Module POC3142 for 2022/3
- Overview
- Aims and Learning Outcomes
- Module Content
- Indicative Reading List
- Assessment
Undergraduate Module Descriptor
POC3142: Social and Islamist Armed Movements
This module descriptor refers to the 2022/3 academic year.
Please note that this module is only delivered on the Penryn Campus.
Module Content
Syllabus Plan
While the precise content will vary from year to year, it is expected that the module will include lectures on the following themes:
• Theoretical Approaches: Islamism and Armed Activism:
• Armed Islamism and the Arab Spring
• Jihadism and Armed Islamism
• From Upper-Egypt to Sinai: Islamist Insurgencies in Egypt
• Transnational Subversive Jihadism: The Case of al-Qaida Network
• Islamic State
• The Military Capacity of the Islamic State
• Armed Islamism in Syria
• The Foreign Fighters
• Jihad after Iraq: Lessons from the Arab Afghan
• Hamas – Gaza and Armed Islamism
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 |
...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 activity | 22 | 11 x 1 hour seminars |
| Guided independent study | 65 | Private study, reading and preparing for seminars (approx. 6 hours of private study per seminar) |
| Guided independent study | 28 | Researching and writing the policy note |
| Guided independent study | 30 | Researching and writing essay |
| Guided independent study | 5 | Preparing formative presentation |
Online Resources
This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).
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 | 15 minutes | 1-8 | Written and 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Essay | 40 | 1,500 words | 1-8 | Summative Written |
| Essay | 60 | 2,000 words | 1-8 | Summative 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essay | Essay 1,500 words (40%) | 1-8 | August-September re-assessment period |
| Essay | Essay - 2,000 words (60%) | 1-8 | August-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.
Readings:
Hafez, Mohammed, Why Muslims Rebel: Repression and Resistance in the Islamic World (Boulder, Colo. ; London : Lynne Rienner, 2003), chapters 1, 2.
Recommended:
• Paul Davis et al. Social Science for Counterterrorism. DC: Rand, 2008. Chapters 1, 2:
http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG849/
Suggested readings:
• Anas, Abdullah. “The Birth of Arab Afghans: An Algerian Perspective.” In Ibrahim Abu Rabi’(ed.). The Contemporary Arab Reader on Political Islam. London: Pluto Press, 2010
• Ashour, Omar. “Egypt’s Democratic Jihadist?” Foreign Policy, 13 July 2011.
• Ashour, Omar, “Lions Tamed? An Inquiry into the Causes of De-Radicalization of the Egyptian Islamic Group.” Middle East Journal vol. 61, no. 4 (Autumn 2007): 596 - 625.
• Bakkour, Samer. The End of Middle East Peace Process: the Failure of US Diplomacy (Routledge: New York, London, 2022)
• Brachman, Jarret. Global Jihadism. London: Routledge, 2009, chapters 1, 2.
• Lia, Brynjar. Architect of Global Jihad: The Life of the life of al-Qaida strategist Abu Mus‘al-Suri, chapters, 1, 2.
• Lyall, J., and I. Wilson. ‘‘Rage against the Machines: Explaining Outcomes in Counterinsurgency Wars.’’ International Organization vol. 63, no. 1(2009): 67-106.
• International Crisis Group. “Radical Islam in Gaza.” Middle East Report N°104, 29 March 2011:
• Bakke, Kristin M. “Help Wanted? The Mixed Record of Foreign Fighters in Domestic Insurgencies.” International Security, Vol. 38, No. 4 (Spring 2014), pp. 150–187.
http://www.belfercenter.org/sites/default/files/legacy/files/IS3804_pp150-187.pdf
