São Paulo – The São Paulo School of Sociology and Politics (FESPSP ) is accepting enrolments for open course Middle East: history, geopolitics and current issues, with professor José Antonio Lima. Subjects will include the Arab spring, the political Islam, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the lives of women in the region, Muslims in the West. The course will span eight classes, starting August 13, from 7pm to 9:30pm on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
“The first two are lessons in history, more specifically the fall of the Ottoman Empire, World War I and the Cold War. The following classes will touch on important subjects like the issue of women, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, Arab Spring and the geopolitical changes it wrought,” Lima told ANBA.
The course is designed to dispel paradigms and stereotypes about the region, enabling students to grasp key characteristics of the Middle East, providing an analytical view of events and interpreting them from the perspectives of different local, regional and global players. Lasting 24 hours total, the course costs BRL 740 and enrolment is available on the FESPSP website.
“The course is intended for people interested in the Middle East, International Relations students and professionals looking for knowledge,” said Lima. “The idea is to encourage research and bring together people with an interest in the Middle East, which despite being such an important region, gets neglected not only by Brazilian news outlets, but also in academia, where Middle East studies are few and far between. In Brazil, the region is seen as mysterious, and often through prisms of prejudice. The course intends to level out students’ knowledge levels so they can make more accurate analyses of the region,” the professor argued.
Professor José Antonio Lima holds doctorate and master’s degrees in international Relations from the University of São Paulo (USP) Institute of International Relations. Lima is a member of the Middle East and Muslim World Studies Group at the USP School of Philosophy, Language and Human Sciences. He also holds a bachelor degree in Journalism from Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie and a major in International Relations from FESPSP.
Quick facts
Open course – Middle East: history, geopolitics and current issues
Professor José Antonio Lima
Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 7 pm – 9:30 pm
August 13 – September 4
Fespsp – Rua General Jardim, 522
Vila Buarque, São Paulo
Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
