Module POC2123 for 2021/2
- Overview
- Aims and Learning Outcomes
- Module Content
- Indicative Reading List
- Assessment
Undergraduate Module Descriptor
POC2123: Politics of the Middle East
This module descriptor refers to the 2021/2 academic year.
Please note that this module is only delivered on the Penryn Campus.
Module Aims
This module aims to provide an introduction to the main themes and dynamics in the politics of the contemporary Middle East at the domestic, regional and global levels. It considers the political, economic, and social changes that have affected the region since the birth of the nation-state. In doing so, the module provides you with the cognitive skills and academic inquisitiveness that are necessary to nuance your understanding of the region.
On successfully completing the programme you will be able to: | |
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Module-Specific Skills | 1. evaluate the enduring legacies of colonialism on the politics in, and discourses about, the region and analyse the process of state-formation in the contemporary Middle East; 2. assess critically the impact of globalisation on economic and political liberalisation and appreciate the transnational dynamics of civil organizing and political mobilization in the region. |
Discipline-Specific Skills | 3. evaluate different theoretical and practical approaches in the study of politics of the Middle East; 4. construct coherent yet concise arguments. |
Personal and Key Skills | 5. write analytically for an academic and non-academic public; 6. develop good research and indexing praxis (on line and in the library); 7. defend ones position on seminar discussions. |
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 |
---|---|---|---|
Group Presentation | 18 minutes | 1-7 | Written or Verbal |
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 |
---|---|---|---|---|
Attendance reflection | 10 | 200 words/topic | 1-7 | Written and/or Oral |
Essay | 60 | 2,500 words | 1-7 | Written |
Review Piece | 30 | 900 | 1-7 | Written |
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 |
---|---|---|---|
Attendance reflection | Opinion piece (200 words) | 1-7 | August/September reassessment period |
Essay | Essay 2,500 words | 1-7 | August/September reassessment period |
Review Piece | Review piece (900 words) | 1-7 | August/September reassessment period |
Re-assessment notes
Review Piece (30%) of 1,000 words. Students write a critical review on one of the essential readings encountered throughout the year. Convenor to designate 10 pieces for students to choose from.)
Essay of 2,500 words (70%) August/September reassessment period (Students to write an essay answering one question out of 5 provided).
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.
Basic reading:
Edward Said, Orientalism
Asef Bayat, Life as Politics: How Ordinary People Change the Middle East
Dina Singerman, Avenues of Participation: Family, Politics, and Networks in Urban Quarters of Cairo
Betty S. Anderson, Nationalist Voices in Jordan: The Street and the State
Joseph A. Massad, Colonial Effects: The Making of National Identity in Jordan
David Szanton, The Politics of Knowledge: Area Studies and the Disciplines
Zachary Lockman, Contending Visions of the Middle East: The History and Politics of Orientalism and Field Notes: The Making of Middle East Studies in the United States
Lara Deeb and Jessica Winegar, Anthropology’s Politics: Disciplining the Middle East
Adam Hanieh, Money, Markets and Monarchies: The Gulf Cooperation Council and the Political Economy of the Contemporary Middle East
Donatella Della Ratta, Shooting the Revolution: Visual Media and Warfare in Syria.
Sam Cherribi, Fridays of Rage: Al Jazeera, the Arab Spring, and Political Islam.
Tarek El-Ariss. Leaks, Hacks and Scandals: Arab Culture in the Digital Age.
Mohamed Zayani. Networked Publics and Digital Contention: The Politics of Everyday Life in Tunisia.
Daniel Ritter, The Iron Cage of Liberalism: International Politics and Unarmed Revolutions in the Middle East and North Africa.
Firoozeh Kashani-Sabet, Conceiving Citizens: Women and the Politics of Motherhood in Iran.
Shahla Talebi, Ghosts of Revolution: Rekindled Memories of Imprisonment in Iran.
Charles Tripp, The Power and the People: Paths of Resistance in the Middle East.
Mounira Charrad, States and Women's Rights: The Making of Postcolonial Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco
Timothy Mitchell, Rule of Experts: Egypt, Techno-Politics, Modernity