Undergraduate Module Descriptor

POC2123: Politics of the Middle East

This module descriptor refers to the 2019/0 academic year.

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

Module Content

Syllabus Plan

Whilst the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover some of the following topics or readings:

  • Politics and Area Studies: Beyond Orientalism/Occidentalism and East/West
  • Empire, Colonialism and the Birth of the Middle East State (Egypt, Algeria, Turkey)
  • Beyond TH Marshall: Citizenship(s) in the Middle East (Gulf, Lebanon)
  • Oil Wealth/Curse: Modernization, urban development and neoliberal policies (Gulf, Algeria, Libya)
  • NGO-ization or the Liberalization of Politics (case study: LGBT activism vs. “Gay Internationalists”)
  • Informal Politics, Resistance and Encroachment (a view from Egypt and Gaza)
  • Sect, Sectarianisation and the State (Iran, Yemen)
  • Transnational Solidarity and the Middle East (Kurdistan)
  • From the War on Terror to the War on Iraq: Reading the ME through a Feminist IR Lens 
  • The Arab Spring and Masculinist Restoration (Bahrein, Syria)
  • The Universalization of Human Rights: What Challenges for the Middle East?

Learning and Teaching

This table provides an overview of how your hours of study for this module are allocated:

Scheduled Learning and Teaching ActivitiesGuided independent studyPlacement / study abroad
221280

...and this table provides a more detailed breakdown of the hours allocated to various study activities:

CategoryHours of study timeDescription
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activity2211 x 2 hr seminars
Guided independent study128Private study – students are expected to read suggested texts and make notes prior to seminar sessions. They are also expected to read widely to complete their coursework assignments. More specifically, students are expected to devote at least: 66 (6 hours per topic/week) hours to directed reading; 6 hours to completing the formative research outline; 42 hours (3 hours/day over two weeks) for completing the essay; 10 hours (2 hours/day over 5 days) for completing opinion pieces. The 4 remaining hours serve as a margin to be adjusted depending on the student in question

Online Resources

This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).