Postgraduate Module Descriptor

ARAM188: The Middle East Since 1945

This module descriptor refers to the 2017/8 academic year.

Module Aims

Students taking this module should develop the kind of broad picture of the history of the modern Middle East which will be essential to all those undertaking further graduate work, and of real value across Masters courses. In particular, the module aims to explore the analytic value of conceptual categories (such as modernity), the great variety of approaches to history (cultural, political, economic etc) and to introduce students to techniques of close-reading and documentary analysis which will be of broader value across their studies. These skills are then tested and explored in assessments and the module aspires to include a great deal of formative feedback so as to ensure that students are able to draw on their analyses of others’ histories in their own production of assessed work.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)


On successfully completing the programme you will be able to:
Module-Specific Skills1. gain a broad understanding of the history of the modern Middle East, including Turkey, Iran and North Africa.
2. identify and evaluate a variety of modes of historical practice.
3. make connections across discrete historical cases so as to identify the value and weaknesses of broad themes such as modernity and Pan-Arabism.
4. understand the place of historical analysis in research in both Humanities and Social Sciences branches of Middle East Studies.
Discipline-Specific Skills5. appreciate cultures and historical contexts by heightening a sense of the past and the present as a shared human experience.
6. gain an awareness of the importance of using primary sources, on the one hand, and evaluating the contingent nature of secondary literature, on the other;
Personal and Key Skills7. demonstrate critical and analytical skills are developed through seminar discussion of theoretical approaches, primary texts and appropriate references, in addition to essay work; and
8. develop the ability to conduct a structured dialogue, address an audience and construct coherent arguments.