Undergraduate Module Descriptor

ARA2028: Islamist Movements: From the Muslim Brothers to the Islamic State

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

Module Aims

This module aims at presenting the major movements affiliated with both Shiite and Sunnite political Islam in the contemporary Middle East and North Africa. By familiarising you with the history, beliefs and practices of Islamist movements, it seeks to help you understand their action rationale and interactions, adopting a cross-regional comparative analysis.

You will also learn to engage critically with the historiographic debates surrounding the interpretations of the causes and the political consequences of the rise of Islamist movements in the Muslim-majority states – with a particular focus on the period ushered by the Arab uprisings.

Finally the module aims at having you reflect on the role of Islamist movements in the political dynamics of the Middle East, such as revolutions, civil wars, armed insurgencies, democratic transitions and civil resistance to authoritarianism.

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 Skills1. Understand and present the major Islamist political forces and trends, their history, beliefs and the contexts in which they operate, as well as distinguish between them;
2. Construct informed and nuanced arguments based on critical and comparative analysis relating to the topic of Islamist movements throughout history in the Middle East;
Discipline-Specific Skills3. Build an argument orally or in written handling recent Islamist terminology and engaging critically with contemporary debate relating to political Islam in the Middle East;
4. Analyse and critique both primary and secondary sources on a contentious issue;
5. Reflect on the terms of the debate as posed in the press, interrogate popular and political discourses, and question knowledge production within academia;
Personal and Key Skills6. Demonstrate critical and argumentative skills and an ability to undertake comparative analysis through readings, class discussions and presentations;
7. Effectively manage time and resources;

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
Individual oral presentation15 minutes1-7Verbal feedback
Act as a discussant in one other presentation15 minutes1-6Verbal feedback

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
10000

...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
Academic Policy Brief or Opinion ‘Op-Ed ‘ Article401,200 words1-7Written feedback
Analytical Essay552,000 words1-7Written feedback
Seminar Attendance (including presentation and participation in the discussions)511 seminars1-7Oral/written feedback (PTA)
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 assessmentForm of re-assessmentILOs re-assessedTimescale for re-assessment
Academic Policy Brief or Opinion ‘Op-Ed ‘ ArticlePolicy Brief or Academic Opinion ‘Op-Ed ‘ article (1,200 words)1-7August/September reassessment period
Analytical EssayAnalytical Essay (2,000 words)1-7August/September reassessment period
Seminar AttendancePresentation material sent to the seminar teacher (800 words)1-7August/September reassessment period

Re-assessment notes

In case a student misses most of the seminars and is unable to present, they will be able to send the material they would have used in the class setting for the seminar teacher to evaluate.