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Contemporary Middle East (ISLM90007)
Graduate courseworkPoints: 12.5On Campus (Parkville)
For information about the University’s phased return to campus and in-person activity in Winter and Semester 2, please refer to the on-campus subjects page.
About this subject
- Overview
- Eligibility and requirements
- Assessment
- Dates and times
- Further information
- Timetable(opens in new window)
Contact information
February
Please refer to the LMS for up-to-date subject information, including assessment and participation requirements, for subjects being offered in 2020.
Overview
Availability | February |
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Fees | Look up fees |
Contemporary Middle East explores the modern political landscape of the Middle East, with a special focus on academic freedom in the region. It takes a country by country approach to build a holistic understanding of the historical, political, religious, cultural and regional forces that have shaped 20th and 21st century Middle Eastern political culture. Contemporary Middle East also explores the key role external players, including the United States, Russia and the United Nations have played in the modern politics of the region.
This unit also offers students innovative assessment tasks. First, students can utilize their understanding of regional politics to respond to a hypothetical political development in the form of a crisis briefing document. Second, students can engage with the issue of academic freedom in the Middle East through a focused day exploring a case-study, culminating in a short position paper detailing the case-study and its context for a UN audience. This component of the program has been developed with the NY-based NGO, Scholars at Risk (SAR).
Intended learning outcomes
Students who successfully complete this subject should:
- have a deeper understanding of the dynamics of the state behavior in the Middle East;
- have a solid appreciation of the historical and contemporary role of great powers in the region;
- have an understanding of the interconnectedness of patterns of conflict and political change in the Middle East
- be able to contextualise, and critically respond to, political events in the region
- have an understanding of academic freedom and how it relates to broader human rights issues
- develop an awareness of the role of advocacy and rights based organizations in regional affairs
Generic skills
Students who successfully complete this subject should:
- develop a deeper understanding of the dynamics of the political systems in the Middle East and Central Asia;
- gain a solid appreciation of the role of great powers in the region;
- improve oral skills by participating in seminars;
- have an enhanced understanding of the concept of academic freedom in the region
- develop improved and diverse writing skills through the completion of assessment tasks
Last updated: 3 November 2022
Eligibility and requirements
Prerequisites
None
Corequisites
None
Non-allowed subjects
None
Inherent requirements (core participation requirements)
The University of Melbourne is committed to providing students with reasonable adjustments to assessment and participation under the Disability Standards for Education (2005), and the Assessment and Results Policy (MPF1326). Students are expected to meet the core participation requirements for their course. These can be viewed under Entry and Participation Requirements for the course outlines in the Handbook.
Further details on how to seek academic adjustments can be found on the Student Equity and Disability Support website: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/student-equity/home
Last updated: 3 November 2022
Assessment
Due to the impact of COVID-19, assessment may differ from that published in the Handbook. Students are reminded to check the subject assessment requirements published in the subject outline on the LMS
Description | Timing | Percentage |
---|---|---|
A briefing paper
| 4 Weeks after the end of teaching | 60% |
A mock submission to the UN on the academic freedom case study
| 40% | |
Hurdle requirement: Students are required to attend a minimum of 100% of classes in order to pass this subject. | Throughout the teaching period | N/A |
Last updated: 3 November 2022
Dates & times
- February
Principal coordinator Kylie Baxter Mode of delivery On Campus (Parkville) Contact hours 30 hours: 6 x 5 hour seminars. This is an intensive subject taught in 2 days blocks (Monday/Tuesday), over a 3 week period. Total time commitment 170 hours Pre teaching start date 21 December 2019 Pre teaching requirements Reading of course materials. Teaching period 3 February 2020 to 18 February 2020 Last self-enrol date 30 December 2019 Census date 7 February 2020 Last date to withdraw without fail 14 February 2020 Assessment period ends 18 March 2020 February contact information
Time commitment details
170 hours total
Additional delivery details
Please note:
- This is an intensive subject taught in 2 days blocks (Monday/Tuesday), over a 3 week period.
- Students must be admitted into the either the fourth-year honours program, or any graduate program in the Faculty of Arts to enrol in this subject.
Last updated: 3 November 2022
Further information
- Texts
Prescribed texts
Recommended texts and other resources
Shahram Akbarzadeh and Kylie Baxter, Middle East Politics and International Relations (London: Routledge, 2018)
Kylie Baxter and Shahram Akbarzadeh, US Foreign Policy in the Middle East. (London: Routledge, 2008) - Related Handbook entries
This subject contributes to the following:
Type Name Specialisation (formal) Arabic Studies Specialisation (formal) Islamic Studies Informal specialisation PD-ARTS Islamic Studies Specialisation (formal) Islamic Studies Specialisation (formal) Islamic Studies Specialisation (formal) Islamic Studies Informal specialisation PD-ARTS Arabic - Links to additional information
- Available through the Community Access Program
About the Community Access Program (CAP)
This subject is available through the Community Access Program (also called Single Subject Studies) which allows you to enrol in single subjects offered by the University of Melbourne, without the commitment required to complete a whole degree.
Entry requirements including prerequisites may apply. Please refer to the CAP applications page for further information.
Additional information for this subject
Subject coordinator approval required
- Available to Study Abroad and/or Study Exchange Students
This subject is available to students studying at the University from eligible overseas institutions on exchange and study abroad. Students are required to satisfy any listed requirements, such as pre- and co-requisites, for enrolment in the subject.
Last updated: 3 November 2022