Postgraduate Module Descriptor


ARAM220: Gender, Politics and Society in the Middle East

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

Overview

NQF Level7
Credits30 ECTS Value15
Term(s) and duration

This module ran during term 2 (11 weeks)

Academic staff

Dr Katie Natanel (Convenor)

Pre-requisites

None

Co-requisites

None

Available via distance learning

No

This module explores how gender, politics  and society are interrelated in the contemporary Middle East. It provides a critical analysis of the various debates, tensions and transformations that are linked to changing gender relations in the region, and investigates how these changes are shaped by diverse political and social contexts. In this course you will assess the key frames of modernisation, nationalism, feminism and Islamism, which continue to shape debates around gender in the Middle East. At the same time, you will engage with significant issues such as governance and political participation; Orientalism, colonialism and imperialism; militarism and conflict; political activism and transformation; and representation, imagination and artistic productions.  By embarking on a gendered analysis of politics and society in the Middle East, you will challenge prevailing stereotypes about women and gender in the region, while engaging in critical reflection and fostering political engagement with your peers .

 

The course consists of lectures, class discussions and student presentations. Each two-hourly seminar will commence with a student presentation and class discussion on the topic and reading for the week, and conclude with a lecture on the topic and readings for the following week. Accordingly, students will be expected to have done considerable directed preparation before each class discussion. Individual student presentations are followed by group discussions. Aside from presentations of specific readings, students will be asked to write short reaction papers to the various readings of the week and a longer book review during the semester. In addition there might be occasional film and video showings, as well as prepared practical exercises linked to an understanding of the social and cultural dimension of gender as well as various methodological approaches.

Module created

01/10/2006

Last revised

12/08/2016