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 education coordinator, to find out whether you can be admitted to this class.
Description
This course offers an introductory survey of the role of key ideological currents in Middle Eastern politics from the late 19th century to the present. It critically examines how both secular and religious ideologies have informed and justified a range of political projects and movements across the region. Adopting an intellectual history approach, the course explores how global ideas and trends—such as modernism, imperialism, nationalism, socialism, Islamism, feminism, and democracy—were reinterpreted, contested, and developed within the Middle Eastern context. Readings include both 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 ideological trends and their main intellectual protagonists in the history of the modern Middle East;
find primary sources on a given theme in 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
The timetables are available through My Timetable.
Mode of instruction
Seminar.
Assessment method
| Partial Assessment | Weighing |
|---|---|
| Participation | 5% |
| Class Presentation | 15% |
| Midterm assignment: abstract for the video presentation | 20% |
| Weekly preparations and assignments | 30% |
| Final assignment: video presentation | 30% |
The final mark for this course is formed by the weighted average. An additional requirement is that students must pass their final assignment. In order to pass the course, students must obtain an overall mark of 5.50 (=6) or higher. The course is an integrated whole. All assessment parts 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 final assignment, which will count for 30%.
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
Enrolment through MyStudyMap is mandatory.
General information about course and exam enrolment is available on the website
Contact
For substantive questions, contact the lecturer listed in the information bar on the right.
For questions about enrolment, admission, etc, contact the Education Administration Office Herta Mohr
Remarks
Please note that the additional course information is an integral part of this course description.