This course studies the Middle East from the seventh through the early thirteenth century. The goal of the course is to provide a survey of the political, social, and cultural movements of this region over the course of six hundred years. Questions that frame the course include: How did the political/social culture of Islam develop? What were the reactions to it? How did the expansion of new linguistic and cultural groups into areas of the Middle East affect the region? [GM2, SS, W] Prof. Goshgarian