This course surveys popular cultures in the Arabic-speaking Middle East. We will explore the Southwest Asia and North Africa region through its audio, visual, and literary production in relation to colonialism, nation-building, and globalization. We will examine cinema, literary arts, oral traditions, and music to understand how different communities seek to express their cultural, political, and social identities. We will cover the anti-colonial and national liberation movements of the early twentieth century, the global sixties and long seventies, the neoliberal nineties, the digital age, and the Arab Spring. Beyond state-sponsored national identities and cultural formations, we will consider how youth, women, and minorities seek to express themselves in contention and negotiation with dominant social and political forces.

Course Trailer: Popular Cultures of the Middle East (Vimeo)

Note: Registration for the Summer Osher National Online courses will close on Tuesday, January 6, 2027.

Osher Online™ courses are not recorded.