While Prof Alsatian was definitely knowledgable about the course, it was so disorganized that it was overall a hugely negative experience. The midterm and final were both papers derived entirely from the texts, and the map quiz was incredibly easy. I got an A- with minimal effort.

The TAs absolutely make your grade though, so pick wisely and attend discussion sections, because they will offer really helpful advice for the direction the papers should take.

Dr. Aslanian is a fountain of knowledge. That being said, this class was a complete waste of time. Being Middle Eastern myself, I thought this class would be extremely interesting and informative. However, I found that the class was extremely politically focused and little to no focus was put on the culture of the Middle East. I was always taught in my history classes that "the past informs the present." However, there was no connection made to the present in this history class. The final lecture was supposed to be on the recent Arab uprisings, a topic of interest to many people, but Dr. Aslanian spent most of that lecture talking about Europe's role in World War II. This made no sense to me. Anyway, the readings are completely unnecessary, but you do need to go to discussion section for the points.
Super easy map quiz=10%
Discussion section=15%
Book review=20% (didn't read the book and got a B on it)
Take home midterm=25% (2 essays)
Take home final=30% (2 essays)
I really do not suggest taking this class as a GE unless you love hearing boring lectures about topics that don't pertain to the subject matter.

TL;DR
Don't take the class. If you do, don't do the readings and you'll be fine. Final grade: B+