HKKB00127U Past and heritage: concepts, uses, current threats in the Middle East

Volume 2017/2018
Education

Curriculum for the Elective Studies in Comparative Cultural Studies The 2007 Curriculum

Content

This elective course is designed for BA students at ToRS and lasts 14 weeks.

The course presents the fundamental concepts, main various uses and the current threats relevant for the study of both past and heritage in the Middle East. Taken as its starting point the scholarly literature on past of the Middle East and its various aspects of heritage (from archaeological sites to oral traditions), the course will seek to understand the implication of the recent conflicts in the region on the heritage in terms of threats and future survival. A special feature of this course is the introduction of non-western ideas on the complex process of heritage creation / destruction along with presentations of the vivid intellectual debate among Arabic intellectuals on relevant issues; first and foremost the encounter between the Arabic- Islamic past and western modernity. This will include the exploration of post-colonial, fundamentalist, and nationalist, as well as orientalist and neo-orientalist, approaches to this latter issue. The course is a blend of lectures and case studies in addition to that several key speakers will be invited to present their views on selected topics. Due to the ongoing conflicts in the region especially in Syria and Iraq the course will address the issue of the destruction of cultural heritage in its various forms.

The course is provided in English.  

Learning Outcome

BA-tilvalg 2007-studieordning:
Aktuelt emne A (fagelementkode HKKB10051E)
Aktuelt emne B (fagelementkode HKKB10061E)

Analystisk emne A (fagelementkode HKKB10071E) 

Analystisk emne B (fagelementkode HKKB10081E) 

  • Jabri, al, M.A. (2011) The formation of Arab Reason; Text, Tradition and the Construction of Modernity in the Arab World, Contemporary Arab Scholarship in the Social Sciences, Vol.5. Center for Arab Unity Studies. Lebanon
  • Fairclough, G. J. (2008). The Heritage Reader. Routledge.
  • Hassan, F,. De Trafford, A,. Youssef, M. (2008) Cultural Heritage and Development in the Arab World, Bibliotheca Alexandrina. Egypt.
  • Smith, L. (2006) Uses of Heritage. Routledge.
  • Lowenthal, D. (1996) Possessed by the Past: The Heritage Crusade and the Spoils of History. Free Press.
  • Category
  • Hours
  • Lectures
  • 28
  • Preparation
  • 384,5
  • Total
  • 412,5
Credit
15 ECTS
Type of assessment
Other
Criteria for exam assesment