Commonly, the course in medieval Middle Eastern history serves many purposes. Not only must it detail the changes that transformed the Middle East from the seventh thru the eighteenth centuries but also it should introduce and analyze the rich diversity of pre-modern Islamic society, institutions, politics, and culture. Thus, considerable variation exists in historical treatments of the medieval Middle East. Nevertheless, at present most of these courses are chronological surveys which tend to emphasize political history, although a large number of offerings are topically arranged and give separate attention to many of the several aspects of traditional Middle Eastern civilization and institutions. Actually, the differences between these two orientations are mainly ones of emphasis. For instance, few topically arranged courses ignore the chronological factor in analyzing change.