Fall 2021 - HIST 352 D100

Religion and Politics in Modern Iran (4)

Class Number: 3967

Delivery Method: In Person

Overview

  • Course Times + Location:

    Sep 8 – Dec 7, 2021: Thu, 2:30–5:20 p.m.
    Burnaby

  • Exam Times + Location:

    Dec 8, 2021
    Wed, 12:00–12:00 p.m.
    Burnaby

  • Prerequisites:

    45 units, including six units of lower division history. Recommended: one of HIST 151, 249.

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

The intellectual and social history of greater Iran from the Safavids to the twentieth century. Emphasis will be on the relationship between religion and politics.

COURSE DETAILS:

This course is a survey of the history of Iran from the fall of the Safavid Empire (1722) to Ahmadinejad’s presidency (2005).  The focus of the course will be on social and intellectual history, especially the problematic relationship between religion and politics. First, we will situate Iran within a larger theoretical background: the understanding of Iraniyyat (the historical notion of Iranian identity); the ecological trilogy of city, country, and tribe and their sociologies. Second, we will approach the eighteenth century transition with the fall of the Safavids and eventual rise of the Qajars. This approach entails an explanation of concepts and strategies of empire and its failure; state and sub-state formation; the articulation of ethnic and national identities; and especially the drawing of increasingly exclusive boundaries concerning the definition of Shi’i within an Iranian context. Third, we will focus on the modern period (19th and 20th centuries) and assess Iranian reactions to western imperialism, technicalism, and modernity under the Qajar and Pahlavi dynasties.  How do we account for shifts in economic, coercive, and ideational power?  How are we to understand Iranian movements of reform, nationalism, constitutionalism, secularism, clericalism, and revolution?  What does the Iranian experience tell us of the nature of modernization, secularization and revolution theory?  What prompted the rise of political Islam in Iran and the 1979 Islamic Revolution? This discussion leads us into the practice of religion and politics in the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Grading

  • Midterm 20%
  • Participation 20%
  • Term Paper 20%
  • Final Exam 40%

Materials

REQUIRED READING:

Ervand Abrahamian, A History of Modern Iran, 2nd edition (Cambridge, 2018)

Roy Mottahedeh, The Mantle of the Prophet: Religion and Politics in Iran, 2nd edition (Oneworld, 2014)

Registrar Notes:

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS

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TEACHING AT SFU IN FALL 2021

Teaching at SFU in fall 2021 will involve primarily in-person instruction, with approximately 70 to 80 per cent of classes in person/on campus, with safety plans in place.  Whether your course will be in-person or through remote methods will be clearly identified in the schedule of classes.  You will also know at enrollment whether remote course components will be “live” (synchronous) or at your own pace (asynchronous).

Enrolling in a course acknowledges that you are able to attend in whatever format is required.  You should not enroll in a course that is in-person if you are not able to return to campus, and should be aware that remote study may entail different modes of learning, interaction with your instructor, and ways of getting feedback on your work than may be the case for in-person classes.

Students with hidden or visible disabilities who may need class or exam accommodations, including in the context of remote learning, are advised to register with the SFU Centre for Accessible Learning (caladmin@sfu.ca or 778-782-3112) as early as possible in order to prepare for the fall 2021 term.