The Mediterranean Contact Zone
Overview
- Credit value: 30 credits at Level 7
- Convenor: Dr Fred Anscombe
- Assessment: a 1000-word written assessment (20%) and 4000-word essay (80%)
Module description
In this module we study the early modern and modern Mediterranean as a contact zone between Europe and the Middle East. We will conceptualise the sea as a route and a barrier to cultural, commercial and political exchange, taking a comparative approach to investigate interaction from both European and Middle Eastern perspectives.
We will begin with consideration of environment and patterns of settlement as a means to frame subsequent discussion of the movement of people, goods, and ideas and practices, and of how these have changed over time. Fluctuations in patterns of exchange have reflected shifts in inequalities of political, military and economic power between Europe and the Middle East, and the module concludes with consideration of the Mediterranean as an arena for imperial rivalries.
Indicative syllabus
- Introduction: Mediterranean crossroads
- Spaces: cities
- Spaces: hinterlands
- Spaces: islands
- Exchange: commercial
- Exchange: cultural
- Exchange: people
- Competition: religious
- Competition: territorial
- Competition: from imperial rivalry to national liberation
Learning objectives
By the end of this module, you will have:
- a deeper historical understanding of patterns of development from the early modern period into the contemporary era
- a broader perspective on fraught issues of today, from migration to political instability.