IDCDC
Iran in world history (survey)
Iran's history from Elam to the present, told through its peoples, empires, faiths and ideas.
Iran in world history (survey)
Iran's history from Elam to the present, told through its peoples, empires, faiths and ideas.
Level
Foundations
Who it is for
Anyone, including second-generation learners and non-Iranian partners.
Format
Self-paced online with recorded lectures and readings.
About 30 hours. Hours are an estimate.
What you will be able to do
- Describe the main periods of Iranian history in order.
- Explain how Iran's peoples, languages and faiths shaped one another.
- Read a primary source critically.
- Recognise where histories are contested and why.
Modules
- Before Persia. Elam and the early Iranian plateau.
- Empires of antiquity. Achaemenids, Parthians and Sasanians.
- Islam and the Persianate world. Conquest, conversion and the Persian renaissance.
- Turks, Mongols and Safavids. Dynasties, migration and the making of modern Iran.
- Qajars to Pahlavis. Constitutional revolution, oil and modernisation.
- Revolution and after. 1979 to today, with every side's sources.
Assessment
A source commentary and an end-of-course quiz.
Status
Draft outline for scholarly review. The lessons, readings and questions are in preparation. Completion is recorded; nothing is accredited.
Course code: IDCDC-HIS-01.