AANB05070U Introduction to the Anthropology of Islam and the Middle East

Volume 2021/2022
Education

The teaching in spring 2022 will be online until the 1. of April due to the Covid19 situation.

As soon as it is permitted and justifiable, it is up to the individual lecturer whether to transition to a blended format or wish to continue with full online teaching for the rest of the semester. The individual lecturer will inform you of the above choice in the Absalon room for each course. 

Courses with oral exams will be held online if the relevant restrictions have not been lifted at least four weeks before the individual exam. This will be notified in Absalon. Courses with written take home exams will not experience any changes in relation to the normal exam form.

Content

This course seeks to provide a broad-based introduction to the core themes and ideas of the anthropology of the Middle East, and by extension of the Anthropology of Islam. It begins by exploring the reasons behind the relatively late emergence of the Middle East as an area of study, before moving on to consider such topics as Orientalism, Gender, rural vs. urban anthropology, the role of religion (traditional and modern), and the forging of a regional subjectivity (as witnessed in the ongoing uprisings throughout the Middle East – the so-called “Arab Spring”). The course is intended both to stand alone as a regional module, and to offer a overview of the issues for those students who wish to take their study of the Middle East one step further.

Learning Outcome

The goal of this course is twofold: simultaneously theoretical and empirical. By the end of the course, students are expected to have a firm grasp of the development of the anthropology of the Middle East and of Islam, from its colonial origins to contemporary work. They are also expected to have a clear idea of key lines of tension and conflict in the Middle East today and to be able to discuss the contemporary geo-political and cultural situation. In the exam, the student must with clear language and lucidly argumentation exhibit that the he/she is capable of:

• identifying an independent anthropological problem statement relevant to the course's subject matter
• demonstrating factual knowledge of a selected ethnographic field and/or empirical considerations relevant to the course’s subject matter
• demonstrating insight into selected central theoretical concepts relevant to the chosen subject area and course material
• conducting an analysis based on central concepts or themes presented during the course.

Students must also fulfil the Department of Anthropology's form and language requirements (see the curriculum 4.3.2 for more about form and language requirements).

BSc students and MSc students: 500 pages obligatory literature.

The teacher will publish 200-300 pages of supplementary literature.

Course literature will be available through Absalon.

A combination of lectures, discussions, student presentations and group work
  • Category
  • Hours
  • Lectures
  • 42
  • Preparation
  • 100
  • Exam
  • 64
  • Total
  • 206
Continuous feedback during the course of the semester
Credit
7,5 ECTS
Type of assessment
Written assignment
Length: Portfolio exam can be written individually or in groups of Max. 4 students. Portfolio exams consist of 2-7 submissions. For MA students, there is a submission more than for BA students, i.e. if the BA student has to submit five submissions, the MA students must submit six submissions. The number of submissions is set by the lecturer. The total length of all of the submissions must be max. 30,000 keystrokes for one student. For groups of two students, Max. 40,000 keystrokes. For groups of three students, Max. 45,000 keystrokes and for groups of four students, Max. 50,000 keystrokes. In the case of group assignments, the contribution of each individual student must be clearly marked in the assignment. For groups with both BA and MA students, the same number of submissions is required as for MA students. The assignments are assessed jointly with a single grade.
Aid
All aids allowed
Marking scale
7-point grading scale
Censorship form
No external censorship
Re-exam

1st re-exam: An essay must be submitted. The new assignment must be submitted by the deadline for the re-exam.

2nd re-exam: A new essay must be submitted. The new assignment must be submitted by the deadline for the re-exam.

Essay length: 21,600–26,400 keystrokes for an individual submission. 6,750–8,250 keystrokes per extra member for group submissions. The maximum number of students who can write an essay in a group is four.

For groups writing together it must be clearly indicated which parts of the assignment each of the students has written.

Criteria for exam assesment

See learning outcome