Postgraduate Module Descriptor

POLM170: Understanding Israel and Palestine: Anatomy of Violence

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

Module Aims

This module will:

  • Provide an advanced level introduction to the causes, dynamics, key issues, and main developments in the politics of the Israel-Palestine conflict, and situate the analysis within key International Relations and Peace and Conflict Studies theories, concept and debates on violence.
  • Introduce you to various, often contradictory, interpretations of the conflict going beyond the two 'official' narratives.
  • Provide you with the opportunity to develop a range of study skills, including the ability to work individually and in a group, formulate your own research questions in preparation for the Skype sessions with NGOs in the region, evaluate and constructively critique peers’ work, and to construct a coherent and well-reasoned critical analysis of the issues discussed in both oral and written forms.

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 Skills1. Demonstrate substantive and comprehensive knowledge of the main developments, issues and actors in the Israel-Palestine conflict, taking account of varying narratives of events and dynamics of the conflict;
2. Critically engage with and critique different theories and understandings of violence and apply this analysis in the context of the protraction of the Israel-Palestine conflict;
3. Understand, analyse and critically evaluate the political nexuses between different forms of violence and the protraction of the Israel-Palestine conflict;
Discipline-Specific Skills4. Identify, critically discuss, and apply the key theoretical debates in International Relations and Peace and Conflict Studies to empirical data;
5. Find, use, and analyse primary and secondary data relevant to specific issue areas;
Personal and Key Skills6. Critically evaluate ideas and debates;
7. Locate, research and critically evaluate relevant information from academic sources to form a critical analysis;
8. Develop analytical writing skills;
9. Study independently and in collaboration with peers;
10. Understand assessment criteria, engage in critical, yet constructive, peer-evaluation and produce feedback and suggestions for improvement;
11. Develop oral presentation and communication skills;

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 assessmentSize of the assessment (eg length / duration)ILOs assessedFeedback method
Essay PlanMax. 500 words1-10Peer-assessed
Student-led Group Seminar5 min per student1-11Peer-assessed

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.

CourseworkWritten examsPractical exams
50500

...and this table provides further details on the summative assessments for this module.

Form of assessment% of creditSize of the assessment (eg length / duration)ILOs assessedFeedback method
Essay504,000 words1-10Written
Pre-Seen Exam502 hours1-10Written

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 assessmentForm of re-assessmentILOs re-assessedTimescale for re-assessment
EssayEssay (4,000 words)1-10Term 3
ExamExam (2 hours)1-10Term 3