Module ARAM219 for 2017/8
- Overview
- Aims and Learning Outcomes
- Module Content
- Indicative Reading List
- Assessment
Postgraduate Module Descriptor
ARAM219: The Palestine Question: Past and Present
This module descriptor refers to the 2017/8 academic year.
Module Aims
This module aims to introduce you to one of the most important issue in the politics of the region and in the world at large. In doing so, it aims to enable you to understand the ways in which the scholarly debate on this issue has developed and how can the production of academic knowledge help to understand better the origins of the conflict in Israel and Palestine and the possible scenarios about its future.
It will also introduce you to the intriguing world of power and knowledge. You will acquaint yourself with recent theoretical and conceptual insights into this question that underpins every area of scholarly inquiry.
On successfully completing the programme you will be able to: | |
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Module-Specific Skills | 1. Understand the nature and importance of the scholarly research on topical issues at the top of the international agenda. 2. Reflect critically on the scholarly research on the Palestine Question |
Discipline-Specific Skills | 3. Analyse and identify the role of narratives in scholarly studies of the Middle East 4. Demonstrate an understanding of the interdisciplinary methods upon which Area Studies and Middle East Studies are based; 5. Understand the strengths and weaknesses of a scholarly treatment of a topical issue such as the Arab-Israeli conflict. |
Personal and Key Skills | 6. Demonstrate close reading, critical and analytical skills through readings, class discussions and presentations 7. Organise data effectively to produce a coherent argument to a deadline, both orally and in writing. |
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 or all of the following topics:
Palestine through the Ages: From the Roman times to Our times.
The Battle of the Narratives: Conceptual and Methodological Aspects.
The Settler Colonial paradigm versus the National Conflict paradigm.
The Zionist Narrative
The Palestinian Narrative
The Post-Zionist Challenge
New Developments in Palestinian Historiography
The Palestinian Refugee questions and its impact on the Palestine Question.
The Role of the Palestinian minority in Israel
The Peace Process and Its Discontents
The One State versus the Two States Solution
Learning and Teaching
This table provides an overview of how your hours of study for this module are allocated:
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | Guided independent study | Placement / study abroad |
---|---|---|
22 | 128 | 0 |
...and this table provides a more detailed breakdown of the hours allocated to various study activities:
Category | Hours of study time | Description |
---|---|---|
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activity | 22 | 11 x 2 hour seminars |
Guided Independent Study | 68 | Preparing for class participation |
Guided Independent Study | 60 | Preparation and writing of essays 1 and 2 |
Online Resources
This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).
How this Module is Assessed
In the tables below, you will see reference to 'ILO's. An ILO is an Intended Learning Outcome - see Aims and Learning Outcomes for details of the ILOs for this module.
Formative Assessment
A formative assessment is designed to give you feedback on your understanding of the module content but it will not count towards your mark for the module.
Form of assessment | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
---|---|---|---|
Submission of a detailed essay plan | 250 | 1-6 | Written |
Summative Assessment
A summative assessment counts towards your mark for the module. The table below tells you what percentage of your mark will come from which type of assessment.
Coursework | Written exams | Practical exams |
---|---|---|
100 | 0 | 0 |
...and this table provides further details on the summative assessments for this module.
Form of assessment | % of credit | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
---|---|---|---|---|
Essay 1 | 50 | 3,000 words | 1-7 | Oral and Written |
Essay 2 | 50 | 2,000 words | 1-7 | Oral and Written |
Re-assessment
Re-assessment takes place when the summative assessment has not been completed by the original deadline, and the student has been allowed to refer or defer it to a later date (this only happens following certain criteria and is always subject to exam board approval). For obvious reasons, re-assessments cannot be the same as the original assessment and so these alternatives are set. In cases where the form of assessment is the same, the content will nevertheless be different.
Original form of assessment | Form of re-assessment | ILOs re-assessed | Timescale for re-assessment |
---|---|---|---|
Essay 1 | Essay (3,000 words) | 1-7 | August/September re-assessment period |
Essay 2 | Essay (2,000 words) | 1-7 | August/September re-assessment period |
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.
Ilan Pappe, A History of Modern Palestine; One Land, Two Peoples (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2nd edition 2010)
Ilan Pappe, The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, Oxford and New York: Oneworld Publications, 2007
Ilan Pappe, the Forgotten Palestinians; A History of the Palestinian Minority in Israel, London and New Haven: Yale University Press, 2010)
Ilan Pappe, The Israel/Palestine Question, London and New York: third edition, Routledge, 2012.
Beshara Doumani, Palestine Rediscovered; Merchants and Peasants in Jabal Nablus, 1700-1900, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995.
Rashid Khalidi, Palestinian Identity: the Construction of Modern National Consciousness, New York: Columbia University Press, 1998.
Edward Said, The Question of Palestine, London: Vintage 1992.
Anita Shapira,Israel: a History, Brandies: Brandies University Press, 2014.
Sholom Avineri, the Making of Modern Zionism, New York: Basic Books, 1981