Module ARAM236 for 2021/2
- Overview
- Aims and Learning Outcomes
- Module Content
- Indicative Reading List
- Assessment
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.
| On successfully completing the programme you will be able to: | |
|---|---|
| Module-Specific Skills | 1. 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 Skills | 3. 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 Skills | 6. 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 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 and Teaching Activities | 22 | 11 x 2-hour seminars |
| Guided independent study | 32 | Essay (20 hours reading, 12 hours writing) |
| Guided independent study | 28 | Individual presentation (18 hours researching, 10 hours preparing presentation) |
| Guided independent study | 40 | Weekly reading (10 x 4 hours per week) |
| Guided independent study | 28 | Project (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
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Class discussions | Weekly, during class | 1-8 | Direct verbal feedback in seminar |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Essay | 50 | 2,500 words | 1-8 | Written feedback (and verbal feedback during office hours, if required) |
| Individual oral presentation | 20 | 15 minutes | 1-8 | Written and verbal feedback |
| Participation in class discussion | 5 | 1-8 | Verbal feedback | |
| Summative project [project details will be agreed with module convenor; it can include, but is not limited to: short reflective essay (film or exhibition review), photo essay, video work, podcast, fiction] | 25 | Written submission of 1,500 words OR 15 minute in-class presentation (to be determined with module convenor, depending on the project) | 1-8 | Written feedback; verbal feedback if required |
| 0 | ||||
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essay | Essay (2,500 words) | 1-8 | August/September reassessment period |
| Individual oral presentation | Individual oral presentation (15 minutes) | 1-8 | August/September reassessment period |
| Summative project | Summative project (1,500 words OR 15 minute presentation) | 1-8 | August/September reassessment period |
Indicative Reading List
This reading list is indicative - i.e. it provides an idea of texts that may be useful to you on this module, but it is not considered to be a confirmed or compulsory reading list for this module.
Al-Rasheed, Madawi. A Most Masculine State. Gender, Politics and Religion in Saudi Arabia (Cambridge University Press, 2013).
Beaugrand, Claire. Stateless in the Gulf: Migration, Nationality and Society in Kuwait (I. B. Tauris, 2017).
Bsheer, Rosie. ‘Whither Arabian Peninsula Studies?’, in A. Ghazal and J. Hanssen (eds). The Oxford Handbook of Contemporary Middle Eastern and North African History (Oxford University Press, 2015).
Carapico, Sheila (ed.). Arabia Incognita: Dispatches from Yemen and the Gulf (Just World Books, 2016).
Elsheshtawy, Yasser. Temporary Cities. Resisting Transience in Arabia (Routledge, 2019).
Khalaf, Abdulhadi, Omar Alshehabi and Adam Hanieh (eds). Transit States. Labour, Migration and Citizenship in the Gulf (Pluto Press, 2014).
Lori, Noora. Offshore Citizens. Permanent Temporary Status in the Gulf (Cambridge University Press, 2019).
Menoret, Pascal. Joyriding in Riyadh. Oil, Urbanism and Road Revolt (Cambridge University Press, 2014).
