Handbook

This course provides essential regional knowledge for those wishing to work, study, or simply understand contemporary developments in Africa and the Middle East. In this course you will learn about changes to the economic and cultural profile of populations that now inhabit this transcontinental space. You will also examine some of the dynamics that are leading to the reconfiguration of territory and producing new forms of urbanization, ethnic tensions and flows of refugees and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). Seeking to understand the momentous changes that have accompanied the Arab Spring, we will analyze current areas of conflict and claims to self-determination in both regions. We will also analyze the growth of non-state actors such as ISIS, al Qa’ida, al Shabaab and Boko Haram and the way that they are now challenging traditional forms of authority in East Africa, the Sahel, the Levant and other countries across the Arabian Peninsula.