Understanding the Middle East: The Sunnia-Shia Conflict, sponsored by RappU

Taught by Tim Nolan 
$10, runs for 5 weeks 

Although the Middle East is in the news nearly every day, it remains a complicated and oftentimes misunderstood region, especially regarding the lack of knowledge about sectarian conflicts, the Arab Spring, and the rise of ISIS. The purpose of this class is to better understand the Middle East by exploring the conflict between Sunnis and Shias, the two largest Islamic branches in the region. 

The class will look at the history and current state of the Sunni-Shia division, competition between Saudi Arabia (Sunni) and Iran (Shia) for regional influence, the rise of ISIS (Sunni) in Syria and Iraq and other extremist organizations, and the potential for a Sunni-Shia regional war. The class will be primarily based on the experience of the instructor’s life and work in the region and will include multi-media aids such as maps, social media and film, and various articles to read. The class will likely occur over 3 sessions of 60 to 90 minutes.

Tim Nolan was a CIA intelligence officer and CIA contractor until his retirement in 2014. He provided intelligence and analysis throughout the Middle East including Iraq, Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt. He also lived and worked in Saudi Arabia for 17 years and traveled extensively throughout the Middle East, and during that time became familiar with Islam and the Sunni and Shia sects.. He has taught many classes at Portland State University, the University of Maryland University College (European Division), and Strayer University.