case studies the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and Lebanon, while exploring additional deep-rooted conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere. The course investigates the many challenges faced by peacemakers operating within divided societies, and examines different peacebuilding approaches and strategies, including the initiation of dialogue, educating for democracy and curriculum development, carrying out conflict resolution training, and encouraging intercultural and interreligious encounters. While these will not be the course’s main focus, it will also touch upon more formal intervention strategies (such as political/state-level options and formal negotiations), and on the tensions that exist between these options and other forms of peacebuilding work.
Media and Politics in the Islamic World (IAFF 358.10)
Marc Lynch
Summer 2008 Syllabus 
The Arab media have emerged as a major political force over the last decade. From the satellite television revolution and the rise of al-Jazeera to the more recent explosion of internet activism, new media forms seem to be transforming the politics of the region. This increased importance has been mirrored in an outpouring of academic research on this long-neglected field. This course surveys the academic and policy literature on the new Arab media and its political effects, with an eye towards understanding the possibilities and limits of the new media’s transformative effects.
We will examine critically the claims made for the new Arab media, drawing on theoretical literature from political science and communications, on case studies from the region, and from comparisons to other regions. This summer course will focus tightly on the Arab electronic media, which unfortunately means shortchanging a wide variety of important topics, including non-Arab countries such as Iran and Turkey, the historical evolution of the Arab press, or the global realm.
2nd Summer Session (Jul 6 -Aug 15)
Comparative Politics of the Middle East (PSC277.10)
Charles Kiamie
Summer 2008 Syllabus
Middle East Comparative Politics introduces graduate students to the major questions and theoretical approaches involved in the study of the region's politics. Some of the substantive topics we will cover include: theories of the state; power, authority and legitimacy; nationalism and identity; competing definitions of ‘the political,’ political economy approaches to Middle East politics, oil and politics; authoritarianism(s); democratization, political liberalization and civil society; and religion and politics (and more specifically Islamist political movements).
This seminar asks students to rethink many aspects of comparative politics of the Middle East that they have perhaps previously viewed as static or dull. The course makes use of readings geared to certain special topics in the region's politics and will build on students' exposure to more rudimentary materials utilized in undergraduate politics and regional studies courses. Exposure to pressing questions and various theoretical approaches involved in the study of politics in the Arab Middle East will give students the ability to contextualize popular press and other materials