Historiography of the Middle East

New lecture series organized by Professor James Gelvin, UCLA

Over the past two decades, there has been a veritable revolution in the historiography of the modern Middle East. In part, this revolution has been generated by events in the region-­the Iranian Revolution, the never-ending Israel-Palestine conflict, the growth and spread of Islamist currents-­which challenged long held assumptions of historians and other social scientists. In part, it has been generated by the post-Orientalist/post-colonial critique of previous frameworks of analysis, as well as by emergent sub-disciplines and borrowed methodologies, including the ¡°new cultural history,¡± labor history, and gender and nationalist studies.

Beginning this Fall, the Center for Near Eastern Studies will sponsor a series of lectures delivered by leading historians who will take stock of recent historiographic trends. Zachary Lockman, Professor of History at New York University, president of the Middle East Studies Association, and author of Contending Visions of the Middle East: The History and Politics of Orientalism will kick off the series.

Future lecture topics include:

What Ever Became of Middle East Social History?
Beyond Good and Evil: Imperialism and the Middle East
Rescuing Middle East History from the Nation-State

Published: Monday, August 13, 2007

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