Module ARA2162 for 2021/2
- Overview
- Aims and Learning Outcomes
- Module Content
- Indicative Reading List
- Assessment
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.
| 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. |
Module Content
Syllabus Plan
The list of topics for the class sessions are as follows:
- General presentation of the module and group formation.
- The question of development; Rich and poor states in the Middle East.
- Human Development, income and wealth distribution.
- The oil market; OPEC and OAPEC.
- Oil and economic development: the rentier state and beyond?
- Water in development and conflict in the MENA region.
- Population and labor migration in the MENA region.
- Regional integration in the Arab world.
- Political and economic liberalization in the MENA region.
- Globalization and the Middle East.
- Middle Eastern economies: beyond oil and gas?
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 activities | 13 | 6.5 hours of lectures and 6.5 hours of convenor-facilitated student discussions regarding materials covered in lectures |
| Scheduled learning and teaching activities | 9 | 6 hours of group presentations and 3 hours of class discussion regarding presentations |
| Guided Independent Study | 33 | Reading for class (approximately 90 pages of material across 3 readings per class) |
| Guided Independent Study | 95 | Preparing for assignments through researching, planning and writing essays |
Online Resources
This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).
The corresponding ELE page is located here: http://vle.exeter.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=46.
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).
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.
Achcar, Gilbert. The People Want. A Radical Exploration of the Arab Uprising (London: Saqi, 2013).
Ayubi, Nazih. Over-stating the Arab State: Politics and Society in the Middle East(London: I.B. Tauris, 1995).
Hanieh, Adam. Lineages of Revolt. Issues of Contemporary Capitalism in the Middle East (Chicago: Haymarket Books, 2013).
Henry, Clement, and Robert Springborg. Globalization and the Politics of Development in the Middle East (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010, 2nd ed.).
Richards, Alan, John Waterbury, Melani Cammett and Ishac Diwan. A Political Economy of the Middle East (Oxford: Westview, 3rd edition updated, 2013).
United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Arab Human Development Reports. Available at: (http://www.arab-hdr.org/).
