Undergraduate Module Descriptor

ARA2162: Political Economy of Development in the Middle East

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

Module Aims

This module will introduce you to the main themes and dynamics in the political economy of the Middle East, at the domestic, regional and global levels. The purpose is to develop an understanding of processes of development in the Middle East and of the way these processes have shaped the existing economic, social and political realities of the region. In addition, this module will enhance your abilities to critically analyse and engage with scholarly material as well as your communication skills through class participation and group presentations. Finally, on completion of this module, you will be able to more deeply understand media reports and news on issues of political economy in the Middle East.

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 Skills	1. demonstrate an awareness and understanding of some of the politics of economic development; 2. effectively explain the economic factors in domestic and regional politics; 3. cogently discuss the domestic and international political economy of oil and gas; 4. describe the main factors affecting the political economy of regional integration;
Discipline-Specific Skills	5. connect political and economic factors and dynamics in their domestic-international linkages; 6. draw from broader concepts in political economy of development;
Personal and Key Skills	7. demonstrate skills of reasoned and supported argumentation in writing and in oral presentation; 8. demonstrate skills of independent research and teamwork; and 9. demonstrate skills of finding, analysing and synthesising information from a range of sources.

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
Class discussion	During lectures and seminars	1-6, 8,9	Direct feedback in seminar

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
Group presentation (x2)	50	15-20 minutes + 1000 word document summarizing main points (1 document per group)	1-9	Written
Essay	50	2500 words	1-7,9	Written
	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
Group presentation (x2)	Presentation to module convenor. See re-assessment note below.	1-9	August/Sept re-assessment period
Essay	Essay (2500 words)	1-7, 9	August/Sept re-assessment period

Re-assessment notes

For the purposes of re-assessment, the number of presentations depends on how many were missed (i.e. 2 presentations missed means 2 separate presentations that must be re-assessed). If it is an individual rather than a group who needs to undertake a re-assessed presentation, then the presentation should be 7-10 minutes in length (rather than 15-20 minutes) and the document summarizing the main points should be 500 words (rather than 1000 words).