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Module Catalogue

HI114-30 History and Politics of the Modern Middle East

Department
History
Level
Undergraduate Level 1
Module leader
Katayoun Shafiee
Credit value
30
Module duration
22 weeks
Assessment
100% coursework
Study location
University of Warwick main campus, Coventry

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Introductory description

This first-year undergraduate option module examines the history and politics of the modern Middle East through a series of questions and problems that have shaped its development. We will use a wide range of materials including diplomatic documents, short stories, scholarly texts, and photographs and videos, to explore the many different ways people in the Middle East have come to define and shape their world and also how outsiders have attempted to control and shape this world.

Module web page

Module aims

This module examines the history and politics of the modern Middle East through a series of questions and problems that have shaped its development. The module is divided into four sections. The first part of the module briefly questions the usefulness and origins of the term Middle East as a geographical area and unit of analysis. It raises questions about how historical and anthropological knowledge, western media, and academic scholarship in the social sciences have helped define the modern Middle East. The next section of the module offers a historical overview of the Ottoman past through the colonial and postcolonial periods, i.e., the period from the sixteenth century through the colonial period in the nineteenth century and to the present post-colonial period in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The course will then move to address more specifically some of the most important contemporary issues that have historically affected modern Middle Eastern politics along with the role of outside forces such as Britain and the United States. These include: the Arab-Israeli conflict; the history of oil in Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Iran; the role of political Islam; questions of democracy, development, and human rights; the Gulf War, and the 2003 U.S. invasion/occupation of Iraq; the Arab Spring and the current war on terrorism.

The module is designed to be attractive to students interested in the histories, cultures, and societies of the Middle East, the history of empire, state formation, community and nation, and questions of democracy. It encourages students to rethink historical and political analysis.

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

Part I:
Week 1: Introduction: What, When, Where is the Middle East?
Week 2: Representing the Middle East
Week 3: Islam: dogma, faith and practice
Week 4: Ottoman Heritage
Week 5: European Colonialism and its Impact
Week 6: Reading Week

Part II:
Week 7: World War I and Redrawing the Map of the Middle East
Week 8: The Middle East in the Interwar Period
Week 9: Women and Gender in the Middle East
Week 10: Palestine, Zionism, and Israel (I)

Part III:
Week 11: Palestine, Zionism, and Israel (II)
Week 12: Carbon Democracy and Global Climate Change
Week 13: Petroleum Politics (I)
Week 14: Petroleum Politics (II)

Part IV:
Week 15: Problems of Democracy and Human Rights - Iraq
Week 16: Reading Week
Week 17: Politics of Development (I)
Week 18: Politics of Development (II)

Part V:
Week 19: Islam and Politics
Week 20: The Arab Spring and Iran’s Green Movement

Part VI:
Week 21: Future Challenges
Week 22: Revision Session of themes, questions, and scholarship

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

  • Gain a broad understanding of the history and politics of the modern Middle East, the kinds of modern state that have emerged in the region, and the struggles that people have fought to gain political freedoms and economic rights.
  • Become aware of a range of related conceptual approaches and historiographical debates.
  • Identify and engage with a range of primary materials including diplomatic documents, short stories, scholarly texts, and photographs.
  • Gain interpersonal and communication skills through the delivery of a presentation.
  • Devise well-defined essay topics for investigation, collect relevant data from a variety of sources and present results in an effective fashion.

Indicative reading list

Reading lists can be found in Talis

Specific reading list for the module

Subject specific skills

See learning outcomes.

Transferable skills

See learning outcomes.

Study time

Type Required
Lectures 20 sessions of 1 hour (7%)
Seminars 20 sessions of 1 hour (7%)
Tutorials 2 sessions of 1 hour (1%)
Private study 258 hours (86%)
Total 300 hours

Private study description

History modules require students to undertake extensive independent research and reading to prepare for seminars and assessments. As a rough guide, students will be expected to read and prepare to comment on three substantial texts (articles or book chapters) for each seminar taking approximately 3 hours. Each assessment requires independent research, reading around 6-10 texts and writing and presenting the outcomes of this preparation in an essay, review, presentation or other related task.

Costs

No further costs have been identified for this module.

You do not need to pass all assessment components to pass the module.

Assessment group A4
Weighting Study time Eligible for self-certification
Assessment component
1000-word piece of introductory writing (essay plan or assignment of tutor’s choice) 10% Yes (extension)
Reassessment component is the same
Assessment component
Seminar Contribution/presentation 10% No

Seminar participation/presentation
Reassessment component
1000 word reflective essay in lieu of Seminar Contribution Yes (extension)

1000 word reflective essay
Assessment component
2000 word essay or equivalent 30% Yes (extension)

2000 word essay
Reassessment component is the same
Assessment component
3000-word essay or equivalent 50% Yes (extension)
Reassessment component is the same
Feedback on assessment

Written comments and oral feedback will be provided for non-assessed assignments. Written feedback will be provided for performance in the final examination.

Courses

This module is Core optional for:

  • Year 1 of UHIA-V1V5 Undergraduate History and Philosophy
  • Year 1 of UHIA-VM11 Undergraduate History and Politics

This module is Optional for:

  • Year 1 of UENA-VQ32 Undergraduate English and History
  • Year 1 of UHIA-V100 Undergraduate History
  • Year 1 of UHIA-Q302 Undergraduate History (Part-Time)
  • Year 1 of UHIA-VM11 Undergraduate History and Politics
  • Year 1 of UHIA-VL13 Undergraduate History and Sociology

This module is Option list A for:

  • Year 1 of UHIA-V1V5 Undergraduate History and Philosophy

This module is Option list G for:

  • Year 1 of UPHA-V7ML Undergraduate Philosophy, Politics and Economics