Undergraduate Module Descriptor

ARA2134: Ethnography of the Middle East

This module descriptor refers to the 2024/5 academic year.

Module Aims

The aim of this course is to introduce you to the anthropology of the Middle East. This course is ideally suited for students with little or no background in anthropology and who seek to acquaint themselves with the discipline and acquire ethnographic insights into life in the region. Students intending to write a dissertation involving fieldwork will find in this course a range of useful tools.

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 specific knowledge about a variety of peoples and cultures of the Middle East, in greater detail than the very general Level 4;
2. Challenge homogenizing and essentialist accounts of the region and its people, especially those of earlier Orientalists;
3. Show understanding of the relationship between representations of the Middle East and preconceptions, by applying detailed knowledge and basic ethnographic theory;
4. Identify different basic techniques in ethnographic fieldwork, such as participant observation, surveys, questionnaires, oral and life histories, and evaluate some of their uses in the Middle Eastern context;
Discipline-Specific Skills5. Analyse and critically assess academic texts dealing with the Middle East;
6. Articulate and develop a coherent argument embedded in relevant theory, applied to examples from the Middle East;
7. Distinguish between some basic methodological approaches and theoretical frameworks used in the study of the Middle East;
Personal and Key Skills8. Demonstrate a capacity for independent study and work planning; and
9. Show an ability to make an analytical and thoughtful contribution to group discussion.