Module ARAM054 for 2019/0
- Overview
- Aims and Learning Outcomes
- Module Content
- Indicative Reading List
- Assessment
Postgraduate Module Descriptor
ARAM054: State and Society in the Middle East
This module descriptor refers to the 2019/0 academic year.
Module Aims
This module explores concepts, themes, ideologies and issues which are key to the study of politics and society in the Middle East. The aim of this module is to enable you to understand the patterns of state-society interaction, the bases upon which social and political forces are constituted, and the forms of power deployed in the interplay between state and societal actors. The module has three main objectives: examine the analytical and conceptual tools used to understand and explain state-society relations; familiarise you with the different perspectives and debates within the field of Middle East politics; expand your empirical knowledge of the region by examining specific case studies during the seminars.
On successfully completing the programme you will be able to: | |
---|---|
Module-Specific Skills | 1. Demonstrate familiarity with concepts and analytical tools applied to study politics and society in the Middle East. 2. Show familiarity with the forms of societal organisations and modes of social and political action. |
Discipline-Specific Skills | 3. Critically analyse primary and secondary source material. 4. Understand and use social theory. |
Personal and Key Skills | 5. Work effectively in a group and independently 6. Conduct critical analyses and evaluation of the subject topics in writing and oral presentations |
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:
1. Orientalism, Area Studies & Social Science: Approaches to Middle East Politics
2. Historical Sociology of the State in the Middle East
3. Nationalism: Theory, Ideology and Practice
4. Authoritarianism: Violence, Discourse and Symbolic Power
5. Military Politics: Armed Forces and Society
6. Sectarianism: Politics outside the State
7. Religion and State-Building: Modernity without Secularism
8. Political Islam and Civil Society: Inside or Outside the State?
9. Ethnicity: Primordial Ties and Imagined Communities
10. Corruption, Economic Reform and Neo-Patrimonialism
11. Informal Politics: Poverty, Power and Resistance
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 | 278 | 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 Activities | 22 | 11 x 2 hour seminars |
Guided independent study | 120 | Reading for seminars |
Guided independent study | 158 | Completion of course work |
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 |
---|---|---|---|
Seminar presentation (group presentation) | 20-25 minutes | 1-6 | Oral feedback |
In-class discussions of topics covered during the lecture | 15-20 minutes | 1-5 | Oral feedback |
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 | 3,500 words | 1-6 | Written feedback |
Essay 2 | 50 | 3,500 words | 1-6 | Written feedback |
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 (3,500 words) | 1-6 | August/September reassessment period |
Essay 2 | Essay (3,500 words) | 1-6 | August/September reassessment 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.
Nazih Ayubi, Over-Stating the Arab State (London: I.B.Tauris, 1995).
Simon Bromley, Rethinking Middle East Politics: State Formation and Development (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993).
Steven Heydemann, ed., War, Institutions, and Social Change in the Middle East (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2000).
Sami Zubaida, Islam, the State and the People (London: I. B. Tauris, 1991).