Middle Eastern Wars: Jihad & Resistance

Subject HIST90027 (2014)

Note: This is an archived Handbook entry from 2014.

Credit Points: 12.50
Level: 9 (Graduate/Postgraduate)
Dates & Locations:

This subject is not offered in 2014.

Time Commitment: Contact Hours: A 2 x 2-hour seminars per week for 6 weeks from 28 July to 5 September
Total Time Commitment:

10 hours per week: total time commitment 120 hours

Prerequisites:

Usually admission to the postgraduate diploma or fourth-year honours in history (or in a relevant program) or enrolment in a relevant coursework Masters program

Corequisites:

None

Recommended Background Knowledge:

None

Non Allowed Subjects:

None

Core Participation Requirements:

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Students Experiencing Academic Disadvantage Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Description, Subject Objectives, Generic Skills and Assessment Requirements of this entry.The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements. Further details on the disability support scheme can be found at the Disability Liaison Unit website: http://www.services.unimelb.edu.au/disability/

Contact

Richard Pennell

rpennell@unimelb.edu.au

Subject Overview:

The basic meaning of the word Jihad is 'effort', one to achieve a positive goal. The effort can be personal and spiritual, to achieve piety and moral integrity, or collective and physical participation in warfare to protect or advance a moral and Islamic society. This subject studies the second of those manifestations, but with a vital awareness of the importance of the first. It explores the religious political and social context of warfare in the Middle East and North Africa between the local population and various European and 'western' enemies, and in particular the ways in which wars were conducted. Using primary sources, it will examine concepts of honour and sacrifice, warfare and the notion of 'just' war. It will begin with a background in the early Islamic period, but concentrating on the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in order to examine concepts of pre-colonial resistance, wars of liberation and the clash of civilisations that is proposed to explain present-day conflict. Students will be asked to place the primary sources in a contemporary theoretical perspective and so develop an understanding of the ways in which warfare between Muslims and Europeans has changed during the colonial and postcolonial periods.

Learning Outcomes:

Students who complete this subject will

  • understand the relationships between religious and political motivation in military conflict.
  • identify the influences of culture, political organisation and geographic and economic circumstances on the form of conflict.
  • understand the relationship between theory based in a received conception of the past and practice.
Assessment:

A class paper of 2000 words 40% (due during the teaching period) and a written researched essay of 3000 words 60% (due 16 September).


Hurdle Requirement: Students are required to attend a minimum of 75% of classes in order to pass this subject. Assessment submitted late without an approved extension will be penalised at 2% per working day. After two weeks, no late assessment will be accepted. In-class tasks missed without approval will not be marked. All pieces of written work must be submitted to pass this subject.

Prescribed Texts:

A subject reader will be available.

Breadth Options:

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

Fees Information: Subject EFTSL, Level, Discipline & Census Date
Generic Skills:

Students who complete this subject will

  • show an advanced understanding of the changing knowledge base in the specialist area.
  • be able to evaluate and synthesise the research and professional literature in the discipline.
  • have an appreciation of the design, conduct and reporting of original research.
Related Majors/Minors/Specialisations: 100 Point Master of International Relations
100 Point Master of Islamic Studies
150 Point Master of Islamic Studies
200 Point Master of International Relations
200 Point Master of Islamic Studies
History
History
History
History
Islamic Studies
Islamic Studies

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