Module POC2093 for 2018/9
- Overview
- Aims and Learning Outcomes
- Module Content
- Indicative Reading List
- Assessment
Undergraduate Module Descriptor
POC2093: Understanding Israel and Palestine: Seeking Peace
This module descriptor refers to the 2018/9 academic year.
Please note that this module is only delivered on the Penryn Campus.
Module Aims
This module will:
1. Introduce you to the key actors, dynamics, and main issues, in the peace process negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, and key issues affecting the resolution of the Israel-Palestine conflict
2. Familiarise you with a range of perspectives held by different scholars, politicians and peace activists on the Israel/Palestine Peace Process.
3. Continue to develop your analytical, research and writing capacities, and to develop oral presentation skills through class discussion and individual presentations.
4. Develop IT skills through individual research in preparation for the simulation exercise.
| On successfully completing the programme you will be able to: | |
|---|---|
| Module-Specific Skills | 1. demonstrate a knowledge of the actors, dynamics and key issues in the peace process negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, and key stumbling blocks in the resolution of the Israel-Palestine conflict; 2. demonstrate an understanding of central issues in the Israel-Palestine conflict: territory, refugees, settlements, and Jerusalem 3. develop and demonstrate a knowledge of key theoretical debates regarding the resolution of the conflict 4. identify and evaluate the role of different third parties in the Israel-Palestine Peace Process, and critically assess their contribution |
| Discipline-Specific Skills | 5. understand the theoretical concepts drawn from the theories of peace, violence, security or conflict resolution, and understand the applicability of these concepts to Palestine-Israel Peace Process 6. find, use and critically analyse secondary data relevant to specific issue areas 7. construct well-structured and rigorous political arguments |
| Personal and Key Skills | 8. to select, organise and process data to produce, to a deadline, a coherent and cogent argument, both orally and in writing 9. work independently and within a group, including participation in oral discussion and simulation exercise 10. work independently, within a limited time frame, and without access to external sources, to complete a specified task 11. develop IT skills through individual research in preparation for seminar discussions, simulation exercise, and examination |
Module Content
Syllabus Plan
Illustrative seminar topics:
- Introduction to the Module: The never-ending conflict?
- The Road to Oslo
- The Oslo Peace Process: What went wrong?
- The Stumbling Blocks: Territory, Settlements, and Water
- The Stumbling Blocks: Jerusalem and Refugees
- Bad Fences Make Bad Neighbours: the ‘Separation Wall’
- Palestinian Violence
- Israel and Palestine (un)divided: Internal Conflicts and Prospects for Peace
- External Actors
- 'The Penryn Peace Process'-the UN-sponsored conference: Simulation exercise
- Conclusion: Is the end in Sight?
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 |
...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 | 11 | Lectures and discussion facilitated by the convenor |
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching activity | 11 | Seminars guided by questions and readings assigned by the convenor |
| Guided independent study | 35 | Reading and preparing for seminars |
| Guided independent study | 11 | Research and preparation of student-led seminar |
| Guided independent study | 22 | Researching and preparation for simulation assessment |
| Guided independent study | 10 | Composition of report on simulation exercise |
| Guided independent study | 15 | Reading and Preparing for examination practice |
| Guided independent study | 35 | Reading and Preparing for Unseen examination |
Online Resources
This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).
Israel Foreign Ministry- www. mfa.gov.il
Negotiations Affairs Department, Palestine Liberation Organisation- www.nad-plo.org
Foundation for the Middle East Peace- www.fmep.org
Other Learning Resources
Peace, Propaganda & the Promised Land (2004,Sut Jhally and Bathsheba Ratzkoff, 2004)
Relentless: The Struggle for Peace in the Middle East (2003, Wayne Kopping)
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Respondent to Student-Led Seminar | 5 minutes | 1-9,11 | Oral |
| Examination practice sessions | 300-500 words | 1-11 | Oral |
| Discussions during tutorials | Throughout module delivery | 1-9,11 | 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 40 | 60 | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simulation assessment and 1 x 1,000 word report | 40 | 15 min per student and 1 x 1,000 word report | 1-11 | Oral and Written |
| Examination | 60 | 1 hour | 1-11 | Written |
| 0 | ||||
| 0 | ||||
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1,000-word report on the simulation exercise | 1,000-word report | 1-11 | August/September assessment period |
| Examination | 1 hour | 1-11 | August/September assessment 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.
Adwan, S. et.al (ed.) (2001) Side by Side. Parallel Histories of Israel-Palestine. Peace Research Institute in the Middle East
Gelvin, J. L. (2007) The Israel-Palestine conflict: one hundred years of war. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Kamrava, M. (2013) The Modern Middle East. A Political History since the First World War. Berkley: University of California Press. Chapter 9
Milton-Edwards, B. (2009) The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: A People’s War London: Routledge.
Salinas, M. et.al (ed) (2009) Resolving the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Perspectives on the Peace Process. Amherst and New York: Cambria Press
Shlaim, A. (2009) ‘The Rise and Fall of the Oslo Peace Process’ in Fawcett, Louise (ed) International Relations of the Middle East, Oxford: Oxford University Press (Chapter 12)
Smith, C. (2001) Palestine and the Arab-Israeli Conflict. Basingstoke: Macmillan Press (Chapter 10: From Pariah to Partner)
Peters, J., and Newman, D. (2013)Routledge Handbook on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. London and New York:Routledge
