Undergraduate Module Descriptor

POC3088: Understanding Israel and Palestine: One Land, Two People

This module descriptor refers to the 2020/1 academic year.

Please note that this module is only delivered on the Penryn Campus.

Module Content

Syllabus Plan

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:

  1. Introduction to the module: One Hundred Years of Violence.
  2. Conflicting Promises and Competing Nationalisms
  3. The Creation of Israel and Al-Naqba: Two Sides of the Same Coin
  4. Israel-Palestine and the Israel-Arab conflict
  5. Greater Israel and Life under Israeli occupation
  6. Israel's Security and Life under Terrorism
  7. Palestinian Society and Politics
  8. Israeli Society and Politics 

Learning and Teaching

This table provides an overview of how your hours of study for this module are allocated:

Scheduled Learning and Teaching ActivitiesGuided independent studyPlacement / study abroad
221280

...and this table provides a more detailed breakdown of the hours allocated to various study activities:

CategoryHours of study timeDescription
Scheduled Learning & Teaching activities1111x1 hour lecture and discussion facilitated by the convenor
Scheduled Learning & Teaching activities1111x1 hour seminars led by student presentations and discussion led by convenor
Guided independent study37Reading and preparing responses for seminar questions
Guided independent study36Research and preparation of student-led seminar
Guided independent study15Research and composition of Essay Plan
Guided independent study37Research and composition of essay
Guided independent study3Composition of peer reviews

Online Resources

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

Amnesty International.  Israel and the Occupied Territories-www.amnesty.org/en/countries/middle-east-and-north-africa/israel-and-occupied-palestinian-territories/

B'Tselem - The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories-www.btselem.org/

International Crisis Group-www.crisisgroup.org/en/regions/middle-east-north-africa/israel-palestine

Israel Foreign Ministry-www. mfa.gov.il

Israel Democracy Institute- www.en.idi.org.il

Negotiations Affairs Department, Palestine Liberation Organisation- www.nad-plo.org

Other Learning Resources

The Gatekeepers (2002, Dror Moreh)

Occupation 101 (2006, Abdallah Omeish, Sufyan Omeish,)

State 194 (2013,Dan Setton, 2013)

Paradise Now (2016, Hany Abu-Assad)

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 assessmentSize of the assessment (eg length / duration)ILOs assessedFeedback method
Research Paper plan1 page1-11Oral comments from tutor and written peer-review in class

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.

CourseworkWritten examsPractical exams
1000

...and this table provides further details on the summative assessments for this module.

Form of assessment% of creditSize of the assessment (eg length / duration)ILOs assessedFeedback method
Research Paper602,5001-11Written
Portfolio401,5001-11Written

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 assessmentForm of re-assessmentILOs re-assessedTimescale for re-assessment
Research Paper Research Paper (2,500 words) 1-11August/September assessment period
PortfolioPortfolio (1,500) 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.

Bishara, M. (2001) Palestine/Israel: Peace or Apartheid. London and New York: Zed Books

Caplan, N. (2010)The Israel-Palestine Conflict. Contested Histories. Malden and Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell

David, S. (2009) ‘Existential Threat to Israel’ in Freedman Robert O. (ed.) Contemporary Middle East. Boulder CO: Westview Press. Chapter 13

Gerner, D., J. (1991) One Land, Two Peoples: The conflict over Palestine, Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press

Gelvin, J.L.(2007) The Israel-Palestine conflict: one hundred years of war. Cambridge:Cambridge University Press

Kamrava, M. (2011)The Modern Middle East: A Political History Since the First World War. London: California University Press Ltd. Chapter 9

Milton-Edwards, B. The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: A People’s War (London: Routledge, 2009)

Mahler. G. S. and Mahler, A., R. (2010) The Arab-Israeli Conflict: An Introduction and Document Reader,.London: Routledge,

Peters, J. and Newman, D. (2013)Routledge Handbook on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. London and New York:Routledge