Admission requirements
Admission to the MA Middle Eastern Studies, MA Middle Eastern Studies (research), or MA International Relations.
Students should have had approximately 30 EC worth of courses in Middle Eastern Studies at BA or MA level. Students interested in taking this course, but who do not fulfill the abovementioned requirements are requested to contact the student advisor, or Dr. Tsolin Nalbantian prior to registration.
The number of places available in this course are limited. Therefore, read the information below under registration carefully.
Students who are not admitted to one of the abovementioned programmes can only be admitted to the course, if there are places left. Interested students may mail the Student advisor mentioning the course title, their name and their student ID number in the subject line. If they are admitted, they will be enrolled for the course by January 31 at the latest.
Description
This course is a bottom-up sociopolitical history of the modern Middle East from the mid-nineteenth century to today. We explore Middle Easterners’ every-day interactions with the state, struggles against state power, anti-colonial resistance, struggles for national liberation and against occupation, civil wars, and revolutions. In doing so, we will investigate how people both fight against and preserve the status quo and discuss the complex relationships between power and resistance. Related, we will inquire whether common experiences, through political struggles or other processes, create new collective identities, and address how national memory is formed and changed.
Course objectives
To encourage students to think critically about the causes, uses, effects, and locations of power and resistance.
To consider the changing daily interactions between the state and its inhabitants.
To familiarize students with past struggles that continue to play a role in the Middle East today.
To help students critically engage with scientific literature and to identify the strengths and weaknesses of various theoretical approaches.
To help students improve their capacity to present ideas orally and in written form.
Timetable
Mode of instruction
- Seminar
Students are required to attend all lectures, participate actively in class discussion and prepare the assigned reading for all sessions. If you cannot attend a class for a good reason (i.e. unforeseen circumstances such as illness, family issues, problems with residence permits, the Dutch railways in winter, etc.), you are expected to inform the convener beforehand. 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 one. Being absent without notification and/or more than one time can result in exclusion from the term end exams and a failing grade for the course.
Course Load
| Total course load (10 EC x 28 hours) | 280 hours |
|---|---|
| 2 contact hours per week (13×2 hrs) | 26 hours |
| 12 hours preparing for each class | 144 hours |
| Assignments | 55 hours |
| Final paper | 55 hours |
Assessment method
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). It is also unacceptable for students to reuse portions of texts they had previously authored and have already received academic credit for on this or other courses. In such cases, students are welcome to self-cite so as to minimise overlap between prior and new work.
Students must submit their assignment(s) to the blackboard through turnitin, so they can be checked for plagiarism. Submission via email is not accepted.
Assessment and weighing
| Partial Assessment | Weighing |
|---|---|
| Participation | 25% |
| Assignments | 40% |
| Final paper of max 2,500 words | 35% |
The final paper is written in two stages: a first version which will be commented on and a final version. Students who do not meet the deadline for the first version will lose the right to get comments and will only be graded based on their final version. (The paper deadline mentioned in uSis is a fictional date for administration purposes only. The actual date will be communicated by the convenor of the course.)
Late submissions of the final version will result in a deduction of paper grades as follows: 1-24 hs late = -0.5; 24-48 hs late = -1.0; 48-72 hs late = -1.5; 72-96 hs late = -2.0. Submissions more than 96 hours late, including weekends, will receive a failing grade, in casu a 1.0 for this partial assessment.
The final mark for this course is formed by the weighted average.
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
Only if the total weighted average is insufficient (5.49 or lower), the insufficient grade is the result of an insufficient paper (including papers handed in more than 96 hours after the deadline), a re-sit of the paper is possible (35%). In that case the convener of the course may decide to assign a (new) topic. The deadline for this version will be determined in consultation.
A re-sit of the other components is not possible
Exam review
How and when a term paper review will take place will be disclosed together with the publication of the course results at the latest. If a student requests a review within 30 days after publication of the course results, a term paper review will be organized.
Blackboard
Reading list
Selected readings (check the course syllabus on Blackboard).
Registration
Students MA Middle Eastern Studies
Students of the MA Middle Eastern Studies who have been enrolled in the MA programme in September 2019 or earlier can register through uSis starting from 1 December. The number of places is limited and the principle is first come, first served.
A number of places has been reserved for students of the MA Middle Eastern Studies who will start in February 2020, including those coming from a Leiden BA programme. They are kindly requested to fill out the form on the right side of the MA MES page and send it in as soon as possible and Friday, January 31 at the latest to the study coordinator. Make sure you mention in the subject line “MA MES, [your name, student ID number]”.
Students MA Middle Eastern Studies (research)
- Students of the MA Middle Eastern Studies (research) are strongly advised to opt for the Research MA version of the course. For those opting for the regular MA version the principles mentioned above for students of the MA Middle Eastern Studies apply.
Students MA International Relations
- Students from the MA International Studies should contact their Coordinator of Studies, Drs. E.J. Walstra.
Not being registered, means no permission to attend this course. See also the webpage on course and exam enrolment for registration deadlines and more information on uSis in Dutch and English.
To avoid mistakes and problems, students are strongly advised to register in uSis through the activity number which can be found in the timetable in the column under the heading “USIS-Actnbr.”. You can also have a look at the FAQ. (Tip: use the search term “uSis”.)
Registration Studeren à la carte and Contractonderwijs
Not applicable.
Contact information
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 at least four weeks before the start of their courses to ensure that all necessary academic accommodations can be made in time conform the abovementioned protocol.