Undergraduate Module Descriptor

POC3142: Social and Islamist Armed Movements

This module descriptor refers to the 2022/3 academic year.

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

Module Aims

This module aims to equip you with the conceptual and theoretical tools necessary for understanding Social and armed Islamist Movements. It will familiarise you with the latest research on Social movements and encourage you to develop a critical perspective in analysing existing research. You will be exposed to a variety of methodological approaches and challenges in research from the field of Social and Armed Movements. The course examines Movements with a special emphasis on questions related to identity, representation, existence, culture, politics and regional and international interventions. The module aims at locating the topic in a global perspective. After ISIS other armed Islamist movements are becoming the defining feature of the 21st century in the ME area.

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. Understand the key theoretical debates, concepts and issues surrounding the phenomenon of Islamist and armed movements.
2. Understanding the major armed Islamist movements, their behaviours, ideologies and the contexts in which they operate.
3. Demonstrate that the Movements can provide considerable insight into crucial aspects and dimensions in the state, and demonstrate the ability to discuss key-issues in the themes of Islamism.
Discipline-Specific Skills4. Critically employ concepts learnt in a global perspective and develop critical arguments.
5. Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of existing research, and Use and analyse cross-disciplinary data relevant to specific issues.
6. Ability to handle recent Islamist terminology. Ability to analyse and analyse both primary and secondary sources as well as to place the issues discussed in a wider context.
Personal and Key Skills7. Display an ability to conduct critical analyses and evaluation of the subject topics, through readings, class discussions and presentations. Organisation of time and resources.
8. Work independently and with peers to achieve goals.
9. Enhancing the ability of the students to undertake comparative and cross-regional