Module POLM170 for 2019/0
- Overview
- Aims and Learning Outcomes
- Module Content
- Indicative Reading List
- Assessment
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.
On successfully completing the programme you will be able to: | |
---|---|
Module-Specific Skills | 1. 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 Skills | 4. 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 Skills | 6. 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; |
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:
- One Hundred Years of Violence
- Technologies of Violence
- Territoriality and Borders
- Violence of Architecture
- Terrorism
- Cultural Violence: Violence of Words
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 Activity | 22 | 11x two-hour seminars. There will be a mix of lectures led by the module convenor, student presentations, and group work. |
Guided Independent Study | 70 | Private Study - reading and preparing for seminars |
Guided Independent Study | 104 | Preparation for essay - including researching and collating relevant sources, planning the structure and argument, and writing up. |
Guided Independent Study | 104 | Preparation of exam - including researching and collating relevant sources, planning the structure and argument, and writing up. |
Online Resources
This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).
Amnesty International. Israel and the Occupied Territories - www.amnesty.org/en/countries/middle-east-and-north-africa/israel-and-occupied-palestinian-territories/
B'Tselem - The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories - www.btselem.org/
International Crisis Group - www.crisisgroup.org/en/regions/middle-east-north-africa/israel-palestine
Israel Foreign Ministry - www.mfa.gov.il
Israel Democracy Institute- www.en.idi.org.il
Negotiations Affairs Department, Palestine Liberation Organisation- www.nad-plo.org
Other Learning Resources
The Gatekeepers (2002, Dror Moreh)
Occupation 101 (2006, Abdallah Omeish, Sufyan Omeish,)
State 194 (2013,Dan Setton,)
Paradise Now (2016, Hany Abu-Assad)
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 |
---|---|---|---|
Essay Plan | Max. 500 words | 1-10 | Peer-assessed |
Student-led Group Seminar | 5 min per student | 1-11 | Peer-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.
Coursework | Written exams | Practical exams |
---|---|---|
50 | 50 | 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 |
---|---|---|---|---|
Essay | 50 | 4,000 words | 1-10 | Written |
Pre-Seen Exam | 50 | 2 hours | 1-10 | Written |
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 |
---|---|---|---|
Essay | Essay (4,000 words) | 1-10 | Term 3 |
Exam | Exam (2 hours) | 1-10 | Term 3 |