Postgraduate Module Descriptor

ARAM210: Themes and Conflicts in Iranian History and Culture

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

Module Aims

The module aims to give an overview of the prime themes, conflicts, events, and personalities of Iranian history, to give you a confident grasp of the main essentials, and to develop your abilities to research, analyse and discuss the political and historical questions involved. The module aims to develop your skills in using primary and secondary data and sources when evaluating or contextualizing issues in Iranian history and culture.

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. Understand key issues over a broad sweep of Iranian history 2. Explain confidently the significance of personalities and events within the range of the module
Discipline-Specific Skills	3. Find, use and analyse secondary and primary data relevant to specific issue areas 4. Place issues discussed in a wider context and deploy critical arguments.
Personal and Key Skills	5. Apply critical and analytical skills through readings, class discussions and presentations 6. Enhance your ability to undertake historical and political analysis.

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:

Pre-Islamic Iran; devolved rule, religion and the nature of kingship
The Islamic conquest; Continuity and change; perceptions and significance
Invasions and resurgence from Seljuk to Timurid (c900 AD to 1450)
Sufism and the great Persian poets
The Safavids and the nature of Iranian Shiism
Nader Shah and the 18th century interregnum
The Qajars and the Constitutional Revolution; humiliation and liberalism
Reza Shah, the army and development
Writers and intellectual movements in the twentieth century
Mohammad Reza Shah, Mossadeq and Khomeini

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	Readings for class
	40	Preparation of presentations
	118	Research and writing of 2 essays

Online Resources

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

ELE

Other Learning Resources

Encyclopedia Iranica (http://www.iranica.com/)