Course Descriptions

Semester Course Schedule Long-Term Program Dates Short-Term Program Dates Entrance Requirements Course Descriptions

MECR 5/342 History of the Holy Land from the Rise of Islam to 1948 - Credit Hours: 3

Semester normally offered: Alternate Fall Semesters

Course Description

The course examines key developments in the Holy Land from the Muslim conquest until the establishment of the State of Israel, with emphasis placed on the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Course Equivalencies

  • Middle Eastern Studies
  • Non-Western Civilization
  • Medieval and Modern History
  • International Relations
  • British Colonial History

Course Objectives

By the end of the course, the student should be able to:

  • use techniques to read and analyze primary sources with key emphasis placed on political and diplomatic sources;
  • understand the origins of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict;
  • identify and characterize the nature and contributions of the dynasties that ruled the Holy Land from AD 638 to 1948; and
  • understand the religious significance of the Holy Land for Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

Field Study

A one-day interactive field study to sites in and around Jerusalem significant to the Islamic and Crusader periods of Israel’s history.