Module POL3156 for 2020/1
- Overview
- Aims and Learning Outcomes
- Module Content
- Indicative Reading List
- Assessment
Undergraduate Module Descriptor
POL3156: Central Asian Politics
This module descriptor refers to the 2020/1 academic year.
Module Content
Syllabus Plan
Indicative course outline (may change from year to year):
1-2. Introducing and imagining Central Asia: literature, travelogue and film.
3-6. History and historiography: before, during and after the Soviet Union / the making of modern Afghanistan.
7-11. Theories and approaches: transition / political economy / state formation / nation, ethnicity and clan politics / symbolic politics.
12-22. Issues and cases: Gender and bride-kidnapping / Livelihoods and labour migration / Religion and political Islam / Sovereignty and regional cooperation / Water politics and the Aral Sea crisis / Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and the resource curse / Intervention in Afghanistan since 911 / Peacebuilding in Tajikistan / Uzbekistan and the Andijon Uprising / Kyrgyzstan and the Tulip Revolution / China & Xinjiang
Seminars:
Subject knowledge will be communicated in short talks, and developed through private study, reading review exercises, seminar discussions, presentations and assignments. Talks will introduce intellectual and historical contexts and draw on textual sources and cinematic representations as well as case studies as examples.
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 |
---|---|---|
44 | 256 | 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 | 44 | 22 x 2 hour seminars. |
Guided Independent study | 256 | A variety of private study tasks directed by module leader. This includes class preparation (@5 hours per week), presentation preparation (@20 hours), essay researching, drafting and writing (@2 x 30 hours), book review researching, drafting and writing (@ 20 hours), and various extra-curricular activities which will differ from year to year including special seminars and film showings. |
Online Resources
This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).
Moodle
Other Learning Resources
Audio-Video: Central Asian cinema; Fiction and travel writing
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 |
---|---|---|---|
Seminar worksheets | 20 two-page worksheets | 1-5, 7-9, 11-12 | Oral |
Essay plan | 1 page of A4 | 6, 10 | 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 |
---|---|---|
75 | 0 | 25 |
...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 |
---|---|---|---|---|
Book/Film review | 15 | 1,000 words | 1, 7, 9-12 | Written feedback |
Presentation | 25 | In class: 10 minutes plus handout of a maximum of 500 words | 3-4, 6-8, 10-12 | Written feedback |
Research essay 1 | 30 | 2,000 words | 2, 5-12 | Written feedback |
Research essay 2 | 30 | 2,000 words | 3-4, 5-12 | Written feedback |
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 |
---|---|---|---|
Book/Film review | Book/Film review (1,000 words) | 1, 7, 9-12 | August/September assessment period |
Presentation | 1,500 word essay on the presentation question | 3-4, 6-8, 10-12 | August/September assessment period |
Research essay 1 | Essay (2,000 words) | 2, 5-12 | August/September assessment period |
Research essay 2 | Essay (2,000 words) | 3-4, 5-12 | 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.
Montgomery, Central Asia in Context
Cooley & Heathershaw, Dictators without Borders
Khalid, Islam After Communism
Sahadeo and Zanca, Everyday Life in Central Asia