Undergraduate Module Descriptor

ARA2134: Ethnography of the Middle East

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

Module Content

Syllabus Plan

Week 1 Conceptualising the Middle East

Week 2 Orientalism and Ethnography: Natural Partners

Week 3 A Stranger in our Midst: Participant Observation, Interviews and Oral Histories

Week 4 Locations and Populations I: Rural Areas

Week 5 Locations and Populations II: Urban Spaces

Week 6 Social Hierarchies I: Family and Kinship Ties

Week 7 Social Hierarchies II: Gender Roles

Week 8 Religious Beliefs and Expressions

Week 9 Identities: Constructing Ethnicities and Selves

Week 10 Power and Authority: State and Opposition

Week 11 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	11	11 x 1 hour lectures, which develop and explain the themes of the week
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities	11	Seminars will involve discussing question(s) relating to the themes of the week; students will be expected to play an active role and will sometimes be asked to explain/comment on texts. Reaction papers will be set to test that these texts have been read
Guided Independent Study	50	Preparation of reaction papers
Guided Independent Study	78	Reading, class preparation

Online Resources

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

ELE – http://vle.exeter.ac.uk/

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
Reaction papers (x4)	500 words	4-7	Written
Seminar discussions	1 hour per week	9	Oral

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	1-6, 7-8	Written comments and mark
5 x Reaction papers	30	500 words each	4-7	Written comments and mark
Ethnographic Book or Article review	20	1,000 words	3-5, 7	Written comments and mark

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)	1-6, 7-8	1 month (date to be agreed)
5 x Reaction papers	Up to 5 reaction papers (500 words each and the number depending on how many were initially submitted) on relevant articles chosen by the module tutor	4-7	1 month (date to be agreed)
Ethnographic Book or Article review	Ethnographic Book or Article Review (1,000 words)	3-5, 7	1 month (date to be agreed)