Middle East 101. Become an expert overnight.

The Middle East has been important since time immemorial. Farmed since 9000 BC "the fertile crescent" includes modern-day Iraq, Syria, Jordan, and Israel-Palestine. In this class we shall see that whilst ancient man may have been sowing seeds for crops, the seeds for one of the world's longest conflicts were also being planted. Remember the class is the basics on the plate, for more lengthy analysis watch the class resources.

Using the simple analogy of a sandwich, students will understand how the conflict in the region is multifaceted and mulilayered.

The story of Islam's division between Sunni and Shia started with the Prophet Mohammed's death in 632. Today it has become the most important conflict in the region

This class will examine the Sykes Picot agreement and why the fighters of ISIS are committed to its downfall.

To understand the conflict there are three maps that every student should understand. This class explores these maps - the 1947 Partition Plan the ceasefire lines of 1967 and where Palestinian refugees ended being resettled.

The class also has extensive resources that explore the 1993 Oslo Accords. Students are given access to the leaked documents of the Israel Palestinian negotiations,otherwise known as the Palestine papers. Theclass source material provides a wide range of opinions on the conflict and a wide array of websites for more information.

There is nothing more controversial than whether Israel should build in the West Bank. This class summarizes the arguments on both sides and then provides a treasure of resources on the subject.

Yisrael Meidad is an Israeli settler from the West Bank. He joins us to explain his perspective.

The future of Gaza continues to be one of the most problematic sticking points between Israel and the Palestinians.

This lecture will look at the nature of the Gaza dilemma and define who is Hamas?

The war in Iraq had long term consequences for the region, both ethnically and in relation to Iran

Hussein Aboubakr is a dissident. Arrested by Mubarak's men for criticising the regime, he fled to the USA where he now lives. He joins us for this class to talk about the Arab Spring.

The Arab Spring (Arabic: الربيع العربي‎, ar-rabīˁ al-ˁarabī) was a revolutionary wave of demonstrations and protests (both non-violent and violent), riots, and civil wars in the Arab world that began on 18 December 2010 in Tunisia with the Tunisian Revolution, and spread throughout the arab world

Students will discover how complex of the situation in Syria is and how a war that started as an attempt to remove their leader, has become an ethnic war between rival groups..

There is no organiztion that is grabbing the headlines more than ISIS, this is what you need to know.

The war in Yemen has threatened global stability - but many people are not able to place the country on the map. This class will show why the battle for Yemen is actually a reflection of a larger battle between Iran and Saudi Arabia in the Middle East.

Can the USA counter a contradiction that seems inherent within it? Namely make a deal regarding nuclear development and at the same time contain Iran's attempt to be a global power? In this lecture Neil Lazarus critiques a press conference given by Secretary of State John Kerry to PBS.

This lecture seeks to explore one question, what is the Obama doctrine? How will he be remembered?How will the historians remember him?