HIST-3641H: The History of the Modern Middle East

Instructor: Mark Sanagan (marksanagan@trentu.ca)

Course Code: HIST 3641

When Taken: Summer 2022

Major Essay: Sevres and the National Identities of the Kurdish People and The Republic of Türkiye

This was an online summer course that discussed the middle east from the 19th century to the present, focusing on areas that were part of the former Ottoman empire, and political history. For me, this class was an introduction to the Middle East, having not previously taken any courses in this area, or any major study on it’s topics. My largest takeaway from this course was the degree to which nationalism and identity in this area is intertwined with religion, through Zionism, Political Islam, or the Shia/Sunni split.

For this class my major essay examined how the Treaty of Sevres affected the national identity of the Turkish and Kurdish people. It argued that the Treaty of Sevres, while never enacted, deeply affected how Türkiye and the Kurdish people thought of themselves, and their political futures.