Undergraduate Module Descriptor

ARA1036: Histories of the Middle East, 600-1800 C.E.

This module descriptor refers to the 2021/2 academic year.

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 to all of the following topics:

Lecture - Studying the Middle East and Islamic history
Seminar - Historiography and periodisation
Lecture - The pre-Islamic Middle East
Seminar - Source analysis and material remains
Lecture -The rise and expansion of Islam
Seminar - Intellectual history and histories of religions
Lecture - The Umayyad and Abbasid empires: religion and daily life
Seminar - Social history
Lecture - Al-Andalus: identity and community
Seminar - Secondary sources
Lecture - Islamic thought: philosophy, politics, science and art
Seminar - Varieties of history
Lecture - The Crusades and the history of the west in the Islamic world
Seminar - Orientalism
Lecture - The Ottoman empire: trade and economy
Seminar - Economic history
Lecture - Imperial history
Seminar - Historiography of empires, nations and nationalism
Lecture - Islam and the connected worlds of the Middle East and Asia
Seminar - Transnational history
Lecture - Gendered histories of the Middle East
Seminar - Gender history

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	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	11	11 x 1 hr lectures covering the topics listed in the syllabus plan
Scheduled Learning and Teaching activity	11	11 x 1 hr class discussions of pre-assigned reading
Guided independent study	38	Reading for, and reflecting on, seminars
Guided independent study	30	Completing essay proposal based on research of the literature
Guided independent study	60	Preparing for and completing summative assignments

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
Essay proposal	200 words	1-7	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
Essay 1	35	2,000 words	1-8	Written and oral
Essay 2	65	2,000 words	1-8	Written and oral
	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
Essay 1	Essay 1 (2,000 words)	1 - 8	January reassessment period
Essay 2	Essay 2 (2,000 words)	1 - 8	August/September reassessment period