Daniel Neep

I teach the modern history of the Middle East, with particular attention to the political, social, and international forces that have shaped the region over the past century and a half. My courses examine revolutions and protest, authoritarian rule and civil society, economic crisis, empire, and civil war – not as isolated phenomena, but as historically embedded processes that illuminate broader questions about state power, political economy, and social change.

Although grounded in historical evidence from the Middle East, my teaching encourages students to think carefully about how political and social worlds are analysed and understood. Across my courses, I ask students to engage critically with key concepts drawn from the study of politics, sociology, and international relations, to reflect on how analytical categories and frameworks shape historical interpretation, and to assess how different approaches clarify – or obscure – the cases they encounter. The aim is not to train students in theory for its own sake, but to equip them with intellectual tools that support historically informed, analytically precise reasoning.

I understand learning as a cumulative process in which students encounter unfamiliar ways of thinking, refine skills of critical reading and argument, and develop confidence in articulating their own interpretations. I have taught students with a wide range of intellectual backgrounds, nationalities, and political perspectives at institutions in Europe, North America, and the Middle East, including George Washington University, Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, the University of Exeter, SOAS, the London School of Economics, and Georgetown University–Qatar. Earlier in my career, I also taught English in Damascus, an experience that continues to inform my approach to teaching and student engagement.

In recent years, I have experimented with a range of pedagogical methods designed to support students with differing levels of prior knowledge and varied learning styles. These have included structured peer review of written work, guided exercises in self-assessment and critical reflection, in-class simulations, collaborative visual and audio timelines, presenter–discussant pairings, and moderated online discussions. I use such methods selectively and in support of core goals: careful reading, clear writing, and historically grounded argumentation.

I hold a postgraduate qualification in university teaching from the University of Exeter and am a Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy.

Postgraduate

• Popular Politics in the Middle East (spring 2025)
• The Middle East in International Affairs (spring 2024, spring 2025)
• Politics of Syria (summer 2018)
• Understanding the Arab World (spring 2017, fall 2017, fall 2019)
• Introduction to Middle East Politics (fall 2008, fall 2009, fall 2010)
• Politics of Empire in the Middle East (fall 2008, spring 2009, fall 2009, spring 2010, fall 2010)
• Government & Politics of the Middle East (fall 2006, spring 2007)
• The Arab-Israeli Conflict (fall 2006, spring 2007)
• The Middle East in Global Politics (summer 2006, summer 2007)