Postgraduate Module Descriptor

ARAM232: Theorising the Middle East

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

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:

Ibn Khaldun: the birth of social science; universal history; ‘asabiyyah
Marx: historical materialism; capitalism
Weber – Linz: secularization; spirit; capitalism; patrimonialism; sultanism; authoritarianism
Gramsci: hegemony; historicism; state and civil society
Edward Said: Orientalism; post-colonialism; post-structuralism
Habermas – Nancy Fraser: public sphere; communicative rationality
Benedict Anderson – Anthony Smith: nationalism; ethnie; imagined communities
Butler and Harraway: queer theory; performativity; masculinity
Rentier states: rentierism
Contemporary anthropological theory: the imaginary

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 & Teaching activities	22	11 x 2-hour seminars
Guided independent study	60	Reading for seminars
Guided independent study	68	Completion of course work

Online Resources

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

The online library

Other Learning Resources

http://elgg.exeter.ac.uk

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
Practice mini-presentations	5 minutes	1-7, 9-10	Oral feedback
Small and large group discussions and analysis of texts	Weekly	1-7, 9-10	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
Group project using the Hive in which students will need to demonstrate the ability to discuss, evaluate and reflect upon the theoretical perspectives they study	15	15 minutes	1-11	Written and oral feedback
Essay	85	3,500 words	1-11	Written and oral feedback
	0

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
Group project using the Hive in which students will need to demonstrate the ability to discuss, evaluate and reflect upon the theoretical perspectives they study	Individual project using the Hive in which students will need to demonstrate the ability to discuss, evaluate and reflect upon the theoretical perspectives they study	1-11	August/September re-assessment period
Essay	Essay (3,500 words)	1-11	August/September re-assessment period