Simon Fraser University
Engaging the World

Course Outlines

Fall 2019 - HIST 467 D100

Modern Egypt (4)

Class Number: 4996

Delivery Method: In Person

Overview

  • Course Times + Location:

    Sep 3 – Dec 2, 2019: Thu, 1:30–5:20 p.m.
    Burnaby

  • Prerequisites:

    45 units including nine units of lower division history and one of HIST 151, 249, 350, 354, 355 or permission of the department.

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

An interpretive discussion of the course of modern Egyptian history. This may range from the advent to power of Muhammed Ali Pasha until recent times, or may focus on specific periods of revolutionary change.

COURSE DETAILS:

THE HISTORY OF MODERN EGYPT: Nasserism on Film

This course will introduce students to the most productive period in the history of Egyptian cinema, the 1950s and 1960s. The aim is to place the films of the period in their political and social contexts, tracing their development as responses to the Free Officers’ revolution of 1952 and Nasser’s subsequent rule of the country. The analysis will focus on images of village poverty, colonial violence, family discord, and the subjugation of women. Students will consider the possible links between these images and such state priorities as eradicating ‘backwardness’ and ‘superstition,’ pacifying the ‘social body,’ and consolidating ‘modern’ forms of subjectivity — among them, the companionate spouse, the productive worker, and the patriotic citizen. Given the uneven state of the literature and the limited availability of film prints, the course aims neither at comprehensiveness nor at theoretical or methodological uniformity.

For further information, please visit http://paulsedra.com.

Grading

  • Presentation 30%
  • Term paper 50%
  • Class participation 20%

Materials

REQUIRED READING:

Viola Shafik, Popular Egyptian Cinema: Gender, Class, and Nation (American University in Cairo Press, 2007).

Joel Gordon, Revolutionary Melodrama (Middle East Documentation Center, 2002).

Registrar Notes:

SFU’s Academic Integrity web site http://www.sfu.ca/students/academicintegrity.html is filled with information on what is meant by academic dishonesty, where you can find resources to help with your studies and the consequences of cheating.  Check out the site for more information and videos that help explain the issues in plain English.

Each student is responsible for his or her conduct as it affects the University community.  Academic dishonesty, in whatever form, is ultimately destructive of the values of the University. Furthermore, it is unfair and discouraging to the majority of students who pursue their studies honestly. Scholarly integrity is required of all members of the University. http://www.sfu.ca/policies/gazette/student/s10-01.html

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS