Undergraduate Module Descriptor

POC2090: Violence, Conflict and Religion in the Middle East

This module descriptor refers to the 2016/7 academic year.

Please note that this module is only delivered on the Penryn Campus.

Module Aims

This module will:

 

1. Provide you with the basis for developing a systematic understanding of the current political and security challenges to the Middle East.

 

2. Develop an advanced understanding of the socio-political and historical processes, and major political, social, ideological and religious factors that have led, or contributed, to the current instabilities in the Middle East.

 

3. Introduce you to a variety of different theoretical perspectives to studying the region's politics and some of the principal academic debates surrounding the study of the region.

 

4. Enable you to practice your analytical and presentation skills in both written and oral form.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

This module's assessment will evaluate your achievement of the ILOs listed here – you will see reference to these ILO numbers in the details of the assessment for this module.
On successfully completing the programme you will be able to:
Module-Specific Skills1. demonstrate an advanced understanding and awareness of the important political and security challenges in the contemporary Middle East;
2. develop an appreciation of the socio-political and historical process and factors that have led, or contributed, to the current instabilities in the region;
3. recognise some of the main concepts and debates surrounding the study of the Middle East, and discuss them in relation to the current events in the region;
Discipline-Specific Skills4. locate and engage with an array of material, involving web-based data, academic journals and news sources, in order to develop in-depth knowledge of particular issues;
5. formulate, articulate, and defend your own well-structured or reasoned arguments in the light of appropriate evidence;
6. abstract theoretical ideas and concepts to actual events and outcomes;
Personal and Key Skills7. formulate and present information and critical analysis, in both written and oral forms, in a coherent manner;
8. deliver presentations to peers;
9. understand assessment criteria, engage in critical yet constructive peer-evaluation and produce feedback and suggestions for improvement;
10. use ICT as a tool for accessing appropriate resources;
11. work independently, within a limited time frame, and without access to external sources, to complete a specified task.

Indicative Reading List

This reading list is indicative - i.e. it provides an idea of texts that may be useful to you on this module, but it is not considered to be a confirmed or compulsory reading list for this module.

Cammett, M. (2015) A Political Economy of the Middle East. Boulder: Westview Press

Dalacoura, K. (2011) Islamist Terrorism and Democracy in the Middle East. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press

Fawcett, L. (ed) (2009) International Relations of the Middle East, Oxford: Oxford University Press

Halliday, F. (1996) Islam and the Myth of Confrontation: Religion and Politics in the Middle East, London: I. B. Tauris

Halliday, Fred (2005) The Middle East in International Relations: Power Politics & Ideology, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

Kamrava, M. (2011)The Modern Middle East: A Political History Since the First World War. London: California University Press Ltd.

Milton-Edwards, B. (2006) Contemporary Politics in the Middle East. Cambridge: Polity

Said, E.  (1978) Orientalism, New York: Vintage Books.