Course Content
This interdisciplinary MA-course in Middle East Studies aims at providing historical and conceptual contexts for better understanding the Islamic State (ISIS) phenomenon and the wider family of rebel movements and terrorist groups claiming adherence to jihadism. Although ISIS and jihadi movements in the Middle East region is the main focus, attention will be paid to comparative perspectives and analytical insight from non-Middle East cases.
The course will discuss ISIS in the context of its foreign fighter mobilization, popular support, recruitment, territoriality, rebel governance and conflict diffusion. The course will also discuss approaches to deciphering the Islamic State's use of extreme violence and the role of ideology in jihadist insurgencies, including a series of cases studies from Egypt, Algeria, Libya and the Sahel. An overarching question throughout the course is how to make sense of the spectacular rise of ISIS: Where does it come from? What explains its expansion and its ability to mobilize? And how may one interpret its use of an extreme and highly-mediatized violence?
Learning Outcome
Have been introduced to the study of violent conflicts and insurgencies in the MENA region.
Expand your insight into the historical background of the rise of militant Islamist movements.
Develop an interdisciplinary and comparative understanding of violent Islamist (“jihadi”) movements and of terrorism studies more broadly in the MENA context.
Develop analytical skills when studying diverse theoretical approaches as they are applied to elucidate empirical cases.
Deepen your critical reading skills for understanding debates on the impact of religion, ideology, mass media and globalization on violent conflicts.
Learn to distinguish between fruitful, as opposed to less productive, theoretical approaches to empirical analysis.
Enhance your writing skills and oral communication proficiency through essay writing and class presentations.
Compulsory Tuition Activities
1) Oral presentation of 12-15 minutes at one of the seminars. The presentation should include a powerpoint presentation and lecture notes, to be submitted one day in advance.
2) Term paper no. 1: A draft of a short term paper (4 page in its final version) on a topic specified by the instructor.
3) Term paper no. 2: A draft of a long term paper (10 pages in its final version) on a topic chosed by the student. The choice must be approved by the teacher.
All three assignments above must be approved by the teacher in order to take the exam. The sketches / drafts for the two term papers should be at least two pages long and must include a working title, a research question, a tentative outline of the argument, and a bibliography. The drafts are to be submitted in Canvas by April 3rd, 2020. Remember that the topics of the two term papers and the oral presentation must all be different.
Examination
The portfolio should consist of three parts:
1) A powerpoint presentation with lecture notes.
2) Short term paper (4 pages, excluding front page, bibliography and appendices) on a topic specified by the instructor.
3) Long term paper (10 pages, excluding front page, bibliography and appendices) on a topic chosen by the student.
The compulsory activities must have been approved by the teacher in order to take the exam.
As for format and style, the papers should be written in Times or New Times Roman 12 pt. font, 1.5 spaced, have 1 inch margins, conform to standard Chicago citation style source citation