Module Information

Module Identifier
IP31320
Module Title
The Arab Israeli Wars
Academic Year
2017/2018
Co-ordinator
Dr James Vaughan
Semester
Semester 2
Other Staff
 

Course Delivery

Delivery Type Delivery length / details
Seminar 8 x 1 Hour Seminars
Lecture 18 x 1 Hour Lectures
 

Assessment

Assessment Type Assessment length / details Proportion
Semester Assessment 1 x 1,000 word Review  20%
Semester Assessment 1 x 1,500 word Peace Plan  30%
Semester Assessment 1 x 2,500 word Essay  50%
Supplementary Assessment 1,500 word peace plan  30%
Supplementary Assessment 1 x 1,000 word review  20%
Supplementary Assessment 1 x 2,500 word essay  50%

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this module students should be able to:

1. Deploy accurately established historical techniques of analysis and enquiry to the core elements of the Arab-Israeli conflict.
2. Demonstrate detailed knowledge of the development of Jewish, Arab and Palestinian nationalism, and of the origins of the Arab-Israel dispute.
3. Critically review the central political, strategic and military elements of the major Arab-Israeli Wars.
4. Demonstrate detailed knowledge of the historically developing international context applying to the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Brief description

This module aims to provide students with an understanding of the course of Arab-Israeli conflict and peacemaking from the 19th century origins of the Zionist movement, through the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948 to the manifestations of Arab-Israeli and Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the early 21st century. Particular attention is paid to the major Arab-Israeli wars of 1948, 1956, 1967, 1973 and 1982. Students are encouraged to understand these conflicts in their broader regional and international context.

Content

The module is taught through a combination of lectures and seminars. The key thematic areas of focus for analysis through the lectures and seminars are identified below:
- Zionism and the Palestine question before 1948
- The era of inter-state Arab-Israeli conflict
- The evolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
- World politics and the Arab-Israeli conflict
- Peacemaking and the Arab-Israeli conflict

Module Skills

Skills Type Skills details
Communication Students will learn how to present their ideas verbally and in writing, and how to present their arguments most effectively. They will develop skills in using the many sources of information available to best advantage. They will learn to be clear in their writing and speaking and to be direct about aims and objectives. They will learn to consider only that which is relevant to the topic, focus and objectives of their argument or discussion. Students will also be required to submit their written assessments in word-processed format and the presentation of work should reflect effective expression of ideas and good use of language skills in order to ensure clarity, coherence and effective communication.
Improving own Learning and Performance The module aims to promote self-management but within a context in which support and assistance is available from the module convenor and other students. Students will be expected to improve their own learning and performance by undertaking their own research and exercising their own initiative, including searching for sources and deciding how to answer assessed essay questions.
Information Technology Students will enhance their proficiency using Blackboard, where materials to support learning will be made available. Students will also develop skills in searching for, and assessing the validity of, online information sources as part of preparation for lectures, seminars and assessed tasks. Assessed work will be presented in electronic format, according to standard expectations.
Personal Development and Career planning The module is designed to hone and test skills of use to students in their working lives, particularly in speaking to small groups, listening, thinking and responding to the statement of others. Moreover, the written work requires students to write clearly and concisely, which is a common task in the workplace. Students will be encouraged throughout to reflect on their performance and to consider lessons for future application.
Problem solving Independent work and problem solving will be one central goal of the module; the submission of written assignments will require that students develop independent research skills as well as problem solving skills. The ability of students to solve problems will be developed and assessed by asking them to: adopt differing points of view; organize data and estimate an answer to the problem; consider extreme cases; reason logically; construct theoretical models; consider similar cases; look for patterns; divide issues into smaller problems
Research skills Students will be required to undertake independent research in order to complete the assessed work. This will involve utilizing a range of information sources, including core academic texts, journal articles, electronic publications, and online news sources.
Subject Specific Skills Students have the opportunity to develop, practice and test a wide range of subject specific skills that help them to understand, conceptualise and evaluate examples and ideas on the module. These subject specific skills include: • Collect and understand a wide range of data relating to the module • Evaluate competing perspectives • Apply a range of methodologies to complex historical and contemporary social and political problems.
Team work Students will undertake team exercises in the seminars. For many of the topics of this module, seminars will consist of small-group discussions where students will be asked to discuss as a group the core issues related to the seminar topic. These class discussions and debates form a significant part of the module, and will allow students to approach and examine a given topic through team work.

Notes

This module is at CQFW Level 6