Draft: 12.29.01  
 

 

COM 691

COMMUNICATING FOR PEACE: U.S. AND THE MIDDLE EAST

School of Communications

University of Hawaii at Manoa

Spring 2002

 

Instructor: Majid Tehranian
Email & Webpage: majid@hawaii.edu; http://www2.hawaii.edu/~majid
Course Listserv: ace-l@hawaii.edu
Office: George Hall 334. Tel.: 808-956-3353
Office Hours: MWF 1:30-3:00 or by appointment
Class Meetings: Fridays 3:00-5:30, George Hall 213

 

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course reviews the international politics of West Asia (a.k.a. the Middle East) since WW II, including the creation of Israel, successive Arab-Israeli wars and peace efforts, Iranian Revolution, the hostage crisis, Iraq-Iran War, Persian Gulf War, global terrorism, Afghan war, and after. The course begins with a brief historical review followed by focusing on problems of intercultural and international communication between the Islamic and Western worlds. The concluding part of the course introduces students to methods of conflict resolution focused on the regional conflicts in West Asia and peace journalism. Course requirements are readings of the assignments, class participation, three book reviews, and a research paper.

You are required to (1) write reviews of three books, (2) prepare a case study of an international conflict between the Islamic and Western worlds, and (3) actively participate in class discussions. Evaluation is based on the book reviews (20% each), case study (30%), and class participation (10%). Papers that are submitted late without a legitimate excuse will lose 1 point per day. Oral and written presentations will be evaluated on the basis of their originality (20%), cogency (20%), organization (20%), style (20%), and scholarship (20%). Your numeric grade corresponds to letter grades as follows: 90-100, A; 80-89, B; 70-79, C; 60-69, D; below 60, F. Attendance is required.

 

GLOBAL CLASSROOM

We are going to employ the resources of the Internet as much as possible to obtain the feel of a global classroom without walls. If you haven't already, please obtain an Internet account from UH Computer Center. As soon as you have your own email account, you should sign up for membership in the world's most exclusive electronic club, the Academy for Global Communication and Education (ACE), by sending the following message:

To: listproc@hawaii.edu

Message Text: SUBSCRIBE ACE-L <First and Last Names>

Example: SUBSCRIBE ACE-L John Doe

This will enable you to communicate with your instructor and fellow students, and other communication scholars around the world. Internet is a great research tool and medium of communication with people near or far. To initiate yourself into its mysteries, pick up any good guidebook to the Internet for social science research. Happy surfing!

 

TOPICS AND TEXTS

Jan. 18 Introduction

Jan. 25 Cultural Constructions in Global Communication

Tehranian, Majid. Global Communication and World Politics: Domination, Development, and Discourse. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 1999. ISBN: 1-55587-708-7

Said, Edward W. Orientalism. New York: Vintage Books, 1979,

Said, Edward W. Culture and Imperialism. New York: Vintage Books, 1994.

Turner, Bryan S. Orientalism, Postmodernism, and Globalism. London/New York: Routledge, 1994. ISNB: 0-415-10862-4

Shayegan, Daryush. Cultural Schizophrenia: Islamic Societies Confronting the West. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 1992. ISBN: 0-8156-0507-2

Iriye, Akira. Cultural Internationalism and World Order. Washington, DC: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1997. ISBN: 0-8018-5457-1

Voll, John O. Islam: Continuity and Change in the Modern World (2nd ed., 1994).

Feb. 1 Guest: John O. Voll, Georgetown University, Islamic Resurgence and After

Student Review Essays Due

Feb. 8 Islam and the West: Hostages to History

Voll, John O. & John L. Esposito, Islam and Democracy (1996).

Voll, John O. Makers of Contemporary Islam (2001).

Arthur Goldschmidt, Jr. A Concise History of the Middle East. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1988 or latest paperback edition.

Edwards, Beverley Milton and Peter Hinchcliffe. Conflicts in the Middle East Since 1945 (The Making of the Contemporary World).

Feb. 15 The Arab-Israeli Wars and Peace Efforts

Said, Edward W. The end of the peace process: Oslo and after. New York: Vintage Books, 2001.

Schulze, Kirsten E. The Arab-Israeli conflict. New York: Longman, 1999.

Tehranian, Majid, ed. Letters from Jerusalem. Honolulu: Matsunaga Institute for Peace, 1990.

Aoude, Ibrahim, Lebanese Politics. Boston: Zed Press, ?

Feb. 22 Student Review Essays

Mar. 1 The Iranian Revolution and After

Mottahedeh, Roy P. The mantle of the prophet: religion and politics in Iran

New York: Pantheon Books, 1986.

Barry Rubin, Paved with Good Intentions: The American Experience and Iran. New York: Penguin Books, 1980. ISBN: 01400.5964 4.

Mar. 8 Student Review Essays

Mar. 15 Mediated Constructions of Reality

Kamalipour, Yahya R. ed., Images of the U. S. Around the World: A Multicultural Perspective. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1999. ISBN: 0-7914-3972-0

Said, Edward W. Covering Islam: how the media and the experts determine how we see the rest of the world. New York: Vintage Books, 1997.

Hafez, Kai. Islam and the West in the Mass Media: Fragmented Images in a Globalizing World. Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press, 2000. ISBN: 1-57273-267-9.

Mar. 22 Student Review Essays

Mar. 25-29 Spring Recess

Apr. 5 Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding

Kriesberg, Louis. Constructive Conflicts: From Escalation to Resolution. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, 1998.

Sick, Gary G. and Lawrence G. Potter, Eds. 1997. The Persian Gulf at the Millennium: Essays in Politics, Economy, Security, and Religion. New York: St. Martin's Press.

Tehranian, Majid, Ed. Bridging a Gulf: Peacebuilding in West Asia, edited. London/New York: I. B. Tauris, 2002.

Schellenberg, James A. Conflict Resolution: Theory, Research, and Practice. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1996.

Apr. 12 Student Review Essays

Apr. 19 Global Citizenship and Peace Journalism

Tehranian, Majid. "Peace Journalism: Negotiating Global Media Ethics," The Harvard International Journal of Press/Politics, 2002.

Hitt, William D. The Global Citizen. Columbus, OH: Battlelle Press, 1998.

Rajaee, Farhang. Globalization on Trial: The Human Condition and the Information Civilization. West Hartford: Kumarian Press, 2000. ISBN: 0-88936-909-7

Apr. 26 Student Review Essays

May 3 Student Case Study Presentations

May 10 Research Papers Due


REFERENCES

Guides to Writing

Strunk and White, Elements of Style.

Zinsser, William. On Writing Well. New York: Harper Resources, 1999.

Turabian, Kate L. A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses and Dissertations. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996

McGuire, Mary et al. The Internet Handbook for Writers, Researchers, and Journalists. New York: The Guilford Press, 1997

Journals

The International Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, Middle East Studies, Iranian Studies, Palestinian Studies, New Outlook, Encyclopedias & Yearbooks

Encyclopedia of Islam, Encyclopedia Iranica, Europa's Middle East and North Africa Yearbook.

Internet Sources

http://www.columbia.edu/web/indiv/mideast/cuvlm/

http://link.lanic.utexas.edu/menic/

http://www.middleeastdirectory.com/