Andrew Robarts

Associate Professor
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BA, Bowdoin College
MS, Georgetown University
PHD, Georgetown University

Andrew Robarts joined the RISD faculty in 2014. He is an historian of the Ottoman and Russian empires, with specializations in the history of the Ottoman Balkans and the Black Sea region. At RISD he teaches courses on Middle Eastern and Russian history. Prior to his appointment at RISD, Robarts taught at the University of California, Riverside and Central Connecticut State University. He was born and raised in the Middle East (Beirut, Lebanon and Cairo, Egypt) and worked for seven years in the refugee relief and humanitarian fields with the International Rescue Committee (in New York, east Africa, Baku, Azerbaijan and Baltimore) and the United National High Commissioner for Refugees (in Washington, DC).

Robarts’ first book, Migration and Disease in the Black Sea Region: Ottoman-Russian Relations in the Late Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Centuries (Bloomsbury Academic Press, 2017), analyzed the nexus between the environment, epidemic diseases, human mobility and the centralizing initiatives of the Ottoman and Russian states in the Black Sea region in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Through a reconceptualization of Ottoman-Russian diplomacy and relations in the modern period, this book provides the historical context for analyzing and understanding the nature of Russian-Turkish relations in the greater Middle East today.Robarts is also the author of Black Sea Regionalism: A Case Study (Oxford University Press, 2016) and has published extensively in journals and edited volumes on Ottoman and Russian history.

Robarts’ current research interests include: a manuscript-length project on the world historical connections and interactions between the Middle East and Russia across the longue durée; networks of exchange and mobility between the Balkans and the Middle East in the Ottoman period; and the comparative history of the Ottoman and Russian Empires. His research languages include Ottoman Turkish, modern Turkish, Russian, Bulgarian, French and German.

Academic areas of interest

Robarts’ current research interests include: a manuscript-length project on the world historical connections and interactions between the Middle East and Russia across the longue durée; networks of exchange and mobility between the Balkans and the Middle East in the Ottoman period; and the comparative history of the Ottoman and Russian Empires. His research languages include Ottoman Turkish, modern Turkish, Russian, Bulgarian, French and German.

Courses

Fall 2023 Courses

HPSS S263-01 - RUSSIA AND UKRAINE: PAST AND PRESENT
Level Undergraduate
Unit History, Philosophy, and the Social Sciences
Subject History, Philosophy and the Social Sciences
Period Fall 2023
Credits 3
Format Seminar
Mode In-Person
Start date
End date

HPSS S263-01

RUSSIA AND UKRAINE: PAST AND PRESENT

Level Undergraduate
Unit History, Philosophy, and the Social Sciences
Subject History, Philosophy and the Social Sciences
Period Fall 2023
Credits 3
Format Seminar
Mode In-Person
Start and End 2023-09-06 to 2023-12-13
Times: F | 1:10 PM - 4:10 PM Instructor(s): Andrew Robarts Location(s): Washington Place, Room 310 Enrolled / Capacity: 15 Status: Open

SECTION DESCRIPTION

In the wake of the Russian Federation's invasion of Ukraine, this seminar course is designed to equip students with the historical and geo-political context required to analyze and grapple knowledgeably with the past, present, and future of Russian-Ukrainian relations. The question of Russian and Ukrainian national identity (both historically and today) and the dynamics of the relationship between imperialism and nationalism will be over-arching themes of this course. As part of an introduction to the history of medieval Russia, Imperial Russia, and the Soviet Union, this course will pay particular attention to the evolving understanding of Ukraine and the Ukrainian people within and in relation to the Russian imperial narrative. The main themes that will be developed in this course include: the spatial dimension in Russian history; the historical process of imperial formation, transformation, and collapse; the incorporation and assimilation of multi-ethnic and multi-confessional groups into an imperial polity; Islam in Russia; pan-Slavism; and political violence and revolution. This course is organized around assigned readings, a representative sampling of primary historical documents relating to the history of the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union, and in-class discussions designed to isolate and illuminate the core themes and topics of the course. In combination with engaged reading of the assigned textbook for the course and the content provided through "mini-lectures", films, videos, and literary works will be mobilized to extend the imaginary and visual dimensions of the course.

Prerequisite: HPSS-S101 for Undergraduate Students

Elective

HPSS S443-01 - DISEASE IN HISTORY
Level Undergraduate
Unit History, Philosophy, and the Social Sciences
Subject History, Philosophy and the Social Sciences
Period Fall 2023
Credits 3
Format Seminar
Mode In-Person
Start date
End date

HPSS S443-01

DISEASE IN HISTORY

Level Undergraduate
Unit History, Philosophy, and the Social Sciences
Subject History, Philosophy and the Social Sciences
Period Fall 2023
Credits 3
Format Seminar
Mode In-Person
Start and End 2023-09-06 to 2023-12-13
Times: W | 8:00 AM - 11:00 AM Instructor(s): Andrew Robarts Location(s): Design Center, Room 211 Enrolled / Capacity: 15 Status: Closed

SECTION DESCRIPTION

Through a survey of history's great pandemics this course addresses, from an historical perspective, humanity's response to the appearance and spread of epidemic diseases. While the biological aspects surrounding the contraction and spread of epidemic diseases will be discussed, this course will concern itself primarily with the transnational, environmental, and technological factors that have promoted and sustained regional or world-wide outbreaks of epidemic disease. Specific topics addressed in this course include: the connection between climatic or environmental conditions and the spread of disease; displacement, migration, and disease; and the development and evolution of medical institutions, quarantines, and public health systems.

Prerequisite: HPSS-S101 for Undergraduate Students

Elective

HPSS S267-01 - ISLAM AND THE ISLAMIC WORLD
Level Undergraduate
Unit History, Philosophy, and the Social Sciences
Subject History, Philosophy and the Social Sciences
Period Fall 2023
Credits 3
Format Lecture
Mode In-Person
Start date
End date

HPSS S267-01

ISLAM AND THE ISLAMIC WORLD

Level Undergraduate
Unit History, Philosophy, and the Social Sciences
Subject History, Philosophy and the Social Sciences
Period Fall 2023
Credits 3
Format Lecture
Mode In-Person
Start and End 2023-09-06 to 2023-12-13
Times: TTH | 9:40 AM - 11:10 AM Instructor(s): Andrew Robarts Location(s): College Building, Room 434 Enrolled / Capacity: 25 Status: Open

SECTION DESCRIPTION

Following an introduction to the Qur’an and the core elements and concepts of the religion of Islam, this course surveys the development and articulation of the Islamic World in the medieval, early-modern, and modern periods.  While not discounting the centrality of the peoples of the Arabian Peninsula and Middle East to the venture of Islam, this course will highlight the establishment of Islamic states, societies, and communities in Africa, Asia, Russia, Europe, and North America.  A survey of the Muslim pilgrimage (Hajj) to Mecca and Medina and its role in generating and sustaining an Islamic World will be addressed.  The course concludes with a survey of Islamic societies in the contemporary world and is built around the reading and analysis of works by important Muslim scholars and thinkers across the 1,500-year history of the Islamic World.

Prerequisite: HPSS-S101 for Undergraduate Students

Elective

Spring 2024 Courses

HPSS S101-05 - TOPICS: HISTORY, PHILOSOPHY, & THE SOCIAL SCIENCES
Level Undergraduate
Unit History, Philosophy, and the Social Sciences
Subject History, Philosophy and the Social Sciences
Period Spring 2024
Credits 3
Format Lecture
Mode In-Person
Start date
End date

HPSS S101-05

TOPICS: HISTORY, PHILOSOPHY, & THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

Level Undergraduate
Unit History, Philosophy, and the Social Sciences
Subject History, Philosophy and the Social Sciences
Period Spring 2024
Credits 3
Format Lecture
Mode In-Person
Start and End 2024-02-15 to 2024-05-24
Times: WF | 1:10 PM - 2:40 PM Instructor(s): Andrew Robarts Location(s): College Building, Room 346 Enrolled / Capacity: 20 Status: Open

SECTION DESCRIPTION

You may register for this section if your EFS studio days are Monday/Tuesday/Thursday.

As part of a broad civics and liberal arts education, the main goal of this course is to provide students with the opportunity to increase their knowledge of US elections, US electoral demography, and the US political system.  Leading up to and looking forward to the next US Presidential and Congressional elections in November 2024, this course will be organized around the timetable of the Democratic and Republican parties’ primary election cycle (for Presidential, Senate, House of Representatives’ nominees) in Spring 2024.

Overall, in addition to a focus on the campaign(s) for the US Presidency in 2024, this course will explore the cultural, demographic, social, and spatial dimensions of the current US electorate, identify and examine important swing states and congressional districts in the race for control of the Senate and the House of Representatives, detail the stakes involved for control of these two governmental bodies, analyze image-making in and the visual culture of US political campaigns and elections, and detail the mechanics and mechanisms of US elections and US electoral cycles.

The main theme addressed in this course will be the dynamic of and dialogue between a particular cultural and social moment in US history and the course and outcome of US political campaigns and elections.  Additional themes that will be developed in this course include: the on-going diversification of the nominees put forward by US political parties; splits (within and without) in the ideology and positioning of the Democratic and Republican parties, the possible emergence of a viable third party in the US political landscape; alterations to the voting procedures, processes, and electoral systems in the US; and the changing demography and political trajectory of the US electorate.  In this regard, this course will look forward to and prepare students to analyze and grapple with the run-up to and results of the next US Presidential election in 2024.  As young adults whose lives, in many ways, will be shaped by the outcome of US elections present and future, the over-arching objective of this course will be to raise students’ civic awareness and underline the importance of US elections in articulating, defining, and reflecting the identity and future of America as a nation.

Transfer and upper-level students should register for one of the evening sections.

Major Requirement | BFA

HPSS S101-06 - TOPICS: HISTORY, PHILOSOPHY, & THE SOCIAL SCIENCES
Level Undergraduate
Unit History, Philosophy, and the Social Sciences
Subject History, Philosophy and the Social Sciences
Period Spring 2024
Credits 3
Format Lecture
Mode In-Person
Start date
End date

HPSS S101-06

TOPICS: HISTORY, PHILOSOPHY, & THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

Level Undergraduate
Unit History, Philosophy, and the Social Sciences
Subject History, Philosophy and the Social Sciences
Period Spring 2024
Credits 3
Format Lecture
Mode In-Person
Start and End 2024-02-15 to 2024-05-24
Times: TF | 2:50 PM - 4:20 PM Instructor(s): Andrew Robarts Location(s): College Building, Room 346 Enrolled / Capacity: 20 Status: Open

SECTION DESCRIPTION

You may register for this section if your EFS studio days are Monday/Wednesday/Thursday.

As part of a broad civics and liberal arts education, the main goal of this course is to provide students with the opportunity to increase their knowledge of US elections, US electoral demography, and the US political system.  Leading up to and looking forward to the next US Presidential and Congressional elections in November 2024, this course will be organized around the timetable of the Democratic and Republican parties’ primary election cycle (for Presidential, Senate, House of Representatives’ nominees) in Spring 2024.

Overall, in addition to a focus on the campaign(s) for the US Presidency in 2024, this course will explore the cultural, demographic, social, and spatial dimensions of the current US electorate, identify and examine important swing states and congressional districts in the race for control of the Senate and the House of Representatives, detail the stakes involved for control of these two governmental bodies, analyze image-making in and the visual culture of US political campaigns and elections, and detail the mechanics and mechanisms of US elections and US electoral cycles.

The main theme addressed in this course will be the dynamic of and dialogue between a particular cultural and social moment in US history and the course and outcome of US political campaigns and elections.  Additional themes that will be developed in this course include: the on-going diversification of the nominees put forward by US political parties; splits (within and without) in the ideology and positioning of the Democratic and Republican parties, the possible emergence of a viable third party in the US political landscape; alterations to the voting procedures, processes, and electoral systems in the US; and the changing demography and political trajectory of the US electorate.  In this regard, this course will look forward to and prepare students to analyze and grapple with the run-up to and results of the next US Presidential election in 2024.  As young adults whose lives, in many ways, will be shaped by the outcome of US elections present and future, the over-arching objective of this course will be to raise students’ civic awareness and underline the importance of US elections in articulating, defining, and reflecting the identity and future of America as a nation.

Transfer and upper-level students should register for one of the evening sections.

Major Requirement | BFA

HPSS S464-01 - RESEARCH SEMINAR
Level Undergraduate
Unit History, Philosophy, and the Social Sciences
Subject History, Philosophy and the Social Sciences
Period Spring 2024
Credits 3
Format Seminar
Mode In-Person
Start date
End date

HPSS S464-01

RESEARCH SEMINAR

Level Undergraduate
Unit History, Philosophy, and the Social Sciences
Subject History, Philosophy and the Social Sciences
Period Spring 2024
Credits 3
Format Seminar
Mode In-Person
Start and End 2024-02-15 to 2024-05-24
Times: W | 8:00 AM - 11:00 AM Instructor(s): Andrew Robarts Location(s): Design Center, Room 211 Enrolled / Capacity: 12 Status: Closed

SECTION DESCRIPTION

This experimental course offers students the opportunity to seriously explore some topic or question in history, philosophy, or one of the social sciences, which has a bearing on their degree project. Students will be guided through the process of formulating a research project, identifying the relevant literature, critically reading that literature, and working out how the HPSS material (content and/or methodology) can deepen and enrich their studio practice. We'll look at some artists and designers who have made these sorts of connections and but spend most of the time in discussion of student work. Coursework will be tailored to the needs of individual participants. To obtain permission to register for the course, send an email to the instructor with the following information: your name, major, year in school (junior, senior, graduate student), and a description of (a) your studio degree project, as you currently conceive of it, and (b) the area, topic, or question in history, philosophy, or the social sciences that you want to explore.

Prerequisite: HPSS-S101 for Undergraduate Students.

Elective

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BA, Bowdoin College
MS, Georgetown University
PHD, Georgetown University