BA Middle Eastern Studies and Politics(For students entering from September 2024 onwards)

Year 3

(Award available for year: Bachelor of Arts)

Learning outcomes

On completion of the year/programme students should have provided evidence of being able to:
1. evidence an advanced understanding of Middle Eastern cultures, societies and politics and a critical awareness of the current issues facing the region;
2. critically engage with major thinkers, debates and methods of enquiry in the fields of Politics and Middle Eastern and North African Studies, putting them to productive use;
3. show critical awareness of, and ability to deploy, different approaches and theories in the study of the Middle East and North Africa and Politics, including theories on decolonialism and orientalism;
4. demonstrate a deepened/critical understanding of the domestic and regional politics of the Middle East and North Africa;
5. appreciate the ambiguity, uncertainty and limitations of knowledge in Politics and Middle Eastern and North African Studies;
6. deploy with confidence concepts and theories relevant to Political Science and Middle Eastern and North African studies in the production of structured and coherent argument, both in orally and in writing;
7. make appropriate use of scholarly reviews and primary sources;
8. 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;
9. retrieve and generate information, and evaluate sources, in carrying out supervised, independent research;
10. evidence a firm command of academic literacies, including referencing and citation and accessing and evaluating qualitative and/or quantitative data.

Skills Learning Outcomes
By the end of year one students will be able to:
1. demonstrate the transferable/key/generic skills necessary for employment related to the areas studied;
2. exercise initiative and personal responsibility;
3. organise and manage supervised, self-directed projects;
4. communicate information, ideas, problems and solutions in a variety of ways to a variety of audiences;
5. deploy appropriate methodologies in a rigorous manner;
6. engage in sophisticated analysis, alongside deep evaluative and lateral thinking.

Assessment

Achievement will be assessed by a variety of methods. These may include essays, presentations, literature reviews, dissertations, analysis tasks and research projects …etc. Assessment methods are in accordance with the learning outcomes of the modules specified for the year/programme and will include:
1. demonstrating the ability to critically apply a broad range of concepts and theories of the disciplines;
2. work that draws on a wide variety of material;
3. the ability to evaluate and criticise received opinion;
4. Evidence of an ability to conduct independent, in depth enquiry within Politics and Middle Eastern and North African Studies;
5. work that is typically both evaluative, analytical and creative.