AF AMER 2A
Africa and Middle East
Description: Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Exploration of historical connections between Africa and Middle East as concepts, geographic expressions, homelands, and sites of diaspora. Examination of changing definitions and connections between Africa and Middle East from ancient world until present. Students learn how concepts have changed and are constantly changing over time. Study of how Africa and Middle East fit into alternative concepts such as ancient world, Islamic world, Muslim world, or Third World. Examination of legacies of earlier trade networks, particularly slave trade, on these regions. Examination of role countries like Egypt, situation on African continent but considered Middle Eastern, play in African-Arab or African/Middle Eastern culture. In-depth exploration of how European imperialism impacted these worlds, and how process of decolonization united them. Examination of processes of immigration and emigration across these regions. P/NP or letter grading.
Units: 4.0
Units: 4.0
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Most Helpful Review
Winter 2022 - One of the best classes I have taken at UCLA. The subject matter is endlessly fascinating and Professor Young curates a fantastic approach to studying it. The class examines the concepts of "Africa" and the "Middle East" what those terms mean, and how do we come to understand these two regions. I learned so much history that I never knew about and would think about some of these topics for hours. The reading materials and lectures were both so good. In terms of workload, it's not that much other than reading, although I hated doing discussion posts because they were just busy work. However it's worth it to have Professor Young, he made this course special. He designed the course, he's the perfect person to teach it, and you also happen to be in the presence of a genius, just one of the smartest people I've ever met, and he's super nonchalant about it too. But the genius is there, one can't help but notice it, and he is also has a very good sense of humor, his small talk at the beginning of lecture can be really funny and he has good stories. If you take this class the one thing I say to you is engage, engage as much as you can with him. You don't have to, if that's not your thing — most people in my class didn't and still did very well, but I truly think it's to anyone's benefit to have the pleasure of learning with Professor Young and getting to know him in office hours. I am certainly setting high expectations for him, but truly I just loved my experience in this class and I cannot recommend it enough.
Winter 2022 - One of the best classes I have taken at UCLA. The subject matter is endlessly fascinating and Professor Young curates a fantastic approach to studying it. The class examines the concepts of "Africa" and the "Middle East" what those terms mean, and how do we come to understand these two regions. I learned so much history that I never knew about and would think about some of these topics for hours. The reading materials and lectures were both so good. In terms of workload, it's not that much other than reading, although I hated doing discussion posts because they were just busy work. However it's worth it to have Professor Young, he made this course special. He designed the course, he's the perfect person to teach it, and you also happen to be in the presence of a genius, just one of the smartest people I've ever met, and he's super nonchalant about it too. But the genius is there, one can't help but notice it, and he is also has a very good sense of humor, his small talk at the beginning of lecture can be really funny and he has good stories. If you take this class the one thing I say to you is engage, engage as much as you can with him. You don't have to, if that's not your thing — most people in my class didn't and still did very well, but I truly think it's to anyone's benefit to have the pleasure of learning with Professor Young and getting to know him in office hours. I am certainly setting high expectations for him, but truly I just loved my experience in this class and I cannot recommend it enough.
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