Undergraduate Module Descriptor

POL3252: Violence and Conflict in the Middle East

This module descriptor refers to the 2019/0 academic year.

This module will:

Provide you with an analytical toolbox to develop a systematic understanding of the current political, economic and security challenges to the Middle East.
Introduce you to a variety of different theoretical perspectives to studying the region's politics, and some of the principal academic debates surrounding the notions of conflict and violence.
Develop an advanced critical understanding of the socio-political and historical processes, and major political, social, ideological, cultural, and economic factors that have led, or contributed, to the current instabilities in the Middle East.

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. Demonstrate an advanced critical understanding and awareness of the important political, economic and security challenges to the contemporary Middle East. 2. Demonstrate an advanced critical appreciation of various theories of violence and conflict across political, social, ideological, cultural and economic dimensions. 3. Recognise and identify the key concepts and debates surrounding study of violence and the Middle East and critically discuss them in relation to the current challenges in the region;
Discipline-Specific Skills	4. Locate and engage with an array of material, involving web-based data, academic journals, news sources, in order to develop in-depth knowledge of particular issues; 5. Formulate, articulate and defend your own well-structured or reasoned arguments in the light of appropriate evidence; 6. Apply abstract theoretical ideas and concepts to actual events and outcomes;
Personal and Key Skills	7. Formulate and present information and critical analysis, in both written and oral forms, in a coherent manner; 8. Understand assessment criteria, engage in critical, yet constructive, peer-evaluation and produce feedback and suggestions for improvement; 9. Work independently and in collaboration with peers;

Whilst the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover some or all of the following topics:

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 & Teaching activities	22	11x two-hour seminars. There will be a mix of lecturers led by the module convenor, student presentations, and group work.
Guided Independent Study	48	Private Study - reading and preparing for seminars
Guided Independent Study	30	Preparation for group presentations -including researching and collating relevant sources, planning the structure and argument.
Guided Independent Study	50	Preparation for essay - including researching and collating relevant sources, planning the structure and argument and writing up.

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

Foundation for Middle East Peace - https://fmep.org/

Syria: Reckoning (2013, Aljazeera)

ISIS: "Islamic" Extremism? (2014, Mojtaba Masood)