Course Catalogue

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This course will explore the role of science, technology, and medicine in the transformation of the modern Middle East and North Africa, c. 18th-20th centuries. It will examine the economic, social, cultural, and religious impacts of scientific developments and focus, in particular, on the role European colonialism played in shaping scientific practice and discourse in the region. Repercussions for existing categories of knowledge, healing, and traditions of learning will also be explored.

Lecture: one hour per week. Seminar: one hour per week. One group archival workshop and one individual tutorial to be scheduled during the semester. Please note this course does not run every session. For further information please check the ESH Moodle.

Enrolment in an MA (SocSci); MA (Arts) Honours Programme; BSc (MedSci) Honours in Medical Humanities

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■ One essay (2000 words +/- 10%, word count not including required footnotes and bibliography) = 50%

■ One reflective course diary (2000 words +/- 10%, word count not including required footnotes and bibliography) = 50%

The aim of this course is to provide participants with the opportunity to develop confidence and skills in the historical study of the modern Middle East and North Africa through the analytical lens of history of science, technology, and medicine (STM). In doing so, the course aims to:

■ Encourage critical engagement with key debates and themes in the historical study of STM in the modern Middle East and North Africa using appropriate literature and primary source evidence.

■ Give participants an introduction to history of STM collections in University of Glasgow Archives & Special Collections and The Hunterian.

■ Facilitate discussion and dissemination of findings in seminars and in written coursework.

■ Promote reflective learning, including reflection on researcher standpoint/positionality and the politics of knowledge.

The course will take a thematic approach that ranges across imperial and regional boundaries. It includes topics such as cross-cultural exchanges and continuity of indigenous and vernacular traditions; military, bureaucratic, and educational reform efforts; the spread of communication networks; the emergence of state-building techniques such as quarantine and vaccination; ideologies of scientific progress; gender, faith, and sickness and healing; and the political ecologies of oil and water in the region.

Upon completion of this course, your coursework performance will indicate the extent to which you are able to:  

1. Read, analyse, and reflect critically and contextually upon historical materials (literature and primary source evidence) related to science, technology, and medicine (STM) in the modern Middle East and North Africa. 

2. Produce sustained arguments orally and in writing, supported by appropriate historical literature, primary source evidence, and references, in which you demonstrate critical understanding of key debates and themes in the study of STM in the modern Middle East and North Africa. 

3. Reflect critically on your own learning in the course, addressing aspects such as different approaches and historical materials used during the course, historiographic debates, researcher positionality, and feedback from formative assessment.