ANTH49815: Advanced Studies in Meditterranean Connections

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• To introduce students to themes and issues in the social anthropology of Arab-majority societies (the Middle East) and the Mediterranean region.
• To develop an understanding of the concept of Orientalism and how it has historically affected power relations between Western and Arab-majority societies.
• To explore the ways Europe and the Arab-majority world are and have been connected to one another culturally, politicall, and economonically, with a specific focus on the Mediterranean.
• To provide students with a set of critical tools to identify and analyse Orientalist tropes found in media reports and cultural artefacts (films, novels, advertisements), about the Arab-majority world as well as Arab/Muslim communities in Europe/the West.

• The module will examine social and political life in Arab-majority societies from a social anthropological point of view, and with a specific focus on politics and economics.
• The module will cover a range of subjects such as: the role of inequal power relations between Europe and the Arab world in the shaping of the contemporary Middle East; Orientalism and the media; participatory politics; colonialism, and postcoloniality in Europe; borders, migration, and asylum seeking in the Mediterranean; urban life; economic precarity; civil society.

Subject-specific Knowledge:

• At the end of the module, students will be able to:
• Demonstrate advanced levels of current knowledge and intensive understanding in social anthropology research.
• Deploy analytical skills specific to social anthropological understandings of Arab-majority societies and postcoloniality in Europe.
• Be competent in accessing and assimilating specialised research literature of an advanced nature.

Subject-specific Skills:

• Applying key skills (see below) to core concepts and debates pertaining to the contemporary Middle East and Arab/Muslim communities in Europe/the West.

Key Skills:

• Preparation and effective communication of research methods, data, interpretation and arguments in written form.
• Critical analysis of literature and data
• Self-reflection on knowledge and skills acquired and developed
• Accessing library resources
• Undertaking independent study and research
• Preparation and effective communication of interpretations and arguments in written form

• Classes will integrate lecture, tutorial and practical components.
• Lecture elements will provide students with an outline of key knowledge and debates in the topic area, discuss the literature that students should explore, and provide relevant examples and cases studies.
• Tutorial elements will develop topics introduced in lectures and required reading to analyse aspects or case studies in greater depth and to prepare students for their summative assignment.
• Practical components will provide students with hands-on experience of the research.
• Advanced discussion classes will allow students to develop their skills of critical thinking and evaluation, as well as how to synthesise and interrogate material at a level commensurate with postgraduate attainment.
• Student preparation and reading time will allow engagement with specific references in advance of tutorials and general and particular reading related to the assessment, which will be a written assignment (such as an essay or report).
• Summative assessment will be a 3500-word written piece where students will apply advanced concepts and perspectives in social anthropology to relevant ethnographic and/or media materials related to Arab-majority societies. The essay should show evidence of a higher level of engagement with course materials as expected at postgraduate level

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