Postgraduate Module Descriptor

ARAM236: Sociology and Anthropology of the Gulf and the Arabian Peninsula

This module descriptor refers to the 2021/2 academic year.

Module Aims

The main aim of this module is to provide you with specialised knowledge and critical understanding of the societies of the contemporary Gulf and Arabian Peninsula. This module aims particularly at exploring the social dynamics and fracture lines at work in this region and to show how social categories are historically and politically constructed. Through deconstructing the supposed Gulf exceptionalism, this course further aims to develop your analytical thinking skills as independent researchers and your intellectual ability to place issues discussed in a wider context, beyond common knowledge immediately available in the media, or conventional readings of the region’s society, politics and economy.

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. Identify and critically assess the main contemporary social dynamics in the societies of the Gulf and the Arabian Peninsula, including the historical foundations of social structures and hierarchies; the debates about migration and citizenship; the organisation and production of Gulf cities; and the narratives and counter-narratives of modernity.
2. Critically evaluate different analytical and methodological approaches and concepts in the study of societies of the Arabian Peninsula.
Discipline-Specific Skills3. Demonstrate an ability to draw from broader concepts in sociology and anthropology, and to analyse the Gulf and the Arabian Peninsula through conceptual lenses established in the study of other regions of the world.
4. Demonstrate an ability to embrace a multi-disciplinary approach in order to gain a comprehensive understanding of the topic.
5. Analyse and assess academic texts and prevailing notions critically.
Personal and Key Skills6. Demonstrate skills of reasoned and supported argumentation in writing and in oral presentation.
7. Demonstrate skills of finding, analysing and synthesising information from a range of sources.
8. Engage in independent study and group work, including the presentation of material for group discussion.

Module Content

Syllabus Plan

Whilst the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, the syllabus will cover all of the following topics:

  • Introduction: Deconstructing Gulf exceptionalism
  • Origins of Social Hierarchies: Historical Circulations & Introduction of Nationality
  • Contemporary Dynamics of Tribes and Tribalism
  • “Transit States”: Migration, Kafala, Labour Market
  • Impossible Citizens: Social Changes, Mobilities and the Myth of Temporariness
  • Theorising the Organisation of Gulf Societies: Marxist and Anthropological Perspectives
  • The Production of Gulf Cities: Segregation and Interactions
  • Seeing from the Margins: Social Ordering and Subversive Practices
  • Family and Gender Transformations in the Arabian Peninsula
  • Bodies, Norms and Transgressions
  • Narratives and Counter-Narratives of Gulf Modernity

Learning and Teaching

This table provides an overview of how your hours of study for this module are allocated:

Scheduled Learning and Teaching ActivitiesGuided independent studyPlacement / study abroad
221280

...and this table provides a more detailed breakdown of the hours allocated to various study activities:

CategoryHours of study timeDescription
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities2211 x 2-hour seminars
Guided independent study32Essay (20 hours reading, 12 hours writing)
Guided independent study28Individual presentation (18 hours researching, 10 hours preparing presentation)
Guided independent study40Weekly reading (10 x 4 hours per week)
Guided independent study28Project (18 hours researching, 10 hours writing/preparing presentation)

Online Resources

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

Other Learning Resources

The International Crisis Group’s reports at www.crisisgroup.org;

Human Rights Watch (Middle East) produces good reports on the states of the Arabian Peninsula: http://www.hrw.org/en/middle-east/n-africa