BA Arabic, Islamic, Middle Eastern and North African Studies
Year 4
(Award available for year: Bachelor of Arts)
Learning outcomes
On completion of the year/programme students should have provided evidence of being able to: • Understand and demonstrate coherent and detailed subject knowledge and professional competencies some of which will be informed by recent research/scholarship in Islamic/Middle Eastern/North African Studies; • demonstrate a solid grounding in the domestic and regional politics of the Middle East and North Africa and an ability to critically reflect on key issues facing these regions. • Demonstrate a conceptual understanding which enables the development and sustaining of an argument; • Describe and comment on particular aspects of recent research and/or scholarship; • Appreciate the uncertainty, ambiguity and limitations of knowledge in Islamic/Middle Eastern/North African Studies; • Make appropriate use of scholarly reviews and primary sources; • Apply their knowledge and understanding in order to initiate and carry out an extended piece of work or project; • critically engage with major thinkers, debates and methods of enquiry in the field, putting them to productive use; • proficiently use basic generic and subject specific intellectual qualities i.e. • be able to communicate the results of their work; • present a structured and coherent argument; • access and evaluate qualitative and/or quantitative data; • appreciate how axes of social division, such as disability, class, gender, race, religion, nationality and sexuality, play key roles in the context of the discipline; • organise and manage supervised, self-directed projects; • retrieve and generate information, and evaluate sources, in carrying out supervised, independent research. • work autonomously within a structured environment; • conform to professional boundaries and norms where appropriate. In the Arabic language, they will: - be able to communicate fluently and appropriately, maintaining a high degree of grammatical accuracy, in Arabic with native or other competent speakers; - be able to effectively communicate information, arguments and analysis in a variety of forms; - have consolidated and extended knowledge and understanding of complex structures and registers of Modern Standard Arabic; - be able to demonstrate sophisticated receptive and productive language skills, and having had some practice in mediation language skills, in a variety of contexts; - be able to demonstrate an ability critically to evaluate of one or more aspects of the literatures, cultures, linguistic contexts, history, politics, geography, social and economic structures of the societies of the country or countries of the Arabic language; - demonstrate an awareness and understanding of one or more cultures and societies, other than their own, that will normally have been significantly enhanced by a period of residence in an Arabic speaking country.
Transferable (key) skills
Students will have had the opportunity to acquire, as defined in the modules specified for the programme: • The transferable/key/generic skills necessary for employment related to the areas studied; • The exercise of initiative and personal responsibility; • The deployment of decision making skills in complex and unpredictable situations; • The communication of information, ideas, problems and solutions in a variety of ways to a variety of audiences; • The ability to undertake appropriate further training of a professional or equivalent nature;
Assessment
Achievement will be assessed by a variety of methods in accordance with the learning outcomes of the modules specified for the year/programme and will include: • Demonstrating the ability to apply a broad range of aspects of the discipline; • Work that draws on a wide variety of material; • The ability to evaluate and criticise received opinion; • Evidence of an ability to conduct independent, in depth enquiry within Islamic/Middle Eastern/North African cultures, societies and politics; • Work that is typically both evaluative, analytical and creative. • Demonstrating understanding and use of Arabic through listening, reading, speaking and writing.