Postgraduate Module Descriptor

ARAM147: The Kurds: History and Politics

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

Module Aims

This module will introduce you to the social and political history of the Kurds, the largest stateless nation and the largest group in the Middle East after Arabs, Persians and Turks. They have begun to play a prominent role in the complex politics and social transformation of the Middle East, which are difficult to understand without a grasp of the Kurds’ long and complicated history. The module aims to give you an understanding of the social and political history of the Kurds in relation to the global context, and to help you analyse their political organisation and the evolution of the society from a range of perspectives. The module will encourage you to critically examine the social and political history of the Kurds, considering issues of social organisation, nationalism, political party formation, identity and religion, migration, diaspora, and mobility, gender, political economy, regional and international relations.

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 Skills	1. Demonstrate a critical approach to the historiography of the Kurds and Kurdistan 2. Objectively examine the position of the Kurds in the Middle East and the interaction between the Kurds and the dominant states of the region, as well as the position of non-state people in world history and politics 3. Demonstrate a critical understanding of the transformation of the Kurdish society in its global context 4. Apply and discuss a wide range of theories such as state-building and ethnic politics; nationalism; political economy; social change; gender; migration
Discipline-Specific Skills	5. Discuss and analyse historical material, including primary sources 6. Embrace a multi-disciplinary approach in order to gain a comprehensive understanding of a particular ethno-national group. 7. Discuss and engage with a range of methodological approaches as well as variety of genres, i.e. historical, political or anthropological and sociological texts, (auto)biographical writings and fictions. 8. Undertake a study from a multi-disciplinary perspective
Personal and Key Skills	9. Digest, select and organise material to produce, to a deadline, a coherent and cogent argument, developed through the mode of assessment 10. Engage in independent study and work effectively in group with limited guidance 11. Communicate complex ideas verbally and in written 12. Engage critically with a variety of materials and sources (e.g. web, video, text, fiction archives)

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:

The Historiography of the Kurds and Kurdistan

The Kurds between two empires (the Ottomans and the Safavids)

Kurds and Kurdistan in the first World War

Kurdish nationalism and the question of identity

Religious identities and politics in Kurdistan

The Kurdish national movement and the states (Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Syria)

Kurds, actors of Middle-Eastern Regional politics

The Diasporisation of the Kurdish People

The Kurdish political movement and transformation of gender roles

Kurdistan, war, and the global economy

War and the transformation of society in Kurdistan

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	88	Weekly Readings (8 hours/week)
Guided independent study	22	Class/Seminar Preparation (2 hours/ week)
Guided independent study	58	Project (30 hours researching/coordinating; 28 hours writing/realisation)
Guided independent study	70	Essay (35 hours reading and researching /35 hours writing)
Guided independent study	40	Reading and writing up the book review

Online Resources

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