Undergraduate Module Descriptor

ARA2118: Gender-Identity and Modernity in the Middle East

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 or all of the following topics:

Studying Gender in the Middle East & North Africa

Representations: The Legacy of Orientalism & Colonialism

Islam, Patriarchy &‘Tradition’

Gendered Nationalisms & Nation-building Projects

The 'Woman Question' & the State: Citizenship, Modernization & Reform

Intimate Politics: Social Relations & Identity Constructions

Exploring Middle East Masculinities

Gender, Sexuality & Power: From ‘Honour Crimes’ to Queer Politics

War & Conflict: Gendering Violence & Peace in the Middle East

Refugees, Migration & Diaspora

Women’s Movements in the Middle East: Historical Roots & Contemporary Routes

Secular & Religious Feminisms: Different Strategies, Common Aims?

Gendering New Media & the Public Sphere in the Middle East

‘The Uprisings will be Gendered’: Political Protest, Transition & Transformation

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
27.5122.50

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

CategoryHours of study timeDescription
Scheduled Learning and Teaching activity 27.511 x 1,5-hour lectures; 11 x 1 hour tutorials
Guided Independent study44Weekly reading (4 hours per week)
Guided Independent study11Class/seminar prep (1 hour per week)
Guided Independent study38Project (23 hours researching/coordinating, 15 hours writing/preparing presentation)
Guided Independent study29.5Essay (16.5 hours reading, 13 hours writing)

Online Resources

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

Material will be posted on the Online Learning System and discussion lists will be created. 

Other Learning Resources

Videos/films, TV programmes, online materials (news sites, websites/blogs, social media), images, music, memoirs.

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
Vlog (pre-recorded)5 Minutes1-8Verbal feedback
Project proposal700 words1-8Written 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
Position/reflection paper401,500 words1-8Written feedback Verbal feedback (if required)
Summative project (group or individual)60Written submission of 2000 words OR 15 minute pre-recorded presentation. Submissions will be in a DIGITAL format [e.g., film review, exhibition review, op-ed article, short film, podcast, video or photo essay, poetry, play script, Instagram page, blog, etc.]. This list is not exhaustive. 1-8Written feedback Verbal feedback (if required)
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 assessmentForm of re-assessmentILOs re-assessedTimescale for re-assessment
Position/reflection paperPosition/reflection paper (1500 words)1-8August/September re-assessment period
ProjectWritten submission of 2000 words OR 15-minute pre-recorded presentation. 1-8August/September re-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.

Abdo, Nahla, Women in Israel: Race, Gender and Citizenship, 2011.

Abu-Lughod, Lila (ed.), Remaking Women: Feminism and Modernity in the Middle East, 1998. 

Ahmed, Leila, Women and Gender in Islam: Historical Roots of a Modern Debate, 1992.

Al-Ali, Nadje, Iraqi Women: Untold Stories from 1948 to the Present, 2007.

Al-Ali, Nadje & Nicola Pratt, Women & War in the Middle East, 2009.

Charrad, Mounira, Gender and Citizenship in the Middle East. Syracuse University Press, 2000.

Joseph, Suad (ed.) Intimate Selving in Arab Families: Gender, Self and Identity, 1999.

Kanaaneh, Rhoda, Birthing the Nation: Strategies of Palestinian Women in Israel, 2002.

Kandiyoti, Deniz (ed.), Women, Islam and the State, 1991.

Kandiyoti, Deniz (ed.) Gendering the Middle East: Emerging Perspectives, 1996.

Khalil, Andrea (ed.), Gender, Women and the Arab Spring, 2014.

Lewis, Reina, Rethinking Orientalism: Women, Travel and the Ottoman Harem, 2004.

Ouzgane, Lahoucine (ed.) Islamic Masculinities, 2006.

Singerman, Diane, Avenues of Participation: Family Politics, and Networks in Urban Quarters of Cairo, 1997.

Ye���eno���lu, Meyda, Colonial Fantasies: Towards a Feminist Reading of Orientalism, 1998.