HMØK0104FU Structure and Change in the Modern History of the Middle East

Volume 2025/2026
Education

KA students in Middle Eastern Languages and Society and other interested KA students

Content

The course builds on the BA courses in Middle Eastern studies to provide a more in-depth exploration of states and societies in the Middle East from 1850 to the present. The modern political history of the region is examined through the lens of structure and change: what structures have governed state and society (eg. colonialism, religion, oil, the rentier state, patriarchy etc) and how these structures have adapted and evolved in the face of change and challenges to the status quo. While the course is primarily based in history and political science, it also focusses on practice integration by incorporating policy reports and declassified official documents into the case material and by linking learning to current affairs. The course will provide students with an in-depth critical understanding of the Middle East based on a variety of academic approaches – macro and micro level analyses, oral histories, revisionist histories and so forth. It will also equip students with the ability to identify, analyze and produce different forms of analysis – academic, journalistic, policy reporting, official reporting. 

Learning Outcome

KA 2019-studieordning, Mellemøsten
Struktur og forandring (aktivitetskode Arabisk HARK03391E, Hebraisk HHEK03391E, Persisk HPEK03391E, Tyrkisk HTRK03391E)

KA 2019- tilvalgsstudieordning, Mellemøsten
Struktur og forandring (aktivitetskode HMØK13391E)

Eller: Frit emne 2 – Mellemøstens sprog og samfund (aktivitetskode HMØK13001E)

KA 2019- sidefagsstudieordning, Arabisk
Struktur og forandring (aktivitetskode HARK03391E)

KA 2019- sidefagsstudieordning, Tyrkisk
Struktur og forandring (aktivitetskode HTRK03391E)

General knowledge of the history of the Middle East in the 20th and 21st centuries is required. See also individual study programs for any language prerequisites.
Group teaching with lectures, seminars and student presentations. It is expected that participate in each class that you have read according to the curriculum and that questions have been prepared and discussion points.
  • Category
  • Hours
  • Lectures
  • 56
  • Preparation
  • 356,5
  • Total
  • 412,5
Oral
Continuous feedback during the course of the semester
Feedback by final exam (In addition to the grade)
Credit
15 ECTS
Type of assessment
Other
Aid
Only certain aids allowed (see description below)

Se studieordning

Credit
15 ECTS
Type of assessment
Other
Aid
Only certain aids allowed (see description below)

Se studieordning

Criteria for exam assesment

Academic targets

At the examination, the student can demonstrate:

Knowledge of:

significant issues within an academic topic.

a chosen topic, both in relation to a wider academic, Middle Eastern/regional context and in relation to the topic’s theoretical foundation on which existing knowledge is based.

Skills in

positioning the chosen topic within a relevant theoretical framework and accounting for the methods used in the field concerned and in the fields of practice typically associated with potential future professional involvement with the topic.

conducting a reflective, independent analysis of significant problems within an academic topic, with reference to research-based knowledge.

selecting and utilizing primary sources in translation in an academic context.

communicating research-based knowledge and academic discussions in a clear, well-documented manner in compliance with academic standards.

Competencies in

deploying academic knowledge in a regional Middle Eastern context, and in a manner that combines academic depth with an ability to identify points of contact with other disciplines or areas of study.

carrying out independent and critical analyses using interdisciplinary knowledge and critical reading of primary sources in translation.

Syllabus

The student specifies 1,500 pages (there is no requirement to include material in the language studied). The syllabus must be approved by the examiner. See deadlines and rules for the submission of the syllabus to the Student Counselling Centre under Examination - Find time and place and Examination - Type of examination and rules - Syllabus.

For courses with a language description:

Students submit a syllabus of 1,000 standard pages of scientific monographs and articles, and 30 standard pages in the language studied. The syllabus must be approved by the examiner. See deadlines and rules for the submission of the syllabus to the Student Counselling Centre under Examination - Find time and place and Examination - Exam form and rules - Syllabus.

Teaching and working methods

Class instruction or supervision.

Exam provisions

Form of exam: Take-home assignment, optional subject.

Scope: 16-20 standard pages.

Assessment: Internal exam with a single examiner with assessment based on the 7-point grading scale.

Regulations for group exams: The exam can only be taken individually.

Exam language(s): Danish or English.

Permitted exam aids: All, except the use of generative artifical inteliigence.

Make-up exam/resit: Conducted in the same manner as the ordinary exam.