Media, Culture and Politics in the Middle East
| Module title | Media, Culture and Politics in the Middle East |
|---|---|
| Module code | ARA3049 |
| Academic year | 2021/2 |
| Credits | 15 |
| Module staff | Miss Billie Brownlee (Convenor) |
| Duration: Term | 1 | 2 | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Duration: Weeks | 11 |
| Number students taking module (anticipated) | 20 |
|---|
Module description
This module considers the developments of culture, politics and media in the contemporary Arab Middle East through historical, political and cultural lenses. Students will be exposed to and engaged in discussions about various media theories, issues, forms and practices. The module is organised around a broad range of topics including the history and development of the Arab press, the rise of satellite television, the political economy of Arab media, the advent of new and alternative media and the role they played in the momentous changes which shook the region during the Arab Spring. Equally of interest is the impact of globalization on Arab mass media; the link between modernity, democracy and Islam; gender, national and diasporic communities. Classes will take the format of mini-lectures, class discussions, presentations, group work, screenings and interactions with guest speakers. No specific pre-requisite skills are required to take this module. The module enriches students’ understanding of the history, society and politics of the Middle East and therefore benefits their overall academic curricula.
Module aims - intentions of the module
The module is designed to cover a broad range of topics including the history and development of the Arab press, the role played by radio and television in the national building process, the relationship between cinema and literature, the rise of satellite television and the Al-Jazeera phenomenon and the advent of digital media. Media will be analysed in relation to the rise of specific genres (soap operas, reality shows, auto fictional blogs, YouTube comedies) and specific historical moments which shook the region (e.g. the coup of 1952 in Egypt, the Iranian revolution of 1979, the Arab Spring).
By employing media research drawn from interdisciplinary sources, the course examines a range of cultural, theoretical and comparative research undertaken in the field. The purpose of the module is to engage students in critical thinking and analyses beyond the academic environment, understand global phenomena and work with others in shared projects.
The class format (mini-lectures, class discussions, presentations, group work, screenings and interactions with guest speakers) combined to the interdisciplinary nature of the module and the variety of materials (books, articles, think tank publications, documentaries, films, social media outlets, news outlets) aim to widen your understanding of the region and equip you with new tools of analysis which can support you as academics, independent researchers and practitioners.
Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)
ILO: Module-specific skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 1. Demonstrate factual and theoretical understanding of important media issues and trends in the Middle East
- 2. Demonstrate detailed knowledge of the role media plays in Middle Eastern culture and politics
ILO: Discipline-specific skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 3. Employ and analyse a growing and diverse body of literature and scholarship and a variety of approaches to studying Arab media
- 4. Demonstrate how to link theory to practice and apply concepts learnt in a global perspective
ILO: Personal and key skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 5. Conduct critical and thorough analyses of the subject topics in written work and oral presentation
- 6. Demonstrate high degree of autonomy and effective collaboration when conducting research
- 7. Demonstrate high quality of research, evaluation and synthesis from a wide range of sources
Syllabus plan
Whilst the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover some of the following topics:
- Understanding the Arab Mediascape: Methodological Issues for Theorizing the Field
- A brief History of the Arab Press
- TV Broadcasting and the Satellite Revolution
- Arab Media from Inside: Journalists, Political Communication and Change
- Arab Public Opinion in the Age of Media Plenty
- Arab Media and the Disjunction between the State and its Subjects
- The Information Revolution: Technology Optimists & Technological Determinism
- The Arab Spring: Revolution in the Age of New & Social Media
- Entertainment Media, Culture and Politics
- Arab Media and the Discourse on Religion
- Arab Media and Transnational Identity
Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | Guided independent study | Placement / study abroad |
|---|---|---|
| 22 | 128 | 0 |
Details of learning activities and teaching methods
| Category | Hours of study time | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | 22 | 11 x 2 hour seminars (inc. brief lecture) |
| Guided Independent Study | 68 | Reading for seminars |
| Guided Independent Study | 60 | Completion of course work |
Formative assessment
| Form of assessment | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|
| Individual presentation (depending on the size of the class) | 15 minutes | 1-7 | Verbal feedback |
| In-class discussion of themes covered in the previous lectures and of documents or short documentaries; in-class pro and cons debates | 20 minutes | 1-5 | Verbal feedback |
Summative assessment (% of credit)
| Coursework | Written exams | Practical exams |
|---|---|---|
| 100 | 0 | 0 |
Details of summative assessment
| Form of assessment | % of credit | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Essay 1 | 40 | 2,000 words | 1-5, 7 | Written feedback |
| Essay 2 | 60 | 3,000 words | 1-5, 7 | Written feedback |
| 0 | ||||
| 0 | ||||
| 0 | ||||
| 0 |
Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)
| Original form of assessment | Form of re-assessment | ILOs re-assessed | Timescale for re-assessment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essay 1 | Essay (2,000 words) | 1-5, 7 | August/September reassessment period |
| Essay 2 | Essay (3,000 words) | 1-5, 7 | August/September reassessment period |
Indicative learning resources - Basic reading
Sreberny, Annabelle. “The Analytic Challenges of Studying the Middle East and its Evolving Media Environment.” Middle East Journal of Culture and Communication 1.1 (2008): 8-23.
Sabry, Tarik. “Arab Media and Cultural Studies: Rehearsing New Questions.” In Kai Hafez (ed.), Arab Media: Power and Weakness (New York: Continuum, 2008), pp. 237-51.
Dajani, Nabil. “Arab Press.” In Noha Mellor, Muhammad Ayish, Nabil Dajani & Khalil Rinnawi (eds), Arab Media Globalization and Emerging Media Industries (Cambridge: Polity, 2011), pp. 45-66.
Kraidy, Marwan M. & Khalil, Joe F. Arab Television Industries (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009). Chapter 1: A Short History of Arab Television”, pp. 9-32.
Rugh, William A. “Arab Information Media: Function and Structure.” In The Arab Press: News Media and Political Process in the Arab World (Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 2004), pp. 1-27
Mellor, Noha. Modern Arab Journalism: Problems and Perspectives (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2007). Mellor, Noha. The Making of Arab News (Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield: 2005).
Zayani, Mohamed. “Courting and Containing the Arab Street: Arab Public Opinion, the Middle East and U.S. Public Diplomacy." Arab Studies Quarterly 30.2 (2008): 45-64.
Lynch, Marc. Voices of the New Arab Public: Iraq, Al Jazeera, and Middle East Politics Today (New York: Columbia University Press, 2006). (Chapter i)
Zayani, Mohamed (ed.). The Al Jazeera Phenomenon: Critical Perspectives on new Arab Media (London: Pluto Press, 2005). Zayani, Mohamed and Sofiane Sahraoui. The Culture of Al Jazeera: Inside an Arab Media Giant. (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2007).
Seib, Philip. The Al Jazeera Effect: How the New Global Media are Reshaping World Politics (Washington, D.C.: Potomac Books, 2008). (Chapter vii: Transforming the Middle East, pp. 141-173).
Alterman, Jon B. New Media, New Politics: From Satellite Television to the Internet in the Arab World (Washington: The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, 1998).
Anabelle Sreberney and Ali Mohammadi. Small Media, Big Revolution: Communication, Culture, and the Iranian Revolution (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1994)
Wheeler, Deborah L. The Internet in the Middle East: Global Expectations and Local Imaginations in Kuwait (Albany: State University of New York Press, 2006).
Herrera, Linda. “Egypt’s Revolution 2.0: The Facebook Factor.” In Iskandar, Adel and Haddad, Bassam (eds). Mediating the Arab Uprisings (Washington, DC: Tadween Publishing, 2013)
Armbrust, Walter. “Synchronizing Watches: The State, the Consumer, and Sacred Time in Ramadan Television.” In Birgit Meyer and Annaleis Moors (eds), Religion, Media and the Public Sphere (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2005), pp. 207-226.
Thussu, Daya Kishan (ed.). Media on the Move: Global Flow and Contra-Flow (London: Routledge, 2007).
Mernissi, Fatema. “The Satellite, the Prince and Sheherazade: The Rise of Women as Communicators in Digital Islam”, Transnational Broadcasting Studies, No. 12 (Spring 2004),
Sakr, Naomi. Women and Media in the Middle East: Power through Self Expression (London: I.B. Tauris, 2004). (Chapter i: Women-Media Interaction in the Middle East, pp. 1-14)
Matar, Dina. “Heya TV: A Feminist Counterpublic for Arab Women?” Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East 27.3 (2007): 13-24.
| Credit value | 15 |
|---|---|
| Module ECTS | 7.5 |
| Module pre-requisites | None |
| Module co-requisites | None |
| NQF level (module) | 6 |
| Available as distance learning? | No |
| Origin date | 28/02/2020 |
| Last revision date | 28/02/2020 |
