Spring 2026 - HIST 467 D100
Modern Egypt (4)
Class Number: 3822
Delivery Method: In Person
Overview
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Course Times + Location:
Jan 5 – Apr 10, 2026: Wed, 9:30 a.m.–12:20 p.m.
Burnaby
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Instructor:
Paul Sedra
pdsedra@sfu.ca
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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:
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.
Grading
- Two in-class tests 40%
- Two 1000-word scene analyses 30%
- Film presentation 15%
- Class participation 15%
Materials
REQUIRED READING:
N.B. All texts will be available at no cost to students, through electronic editions available via the library website.
- Laura Bier, Revolutionary Womanhood: Feminisms, Modernity, and the State in Nasser’s Egypt (Stanford University Press, 2011), https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.proxy.lib.sfu.ca/lib/sfu-ebooks/detail.action?docID=753252
- journal articles and book chapters, accessible through links on Canvas
REQUIRED READING NOTES:
Your personalized Course Material list, including digital and physical textbooks, are available through the SFU Bookstore website by simply entering your Computing ID at: shop.sfu.ca/course-materials/my-personalized-course-materials.
Department Undergraduate Notes:
Learn more about studing History at SFU:
History areas of study
Why study History?
Registrar Notes:
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS
At SFU, you are expected to act honestly and responsibly in all your academic work. Cheating, plagiarism, or any other form of academic dishonesty harms your own learning, undermines the efforts of your classmates who pursue their studies honestly, and goes against the core values of the university.
To learn more about the academic disciplinary process and relevant academic supports, visit:
- SFU’s Academic Integrity Policy: S10-01 Policy
- SFU’s Academic Integrity website, which includes helpful videos and tips in plain language: Academic Integrity at SFU
RELIGIOUS ACCOMMODATION
Students with a faith background who may need accommodations during the term are encouraged to assess their needs as soon as possible and review the Multifaith religious accommodations website. The page outlines ways they begin working toward an accommodation and ensure solutions can be reached in a timely fashion.