Postgraduate Module Descriptor

ARAM188: The Middle East since 1945

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

Module Aims

Students taking this module should develop the kind of broad picture of the history of the modern Middle East which will be essential to all those undertaking further graduate work, and of real value across Masters courses. In particular, the module aims to explore the analytic value of conceptual categories (such as modernity), the great variety of approaches to history (cultural, political, economic etc) and to introduce students to techniques of close-reading and documentary analysis which will be of broader value across their studies. These skills are then tested and explored in assessments and the module aspires to include a great deal of formative feedback so as to ensure that students are able to draw on their analyses of others’ histories in their own production of assessed work.

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. gain a broad understanding of the history of the modern Middle East, including Turkey, Iran and North Africa. 2. identify and evaluate a variety of modes of historical practice. 3. make connections across discrete historical cases so as to identify the value and weaknesses of broad themes such as modernity and Pan-Arabism. 4. understand the place of historical analysis in research in both Humanities and Social Sciences branches of Middle East Studies.
Discipline-Specific Skills	5. appreciate cultures and historical contexts by heightening a sense of the past and the present as a shared human experience. 6. gain an awareness of the importance of using primary sources, on the one hand, and evaluating the contingent nature of secondary literature, on the other;
Personal and Key Skills	7. demonstrate critical and analytical skills are developed through seminar discussion of theoretical approaches, primary texts and appropriate references, in addition to essay work; and 8. develop the ability to conduct a structured dialogue, address an audience and construct coherent arguments.

Module Content

Syllabus Plan

1. Iran, Religion, Revolution and Modernity
2. Turkey and Democracy, 1945-2000
3. Arabism, the Military and Modernity
4. The Arabian Peninsula: Oil and Modernisation
5. Yemen: Socialism and Territorial Unification
6. Palestine, Zionism and the struggle for independence and security
7. Libya: from Monarchy to Revolution
8. Democracy, Sectarianism and Political Development in the Sudan
9. Lebanon: Civil Strife and Liberalism
10. Social Transformation and Land Reforms
11. Civil Society and Urban Life
12. Middle Eastern Oil, the United States and the Arab-Israeli Conflict

Teaching is by two hourly seminars, once a week. Seminars provide the opportunity for detailed discussion of a particular topic. The tutor introduces each seminar. Students will be given guidance in the selection of texts for presentation purposes and in assessing the availability of core texts.

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	Seminars (2 hours per week)
Guided independent study	278	Independent study, consisting weekly of 7 hours reading, 2 hours preparation for presentations and 1 hour to consider assigned questions for that weeks topic, along with 84 hours assigned work for each

Online Resources

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