Undergraduate Module Descriptor

ARA2014: Regions and Empires in Islamic Archaeology

This module descriptor refers to the 2018/9 academic year.

Module Aims

Students will develop critical skills in understanding Islamic archaeology as it contributes to reconstructing the history of large parts of the globe. They will gain an appreciation of regional differences and similarities in Islamic archaeology and an enriched understanding of Islamic heritage and monuments.

Through analysis completed in the Islamic galleries of major UK museums (e.g. the British Museum and Victoria and Albert Museum) students will be introduced to critical appreciation of public heritage narratives and displays, and pertinent debates in museology associated with representing Islam.

Individual short presentations on agreed Islamic archaeological topics will permit students to engage in-depth in researching a specific site or body of material. This can help in developing other dissertations, and projects, and enhances research skills transferable across course units in power point presentation, library and web based research, and group based discussion.

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 Skills	1. Understand the key different empires and regions that have been significant in Islamic history from an archaeological perspective 2. Analyse Islamic archaeology and material culture museum displays from a critical perspective
Discipline-Specific Skills	3. Evaluate the value of different categories of archaeological evidence in reconstructing past societies 4. Demonstrate understanding of regional differences in approaches within archaeology
Personal and Key Skills	5. Develop enhanced confidence in completing independent research 6. Prepare and present a succinct power point presentation 7. Critically evaluate different categories of textual, visual, and material culture evidence

Module Content

Syllabus Plan

The module will be based on lectures (9 x 2 hours), a full day Museum visit and gallery analysis in the Victoria and Albert and British Museums in London, and seminars centred on individual student presentations on agreed topics (1 x 2 hours). Lectures will be occasionally followed by students’ individual discussions of reading assignments. Where relevant, Islamic archaeological handling artifacts and material culture will be used in lectures and seminars, and short films on Islamic material culture and heritage shown and discussed. The following themes may be covered.

The time of the Prophet Muhammad and the Umayyads
The Abbasids
The Fatimids and Mamluks
Ottomans
Merchants and sailors of the Red Sea and Indian Ocean
Sub-Saharan Africa
North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula
South, Central, and Southeast Asia
Museum fieldtrip and Gallery analysis (British Museum and Victoria and Albert Museums)

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
28	122	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	18	9x2 hour classes You will need to complete all readings prior to class and be ready to participate. On some occasions you will be asked to present material you have prepared yourself.
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activity	4	2x2 hour seminars. You will need to complete all readings prior to class and be ready to participate. On some occasions you will be asked to present material you have prepared yourself.
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activity	6	Islamic museum visit This study event will be held in the Islamic gallery of a major UK museum (e.g. British Museum, V&A).
Guided Independent Study	62	Reading and research.
Guided Independent Study	30	Completing assignments.
Guided Independent Study	30	Preparing for assessments.

Online Resources

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