Admission requirements
The course is designed for advanced students capable of independent work and creative thinking, but there are no knowledge prerequisites. The course is open to students of the MA Middle Eastern Studies (research) and other research MAprogrammes in the Faculty of Humanities. Students from other programmes are kindly referred to the course description of the regular MA course.
Description
The course starts from an introduction to milestone events and select themes in the century-long struggle over Israel/Palestine. Seminar discussions in the first bloc run alongside a set of practical workshops on interviewing and audio broadcasting. This foundation prepares students to collectively produce a series of podcasts in the course of the second bloc. Working in teams, students will research, produce, and edit a podcast episode that will bring them into deep and difficult conversations with people living through this protracted conflict. ‘Radio Palestine/Israel’ will tune into voices from the region to explore what values and experiences shape people’s political stances, how they develop and express their political voices, what’s at stake when their voices challenge consensus, and what they strive to achieve by speaking out.
The course is co-taught by a journalist and an academic, both from Israel/Palestine: Rajaa Natour is foreign correspondent for Ha'aretz, columnist for the NRC, and a poet; Noa Schonmann is assistant professor at Leiden University's Institute for Area Studies (LIAS), researching international relations in the Middle East.
Across the semester we explore the notion of ‘political voice’. We ask what kind of voices dominate public discourses over Palestine/Israel, and which get sidelined or silenced? How do we make sense of the cacophony of contentious voices that erupted after 7 October? What voices break through the noise and can bring lasting change? How can we craft our own voices and make them heard?
Course objectives
By the end of this course, students will be able to:
recognize select events, themes, and dynamics of violence and coexistence in Palestinian-Jewish relations from 1920s to present;
outline the foundational narratives and entangled historical trajectories of the Zionist and Palestinian national projects;
clearly lay out, historically analyse, and critically discuss (orally and in writing) different positions articulated in the struggle over Palestine/Israel;
collaboratively produce an interview-based podcast for non-academic audiences (plan and coordinate timely production; contribute ideas and solutions towards achieving team-goal; respectfully consider others’ perspectives; constructively respond to feedback and ideas of other team members; responsibly fulfil commitments);
conduct in-depth journalistic interviews (identify and research relevant primary and secondary sources; communicate with interviewees; develop structured and effective inquiry approach; write concise questions, introduction and conclusion segments; consider ethical implications; formulate sensitive questions tactfully and adapt choice of words to the objective and target audience);
use digital communication technology and workflow (podcast planner template; podcasting recording hardware; Editing software Audacity) to produce an audio broadcast to generate and publicly share knowledge.
Timetable
The timetables are available through My Timetable.
The deadline(s) in MyTimetable is/are set for administrative purposes only. The actual date(s) will be communicated by the lecturer(s) in Brightspace.
Mode of instruction
- Seminar
The course is a combination of seminar discussions, based on weekly reading assignments; practical workshops; and independent team-work sessions.
Students are required to prepare for and actively participate in all weekly sessions. The course is offered as part of a full-time program of studies, and therefore work commitments, holidays, or overseas travel do not constitute valid reasons for absence.
If a student cannot attend because of illness or misadventure, they should promptly inform the lecturer. Extra assignments may be set to make up for missed class time, at the lecturer’s discretion. Absence without notification may result in lower grades or exclusion from assessment components and a failing grade for the course.
Assessment method
Academic integrity
Students should familiarize themselves with the notion of academic integrity and the ways in which this plays out in their own work. A good place to start is this page. Plagiarism will not be tolerated. Students may not substantially reuse texts they have previously submitted in this or other courses. Minor overlap with previous work is allowed as long as it is duly noted in citation.
Students must submit their assignment(s) to Brightspace through Turnitin, so they can be checked for plagiarism. Submission via email is not accepted.
ChatGPT: What is possible and what is allowed? Dos and Don'ts.
Assessment and weighing
| Partial Assessment | Weighing |
|---|---|
| Active participation across the semester | 40% |
| Collaboration in a team-project (production of a podcast episode) | 20% |
| Writing final assignment (podcast plan) | 40% |
The final mark for this course is determined by the weighted average. An additional requirement is that students must pass their Final Assignment. Thus, in order to pass the course, students must obtain an overall mark of 5.50 (=6) or higher for the course and for their Final Assignment.
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
A resit is available only to students whose mark on the Final Assignment was insufficient (5.49 or lower). The resit date will be set at least five working-days after the ‘fail’ grade has been issued. The convener of the course may decide to assign students a modified topic for the resit assignment. In such cases, the resit deadline will be set at least 10 working days after the ‘fail’ grade has been issued.
Inspection and feedback
If a student requests a review within 30 days after publication of the exam results, an exam review will have to be organized.
Reading list
The booktitles and / or syllabi to be used in the course, where it can be purchased and how this literature should be studied beforehand.
Students are expected to have read ONE of the following books before the first class:
Dowty, Alan. Israel/Palestine. 5th edition. Cambridge: Polity Press, 2023.
Khalidi, Rashid. The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917-2017. New York: Metropolitan Books, 2022.
Morris, Benny. One State, Two States: Resolving the Israel/Palestine Conflict. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2009.
The syllabus will be posted on Brightspace two weeks before the start of the course. It is each student’s responsibility to log into the course page well in advance of the first seminar, read through the syllabus, and turn notifications on for the course to ensure they receive announcements posted by the instructor.
To receive notifications for a course on Brightspace, go to your profile in the upper right corner (click on your name), choose Notifications. Under Instant Notifications, check Announcements - new announcement and click Save.
Registration
Enrolment through MyStudyMap is mandatory.
General information about course and exam enrolment is available on the website.
Contact
For substantive questions, contact the convener(s) listed in the information bar on the right.
For questions about enrolment for the course and examinations, etc, contact the [Herta Mohr Education Administration Office](https://www.organisatiegids.universiteitleiden.nl/en/faculties-and-institutes/humanities/faculty-office/student-affairs/education-administration-offices/herta-mohr-education-administration-office].