2022/23 Undergraduate Module Catalogue

ARAB2330 The Politics of Race, Gender, and Sexuality in the Middle East

20 creditsClass Size: 40

Module manager: Andrew Delatolla
Email: a.delatolla@leeds.ac.uk

Taught: Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) View Timetable

Year running 2022/23

Module replaces

ARAB2066: Palestine and the Arab-Israeli Conflict

This module is not approved as a discovery module

Module summary

This module surveys topics related to the modern histories and contemporary dynamics of race, gender, and sexuality in the Middle East and North Africa. It encourages critical analysis that contextualizes and ties together the domestic, regional, and global cultures and politics of race, gender, and sexuality as they relate to the region. In the first section of the module, students will be engaged in discussions on the histories of race, gender, and sexuality and the subsequent impact of Western imperialism and colonialism. Building on the first section, the second section of the module introduces students to contemporary issues of slavery, patriarchy, security, and emancipation, in their broad contexts. Using a diverse range of sources, from academic scholarship, literature, arts, and media students will be introduced to a diversity of positions, discussions, and debates on each of the topics covered.

Objectives

This module aims to introduce students to the histories, cultures, and politics concerned with race, gender, and sexuality in the Middle East and North Africa. The module surveys transformations regarding these topics from the late eighteenth century to the contemporary period. Students will cover subjects including the legal and cultural legacies of imperialism and colonialism; the racialization of religion; gendered dimensions of politics, revolution, and conflict; and the cultural and political battlegrounds of sexuality and intimacy. Exploring these topics by tracing historical contexts and transformations students will have a more nuanced and critical approach to issues of race, gender, and sexuality in the Middle East.

Learning outcomes
1. Conduct independent research and communicate the research results in written assignments.
2. Engage critically with the histories, cultures, and politics of race, gender, and sexuality in the Middle East and North Africa.
3. Demonstrate an understanding of global contexts that have shaped and continue to shape the cultures and politics of race, gender, and sexuality in the Middle East and North Africa.
4. Develop an independent research question and argument based on one of the topics covered in the module.
5. Perform sustained analysis of empirics, key texts from the reading list, and broader debates in the scholarship concerned with race, gender, and sexuality.

Syllabus

The module offers an overview of the historic and contemporary dynamics of race, gender, and sexuality in the Middle East and North Africa. Students will first explore the histories of race, gender, and sexuality from the nineteenth century in the Middle East and as a global region. Here, students will explore the relationship between Islam, race, and slavery; race and religion; Islam, law, and women; Islam, sexuality, and social norms. Students will also consider how these dynamics transformed in colonial encounters as race, gender, and sexuality became subject to new forms of governance. The following section of the module will trace these histories into the contemporary domestic and international contexts. This includes covering topics such as the kafala system; the ‘War on Terror’; the production of masculinity; the importance of women’s movements to revolt and revolution; and contemporary politics of homosexuality and representations of sexuality. By understanding these histories, students will be able to understand how cultural systems and norms concerned with race, gender, and sexuality have changed over time. In relation to these temporal transformations, students will also be able to examine how the politics and cultures of race, gender, and sexuality need to be considered within domestic as well as global contexts.

Teaching methods

Delivery type	Number	Length hours	Student hours
Lecture	21	1.00	21.00
Seminar	6	1.00	6.00
Private study hours			173.00
Total Contact hours			27.00
Total hours (100hr per 10 credits)			200.00

Opportunities for Formative Feedback

Students will receive feedback on written assignments, including the 1500 word literature review and 3000 word research paper. Students will also have the opportunity to submit a formative descriptive outline of their research paper (1500 words). This will help students identify weaknesses in structure, format, and argumentation prior to submission of their final essay. Students will also have the opportunity to take advantage of designated feedback sessions (one per semester), student questionnaires, personal tutee appointments, and office hours.

Methods of assessment

Coursework

Assessment type	Notes	% of formal assessment
Essay or Dissertation	3000 Words	65.00
Literature Review	1500 Words	35.00
Total percentage (Assessment Coursework)		100.00

A formative descriptive outline (1500 words) will be due at the beginning of the second semester (2/15). This outline will provide students with the opportunity to receive feedback related to their final year research essay (learning outcomes 3, 4).

Reading list

The reading list is available from the Library website

Last updated: 30/06/2021 16:18:57

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