MRes Middle East Studies (Social Studies)

ARAM027: MA Dissertation

This module will start with an introductory lecture by the module convenor who is also the tutor of all MA students of the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies and will work with you on finding a supervisor for your dissertation. Then you will produce your dissertation with the help of your supervisor and your research skills acquired during your programme including ARAM190 Research Methods Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies or ARAM233 Dissertation skills modules which area co-requisite for this module. This dissertation is the largest project and the culmination of your programme.

This module allows you to pursue an individual research project within your chosen field, building on the methodological and field-specific foundations covered in your 1st semester intensive methodology and core courses and continuing in your 2nd semester MA coursework. MA students will be expected to develop and demonstrate in their dissertation a mastery of relevant secondary sources in their field; to relate the appropriate standard methodological approaches and theoretical issues to their specific area of research; to demonstrate the originality and relevance of their research to wider issues related to their specific field; and to demonstrate their familiarity with the accepted requirements and standards for presentation of research in their chosen field. In addition, the dissertation will allow them to develop the broader learning outcomes specified below.

View an example full module specification

ARAM054: State and Society in the Middle East

This module explores key concepts, themes, ideologies and issues which are crucial to an understanding of the politics and society of the Modern Middle East. Thus in the module you will examine the interaction between institutions and ideas of the state, and the social context in which the state is rooted. It investigates theoretical and empirical questions related state-society interaction. Concepts such as civil society, class, tribe, sect, gender, religion, and informal politics are integral part of the examination of state-society relations. Course readings are interdisciplinary and include works of history, sociology, political science, economy, anthropology and human rights advocacy. Seminars take a closer look at the key concepts and theories analysed in the lecture by looking at one or two case studies. This allows students to expand their empirical knowledge of the Middle East, as well as their knowledge of debates in the field. Furthermore, students may choose which countries to focus on in their assessed work, so have the option of developing special expertise in particular areas of interest. Overall, the module enriches your understanding of the history, society and politics of the Middle East and therefore benefits their overall academic curricula.

No specific pre-requisite skills are required to take this module.

View an example full module specification

ARAM233: Dissertation Skills

This module is intended to introduce you to general research skills, sources and tools relevant to the study of the Middle East, North Africa and the Muslim world in general from the perspectives of the social sciences and humanities. It is compulsory for all students on taught Masters courses in the IAIS and for those first year PhD students who are deemed by their supervisors to need methodological training. Otherwise there are no pre- or co-requisites. It consists of workshops introducing relevant methodologies for studying the Middle East, focusing in particular on how to write a dissertation. The course covers issues such as the structure of a research proposal, how to find a research question, the literature review, ethics, and how to receive and use constructive feedback.

This module is designed to develop the advanced skills you will need to undertake an MA in Middle East Studies, especially to research and write.

Postgraduate study in the social sciences includes both comprehension of research methods and the ability to use them yourself. This module exposes you to different types of methods within the social sciences, ranging from qualitative methods such as ethnography and participant observation to quantitative methods such as surveys. There is an emphasis on both good research design and ethical research, with opportunities for you to apply the techniques learned to your own research project.

View an example full module specification

POLM063: Qualitative Methods in Social Research

This module engages with core issues in conducting qualitative research in social sciences and addresses the opportunities, challenges and prospects for designing sound qualitative research design. We engage with the logics of inquiry in qualitative research and their implications for validity and generalisability; we discuss what constitutes a case and what the role of context is; we identify the main types of data and what opportunities and limitations are for mixing methods and/or data: we address the core expectations regarding ethics, transparency and reproducibility and assess the opportunities and challenges in publishing qualitative research in social sciences. This module is designed for students who are engaging with empirical research in social sciences. You are expected to have familiarity with research methods in social sciences and to engage, over the course of this module, with one or several specific method(s) for qualitative research.

The aims of this module are to introduce you with core issues in qualitative research in social sciences; to enable you to gain a critical understanding of the opportunities, challenges and prospects for qualitative research in social sciences; and to provide you with the tools for designing a sound research design for qualitative inquiry in social research.

View an example full module specification

POLM809: Applied Quantitative Data Analysis

The purpose of the course is to improve your foundational quantitative skills and to stimulate interest in quantitative methods. These skills are increasingly important for careers in many organisations and are essential to understand much academic research. A basic understanding of data collection, analysis and interpretation is essential to undertake contemporary research in many disciplines, both to enable researchers to make direct use of these techniques in their own research and for meaningfully engaging with work that uses these approaches. The module prepares you to read and understand research on topics that involve quantitative evidence and conduct basic data analysis. This module complements the closely linked modules on research methods training (POLM140 and SOCM020) and is alternative to POLM086.

POLM809 intends to provide an applied introduction into quantitative methods in the social sciences. You will acquire skills to understand the use of quantitative tools and techniques and gain hands-on experience with such data analysis tools as R or Microsoft Excel. You will learn the strengths and weaknesses of various techniques and be taught how to select among various quantitative tools. Examples will be drawn from the humanities and social sciences.

View an example full module specification

SOCM023: Social Theory

The module introduces you to a range of central themes and issues that both classical and contemporary social theorists have addressed in their work, all with the view of equipping you with a broad range of conceptual tools with which to understand and research the social world. The thematic structure of the module will enable you to understand, as well as encourage you to assess, the contribution theoretical traditions and paradigms under discussion can make to the analysis of those themes.

• To provide a thorough and rigorous discussion of some of the main theoretical traditions and paradigms in sociology and anthropology.
• To illustrate theories through the use of empirical research and examples.
• To foster techniques of analytical and critical inquiry.

View an example full module specification

ARAM090: Energy, Logistics, Infrastructure

This module examines the global politics of logistics, energy, and infrastructure. The module will provide you with an engaging overview - academically rigorous yet practically applicable - to key topics in energy transitions, logistics networks and processes, and global infrastructures.

The aim is to allow non-specialist students, without having taken any prerequisites, to study the subject. The module is available as an option in interdisciplinary pathways.

The module aims to provide you with

1) A knowledge of the scholarly debates over the politics of energy transition

2) An understanding of the key faultlines over the construction of infrastructures locally, nationally and globally

3) Familiarity the complex politics underlying the development of logistics networks

4) An ability to recognise the stakes of and apply trans-disciplinary theories to real-world cases concerning energy usage, infrastructure construction and logistical processes.

View an example full module specification

ARAM091: Ecological Struggles

This module examines global struggles over the environment. The module will provide you with an engaging overview - academically rigorous yet practically applicable - to key topics in a range of ecological problems.

The aim is to allow non-specialist students, without having taken any prerequisites, to study the role of politics and socioeconomic contestation at local, national and global level in these enormously important areas of human and non-human life. The module is available as an option in interdisciplinary pathways.

The module aims to provide you with

1) A knowledge of the scholarly debates over the political and social life of the environment

2) An understanding of the key faultlines in global policy-making around ecological problems

3) An ability to recognise the stakes of and apply trans-disciplinary theories to real-world cases such as climate change, air and water pollution, waste production, ocean acidification, and species extinction, as well as the connections these processes have to health, disability, and human flourishing

View an example full module specification

ARAM103: New Approaches to Islamic Thought

This module prepares you for the debates in Islamic intellectual history and the study of Islamic thought . We will problematize the very notions of 'Islam' and thought, considering what we mean by notions such as philosophy, theology, religion, political thought, and so forth within Islamic contexts. The module will equip you with the necessary analytical tools to venture into understanding and produce your own research on Islamic thought and society. The questions will be framed within an approach of 'decolonising Islamic studies'.

This module is part of the Islamic Studies pathway for the MA Middle East Studies programme.

This required core seminar should provide a common foundation for the thesis research of all MA students in Islamic Studies in four key respects:

(1) to give a broad overview of several key areas of "Islamic thought" (understood as the intellectual, written formulations of various Islamic cultural traditions in various historical settings) in their actual social and historical contexts;

(2) to train students in the methods of close, critical reading appropriate to each of the specific Islamic intellectual traditions covered in this course;

(3) to acquaint students with some of the pioneering secondary studies in each selected area of Islamic thought; and

(4) to offer students an opportunity to develop their expository skills in oral, classroom presentation of their research and reading.

View an example full module specification

ARAM147: The Kurds: History and Politics

In this module you will focus on the socio-political history of Kurds and Kurdistan since the nineteenth century from the present day. You will examine the major events of Kurdish history, covering the late Ottoman Empire, Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Turkey and discussing the present volatile situation, focusing on the development of Kurdish nationalism and political movement(s), but also the relationships of the Kurds with their home governments, neighbouring populations, and international actors. You will also examine the transformation of the Kurdish society since the end of the 19th century looking in particular at issues such as social organisation, gender, religion, migration, urbanisation, and diaspora, economic change, and neoliberalism.

The module is seminar-based, consisting of short lectures followed by in-depth class discussions and student presentations. No prior knowledge of the subject is required; the module is suitable for interdisciplinary pathways.

View an example full module specification

ARAM221: The Palestine Question: Past and Present

The Palestine question is still one of the most crucial feature of Modern Middle Eastern history and politics. It is also now a major research area, related to events in the past and present realities in the Middle East and beyond. Very few countries were so thoroughly researched academically as were Israel and Palestine.

This module introduces you to this rich literature in an engaging and critical manner, fitting post-graduate studies. The module allows you to examine the recent development in the study of Israel and Palestine. It allows you to become familiar with the various narratives on the history of the country and the influence recent conceptual and methodological developments had on the research on Palestine and Israel.

In addition, you will learn how to contextualise a case study within the wider debates about power and knowledge. Palestine is a textbook case study for the interaction between ideology and scholarly research. You will learn how to navigate between moral commitment, ideological orientations and academic acumen and professionalism.

View an example full module specification

ARAM235: Contemporary History and Politics of the Gulf and the Arabian Peninsula

This module will critically explore the contemporary history and politics of the Gulf monarchies and the Arabian Peninsula. It is structured around main themes which provide an in-depth comparative perspective on the question of power and ideology in the region. The module covers the roots of statehood and capitalism in the Gulf; the impact of oil and 'rentierism'; historical and current popular movements and rebellions; contemporary dynamics of capitalism and neoliberalism; Islam and politics; narratives and strategies of political legitimation. You will interrogate discourses that 'exceptionalise' the Gulf or 'culturalise' issues of history and politics therein. The module will also introduce analytical and theoretical tools that allow for critical examination of the debates that have dominated the study of the Arabian Peninsula; exploring new avenues of research that speak to the transformations currently underway in the region.

View an example full module specification

ARAM244: Politics and Economics of the Middle East

The module aims to provide you with an understanding of the politics and economics of the Middle East and North Africa, using various books, practitioner reports, and policy papers on the region, covering both theoretical and empirical material. By utilising different types of texts, it is hoped that you will gain the skills to discuss the topics of Middle East politics and economics both in a country-specific and a broader, region-wide setting.

View an example full module specification