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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures : Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies

Postgraduate Course: Approaches to Research in Advanced Arabic (IMES11057)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of Literatures, Languages and Cultures CollegeCollege of Humanities and Social Science
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) AvailabilityNot available to visiting students
SCQF Credits20 ECTS Credits10
SummaryThis course is intended to equip students with the skills required to undertake advanced language-based research (in Arabic). The course caters to a number of methodological and disciplinary areas, including archival work, press analysis, translation, linguistic analysis and interviewing. Course readings will include general literature on research methods in the humanities and social sciences as well as, where appropriate, specific work on conducting research in an Arabic-language context.
Course description Week 1: Introduction to the study of the Arabic-speaking world

Week 2: Arabic language sources: Archives and the Press

Week 3: Working with historical texts in Arabic

Week 4: Discourse Analysis: Tools for Analysing Media Content

Week 5: Open Discussion: designing a research project

Week 6: E-Research

Week 7: Issues and practices in ethnographical research in the Arabic-speaking world

Week 8: Linguistic analysis

Week 9: Researching popular culture in the Arabic-speaking world

Week 10: Revisiting the research proposal
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2014/15, Not available to visiting students (SS1) Quota:  None
Course Start Semester 1
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 200 ( Seminar/Tutorial Hours 20, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 176 )
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 0 %, Coursework 100 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment) Assessment will be by one 4000 word essay.
The format of the essay can be either a) a research proposal detailing: the main research questions and/or hypotheses, overall area of study and methods to be employed or b) a critical discussion of how one or more approaches to the study of the Arabic-speaking world could be useful in a practical or professional context.
Feedback Not entered
No Exam Information
Learning Outcomes
The ability to identify and articulate possible language based-research projects.

The ability to formulate a research problem

An understanding of different methodological tools and modes of research.

Training in the preparation of bibliographies and research documents.
Reading List
Agar, M. (1996) The Professional Stranger: An Informal Introduction to Ethnography.San Diego, Calif. ; London: Academic Press.
Anderson, Lisa (2004), 'Scholarship, Policy, Debate and Conflict: Why We Study the Middle East and Why It Matters,' Middle East Studies Association Bulletin 38(1), pp. 2-15.
Appleby, A., Hunt, L., and Jacob, M. (1994) Telling the Truth about History. New York; London: Norton.
Brannen, J. (1988) 'Research note: the study of sensitive subjects, notes on interviewing', Sociological Review, Vol. 36, No. 3. Pgs. 552-563
Briggs, C. (1986) Learning How to Ask. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Clark,
Edward Said (1979), Orientalism. Vintage Books: New York.
Elizabeth W. Fernea & Basima Q. Bezirgan (eds.) Middle Eastern Muslim Women Speak. Austin: U. of Texas Press.
Evans, R.J. (1997), In Defence of History. London: Granta
Gavin D. Brockett (2009), 'Provincial Newspapers as a Historical Source: Buyuk Cihad and the great struggle for the Muslim Turkish Nation (1951-53).' International Journal of Middle East Studies Volume 41, no. 3
Hanna Herzog (2005) 'On Home Turf: Interview Location and Its Social Meaning.' Qualitative Sociology 25-47 Volume 28, Number 1
Janine A. (2006) 'Field Research Methods in the Middle East.' Political Science and Politics 39 (3): 417-424.
Kopf, D. (1980) Hermeneutics versus History Author(s): Reviewed work(s): Orientalism by Edward W. Said Source: The Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 39, No. 3, pp. 495-506.
Leonard Binder, ed. (1976) The Study of the Middle East:Research and Scholarship in the Humanities and Social Sciences. New York: Wiley.
Marshall, C. and Rossman, G.B. (1995) Designing Qualitative Research. Second editions. London: Sage.
Palmer, Monte. (1982) Survey Research in the Arab World: An Analytical Index. London: Menas Press.
Pushkala Prasad (2005) Crafting Qualitative Research: Working in the Postpositivist Traditions.
Sharabi, Hisham (1990) Theory, Politics, and the Arab World: Critical Responses. Routledge.
Tamari, S. and Zureik, E. (2001), Reinterpreting the Historical Record: The Uses of Palestinian Refugee Archives for Social Science Research and Policy Analysis., Jerusalem: Institute of Jerusalem Studies.
Tessler, M. (2003) 'Arab and Muslim Political Attitudes: Stereotypes and Evidence from Survey Research.' International Studies Perspectives 4: 175-180.
Tessler, Mark ed. (1999) Area Studies and Social Science: Strategies for Understanding Middle East Politics. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Tessler, Mark, ed. (1987) The Evaluation and Application of Survey Research in the Arab World, Boulder: Westview Press.
Valbjorn, Morten (2004) 'Toward a Mesopotamian Turn: Disciplinarity and the study of the International Relations of the Middle East,' Journal of Mediterranean Studies 14(1-2), pp. 47-76.
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills Not entered
KeywordsAtRAA
Contacts
Course organiserDr Anthony Gorman
Tel: (0131 6)50 4183
Email: Anthony.Gorman@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMs Ersev Ersoy
Tel: (0131 6)50 4465
Email: Ersev.Ersoy@ed.ac.uk
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