Middle Eastern Wars: Jihad & Resistance

Subject HIST90027 (2016)

Note: This is an archived Handbook entry from 2016.

Credit Points: 12.5
Level: 9 (Graduate/Postgraduate)
Dates & Locations:

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2016:

Semester 2, Parkville - Taught on campus.
Pre-teaching Period Start not applicable
Teaching Period 25-Jul-2016 to 23-Oct-2016
Assessment Period End 18-Nov-2016
Last date to Self-Enrol 05-Aug-2016
Census Date 31-Aug-2016
Last date to Withdraw without fail 23-Sep-2016


Timetable can be viewed here. For information about these dates, click here.
Time Commitment: Contact Hours: 24 hours - 12 x 2 hour seminars
Total Time Commitment:

170 hours

Prerequisites:

Admission to the Graduate Diploma in Arts (Advanced) 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 Student Support and Engagement Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Overview, Learning Outcomes, Assessment and Generic Skills sections of this entry.

It is University policy to take all reasonable steps to minimise the impact of disability upon academic study, and reasonable adjustments will be made to enhance a student's participation in the University's programs. Students who feel their disability may impact on meeting the requirements of this subject are encouraged to discuss this matter with a Faculty Student Adviser and Student Equity and Disability Support: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/disability

Coordinator

Assoc Prof Richard Pennell

Contact

Email: 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 should be able to:

  • 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; and
  • understand the relationship between theory based in a received conception of the past and practice.
Assessment:
  • A 2000 word class paper due during the semester (40%)
  • A 3000 word research essay due during the examination period (60%)

Hurdle requirement: Students are required to attend a minimum of 80% of classes in order 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
Links to further information: http://shaps.unimelb.edu.au/history
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
EMA 150 point program - full time over 1.5 years
EMA 200 point program - full time over 1.5 years
EMA 200 point program - full time over 2 years
Graduate Certificate in Arts (Advanced) - History
Graduate Certificate in Arts - Hebrew and Jewish Studies
Graduate Diploma in Arts (Advanced) - History
Graduate Diploma in Arts (Advanced) - Islamic Studies
Graduate Diploma in Arts - Hebrew and Jewish Studies
Graduate Diploma in Arts - History
History
Islamic Studies
MA (AS&&ST) History
PC-ARTS History
PD-ARTS History
PD-ARTS Islamic Studies

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