Admission requirements
This class is intended (in order of preference) for
(1) students of the BA Middle Eastern Studies who have successfully completed History of Middle East 1500-present;
(2) premaster students for the MA Middle Eastern Studies and
(3) students from other programmes. Please contact the coordinator of studies, Eli van Duijnen, to find out whether you can be admitted to this class.
Description
This course is an advanced survey of the impact of key ideological currents on Middle East politics from late 19th century to the present. It critically reviews how secular and religious ideologies have shaped and justified hegemonic and counterhegemonic political projects in the region. These include different forms of nationalism and Islamism. By adopting an intellectual history approach, the course will also analyze the impact of global ideas and trends – such as enlightenment, colonialism, democracy, and modernity as well as socialism, liberalism, and feminism – on the politics and societies of the Middle East. The course will introduce theories of nationalism, concepts of political thought, and methods of intellectual history. The course relies on a review of secondary literature and translated primary sources of political thought.
Course objectives
The purpose of this course is to help students understand the ideological and intellectual trends of history of the modern Middle East.
At the end of the semester, students should be able to:
give a broad overview of intellectual and ideological trends of the history of the modern Middle East and its main debates and protagonists;
find primary sources on the intellectual history of the modern Middle East in a corpus of sourcebooks, translated anthologies, and online collections;
know and apply different approaches to analyzing primary sources of intellectual and cultural history.
Timetable
Visit MyTimetable.
Mode of instruction
Seminar.
Attendance and active participation are obligatory for seminars. Students are required to prepare for and attend all sessions. The convenors need to be informed without delay of any classes missed for a good reason (i.e. due to unforeseen circumstances such as illness, family issues, problems with residence permits, the Dutch railways in winter, etc.). In these cases it is up to the discretion of the convener(s) of the course whether or not the missed class will have to be made up with an extra assignment. The maximum of such absences during a semester is two. Being absent without notification and/or more than two times can result in exclusion from the term end exams and a failing grade for the course.
Course Load
| 5 EC x 28 hrs = | 140 hrs |
|---|---|
| Lectures (13 x 2) | 26 |
| Study of compulsory literature and preparation exam | 74 |
| Assignment(s) (to do reading, research, writing, and preparing presentation) | 40 |
Assessment method
| Partial Assessment | Weighing |
|---|---|
| Class attendance and Participation | 20% |
| Presentation | 30% |
| Take-home exam with open questions | 50% |
The course is an integrated whole. The take-home exam and the assignments must be completed in the same academic year. No partial marks can be carried over into following years.
Resit
There is only a resit opportunity for the take-home exam, which will count for 50%.
Exam review
If a student requests a review within 30 days after publication of the exam results, an exam review will be organized.
Reading list
- A detailed syllabus with selected readings will be provided at the beginning of the term
Registration
Contact
Remarks
Students with disabilities
The university is committed to supporting and accommodating students with disabilities as stated in the university protocol (especially pages 3-5). Students should contact Fenestra Disability Centre
Academic Integrity
Students are expected to be familiar with Leiden University policies on plagiarism and academic integrity. Plagiarism will not be tolerated. If you submit any work with your name affixed to it, it is assumed to be your own work with all sources used properly indicated and documented in the text (with quotations and/or citations).