Modern Middle East

3 units

This course will explore the rapidly changing role of the media in Arab and Muslim societies in reporting about revolts and conflicts, the 'Arab Spring,' and the chronic impasse between Israel and the Palestinians. We will study the impact of social media, which have afforded greater access to 'real-time' images of the Syrian civil war than was possible with previous conflicts. We will investigate the formation of public opinion in the Arab and Muslim worlds-- in particular, the role of state-supported media operations such as Al Jazeera. We will compare the style and substance of Israeli and Arab media sources and the role of professional versus citizen journalists in covering newsworthy events.