Undergraduate Module Descriptor

ARA1038: Religious Minorities of the Middle East

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

Module Aims

You will develop knowledge of the cultural complexity of the Middle East and the environment in which this arose. You will develop your ability to evaluate sources, both for accuracy and for underlying prejudice and bias. You will develop your ability, not only to work within a group of students, but also to ask the right questions from someone with a different cultural outlook. You will learn to use the principle of religious literacy. You will also develop your ability to think about the target audience for your project and what their needs will be.

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. Demonstrate awareness of the major religious minorities now living in the Middle East
2. Demonstrate understanding of the conditions under which many of the religious minorities developed and of the conditions which currently threaten the survival of some
3. Demonstrate in-depth knowledge of at least one of the religions
Discipline-Specific Skills4. Evaluate sources critically, especially where the sources do not come from the religions themselves
5. Demonstrate awareness of the variety of disciplinary approaches needed to understand religions which may differ considerably in structure and expression from religions more familiar to us
Personal and Key Skills6. Through seminar and group work, demonstrate communication and skills, the ability to work in groups, and competency in handling different types of information that might require you to ‘think outside the box’
7. Work independently, retrieve, sift and integrate primary and secondary sources, construct coherent arguments, write lucidly, and apply research and bibliographic skills.
8. Demonstrate effective presentation skills