Professor Haque’s Modern Middle East reading seminar was my first exposure to historiography at the graduate level.  There were several assignments including weekly reflections and book reviews of secondary sources.  Each of these shorter assignments laid the foundation for a final historiography. I chose to explore the origins Middle Eastern oil in the world economy.
“World War I and the Beginning of Global Interests in Middle Eastern Oil" was my final paper for this course.  These assignments allowed me to fulfill the third learning outcome of assessing and critiquing historical schools of thought.

Weekly assignments and reviews of secondary sources helped me gain a better understanding of the Middle East and its relation to the rest of the world.  Although these assignments covered a wide range of time periods, they all addressed issues such as colonialism and western influence in the region.  These assignments created a much more holistic understanding of the Middle East and how its cultures and history were relevant to my topic.

Combining insights from these assignments allowed me to merge my new knowledge of the Middle East with my interest in WWI.  Doing so allowed me to go beyond the more common examination of warfare between European powers. Instead, my exploration of scholarship on the Middle East during WWI led to some interesting observations about European colonial aspirations.  These sources also noted the role of the Ottoman Empire as a major power in the Middle East and as one of the main belligerents of the war.

Taking a closer look at the dynamics within and outside of the Middle East during WWI was both challenging and enjoyable.  Looking at the issue of oil in the Middle East allowed me to explore some very interesting aspects of WWI with regard to the Middle East.  These observations took my research beyond western ambitions and incorporated influences such as Ottoman dominance in the region and what the technological advancements from the war meant for global oil usage.  

The assignments leading up to my historiography helped me better understand the Eurocentric ideas that so many people are accustomed to.  This experience has prepared me for utilizing a much more diverse approach in my research.  After completing these assignments and the historiography, I will now be able to offer better contributions to scholarly dialogues as well as the decolonization of museums.