History and Institutions of Muslim Countries

The course provides students with a basic knowledge of the Islamic doctrine and institutions in their historical development, and of key events in the modern and contemporary history of North Africa and the Middle East. The aim is to provide students with the tools to understand and critically analyse what is happening today in North Africa and the Middle East, from recent and ongoing conflicts in Afghanistan, Libya, Yemen, Syria and Iraq, to the Saudi-Iranian rivalry and "Islamic fundamentalism", to migrations.

At the end of the course, students will be acquainted with the evolution of the Islamic doctrine and Middle Eastern history, and with an in-depth understanding of the historical processes and social, political and cultural factors that allow us to understand what is happening today in North Africa and the Middle East, from inter-state conflicts, to migrations, to intra-regional rivalries, to sectarianism and Islamic revivalism. They will thus have acquired the conceptual and terminological tools that are necessary to comprehend and analyse in a critical manner the most recent events taking place in the Middle East; students will also have acquired an adequate terminology. These skills will allow the students to continue their studies in an autonomous manner.