Module ANT3021 for 2021/2
- Overview
- Aims and Learning Outcomes
- Module Content
- Indicative Reading List
- Assessment
Undergraduate Module Descriptor
ANT3021: Anthropology of the Middle East
This module descriptor refers to the 2021/2 academic year.
Module Aims
- To provide you with an overview of past and current anthropological approaches to Middle Eastern societies
- To draw from ethnographic analyses of particular Middle Eastern countries and cultures to identify common historical social, economic and political experiences
- To raise critical awareness of the “Middle East” as an idea, tracing some of the politics implicit in representations of its places and people
On successfully completing the programme you will be able to: | |
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Module-Specific Skills | 1. display an in-depth understanding of the diverse cultures societies, histories and institutions of the Middle East and their shared histories; 2. develop complex arguments regarding the methodological and substantive issues associated with the anthropological study of the Middle East; |
Discipline-Specific Skills | 3. critically evaluate contemporary anthropological and related texts 4. display an in-depth understanding of the discipline's relation to, and difference from, other approaches and explanations offered in the social sciences; 5. appreciate key issues relevant to the contemporary world, and develop critical, comparative and cross-cultural insight; |
Personal and Key Skills | 6. demonstrate transferable skills in formulating, researching and addressing focused questions; 7. prepare focused and comprehensive written presentations; 8. work independently and in collaboration with others; 9. demonstrate cross-cultural understanding, translation and comparison, which will be of advantage in many professional settings; 10. prepare and deliver considered oral arguments. |
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:
- Ethnography of the Middle East, Politics of Representation
- Orientalism and Ethnography
- Kinship and Social Organization
- Anthropology of Religion
- Gender and Feminism
- Arts, Aesthetics, and Heritage
- Nations, Ethnicities, and the State
- Cultural Production
- Youth and Popular Culture
- Mass Displacements, Movement and Mobility
- Emerging Trends
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 |
---|---|---|
26 | 124 | 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 | 22 | Twelve 2-hour seminars |
Scheduled Learning & Teaching | 4 | Film and documentary screenings |
Guided independent study | 20 | Preparing seminar-presentation |
Guided independent study | 74 | Reading and research |
Guided independent study | 30 | Web-based activities |
Online Resources
This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).
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 |
---|---|---|---|
Individual class presentation | 10 minutes | 1-6, 8-10 | 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 |
---|---|---|
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 |
---|---|---|---|---|
Portfolio of seminar response | 30 | 9 responses, 200 words each (1800 words in total) | 1-9 | Oral and written |
Essay | 70 | 2,250 words | 1-9 | Oral and written |
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 |
---|---|---|---|
Portfolio of seminar responses | 200 word response for each assessment missed. | 1-9 | August/September reassessment period |
Essay | Essay (2,250 words) | 1-9 | August/September reassessment 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.
The key text for this module will be: Altorki, Soraya, ed. A Companion to the Anthropology of the Middle East . 1 edition. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2015.
Silverstein, Paul, Susan Slyomovics, and Ted Swedenburg, eds. Anthropology of the Middle East and North Africa: Into the New Millennium . Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2013.
Bowen, Donna Lee, Evelyn A. Early, and Becky Schulthies, eds. Everyday Life in the Muslim Middle East . 3 rd edition. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2014.