KNOWLEDGE & VIOLENCE IN THE MIDDLE EAST (HIST282)

Department of History, Stanford University

2019

In this colloquium, we will think about the various ways in which knowledge shapes violence and violence shapes knowledge in the modern Middle East. Recent works in various subfield of Middle Eastern studies, including history, anthropology, sociology and science and technology studies address this topic from different disciplinary perspectives. We will investigate how violence has been harnessed, theorized and narrated in influential works in these subfields.

The course focuses on a set of key themes and questions that have been central to such writings: the nature of violence and the question of accountability and responsibility, shifting technologies of warfare, including technologies of representation, and the aftermath of violence. The questions that drive this colloquium, include, how do we define violence? What is its role in shaping the history and historiography of the modern Middle East? What is the relationship between war and the production of knowledge about war?