Module overview
Aims and Objectives
Learning Outcomes
Transferable and Generic Skills
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- sustain an argument and explain your ideas in written work;
- handle a range of primary and secondary sources with an appropriate degree of sophistication;
- show an increasing level of confidence in discussion and debate;
- evaluate the contribution of different kinds of data to a single topic.
Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- critically examine the presentation of Middle Eastern society in medieval sources and modern writing;
- analyse conflicting views;
- determine the importance or otherwise of key developments in thinking about the nature of medieval Middle Eastern society.
Knowledge and Understanding
Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:
- the historical construction of identities.
- scholarly models of medieval Middle Eastern society;
- the potential and problems of material, historical and literary sources;
Syllabus
Learning and Teaching
Teaching and learning methods
Type | Hours |
---|---|
Preparation for scheduled sessions | 24 |
Seminar | 12 |
Wider reading or practice | 38 |
Lecture | 12 |
Follow-up work | 24 |
Completion of assessment task | 40 |
Total study time | 150 |
Resources & Reading list
Textbooks
(2008). The Arabian Nights, trans. by Husain Haddawy from the edition by Muhsin Mahdi. London/New York: W.W. Norton & Co..
Petry, C.F. (ed.) (1998). The Cambridge History of Egypt 1: Islamic Egypt, 640-1517. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Milwright, M. (2010). Introduction to Islamic Archaeology. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Warner, N.J. (2005). The Monuments of Historic Cairo. Cairo: American University in Cairo Press.
Bennison, A.K. (2009). The Great Caliphs: the golden age of the ‘Abbasid empire. London/New York: Yale University Press.
Kennedy, H.N. (2004). The Court of the Caliphs: The Rise and Fall of Islam’s Greatest Dynasty. London: Weidenfeld & Nicholson.
Northedge, A. & D. (2015). The Archaeological Atlas of Samarra: Samarra Studies II. London: British Institute for the Study of Iraq (available at www.bisi.ac.uk).
Irwin, R. (2010). Mamluks and Crusaders: Men of the Sword and Men of the Pen. Surrey and Burlington VT: Ashgate Variorum.
Irwin, R. (2009). The Arabian Nights: A Companion. London: Taurisparke Paperbacks (e-book via Webcat).
Assessment
Formative
This is how we’ll give you feedback as you are learning. It is not a formal test or exam.
Source commentaries
- Assessment Type: Formative
- Feedback: Written and/or verbal feedback
- Final Assessment: No
- Group Work: No
Essay
- Assessment Type: Formative
- Feedback: Written and/or verbal feedback.
- Final Assessment: No
- Group Work: No
Summative
This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.
Method | Percentage contribution |
---|---|
Essay | 50% |
Source commentaries | 50% |
Referral
This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.
Method | Percentage contribution |
---|---|
Coursework | 100% |
Repeat
An internal repeat is where you take all of your modules again, including any you passed. An external repeat is where you only re-take the modules you failed.
Method | Percentage contribution |
---|---|
Source commentaries | 50% |
Essay | 50% |
Repeat Information
Repeat type: Internal & External