Iran and Middle East – Term Paper

Different theories and approaches will be applied and tested towards his purpose. The rational behind this class is to develop an overall organizing perspective that can help explain international politics in and regarding the Middle East. The nature of this course requires continuous movement back and forth between theory and reality, history and current affairs. As both a political science and area study course, theories here are not presented in isolation of the actual regional and international realities. Textbook One book is used as a textbook in this class.

Additional readings will be placed on reserve or posted on blackboard. Raymond Heinousness, International Relations of the Middle East, 2003 Important note on the Academic Calendar To meet the school’s policy, this class will meet on three Saturdays, in addition to the regular meetings on Sundays and Wednesdays. The three additional Saturdays will be disbursed along the duration of the semester as the following: Saturday September 27th Saturday October 25th Saturday November Dodd Course Requirements and Student Evaluation Attendance policy: attendance is integral part of the course.

A student who misses more than the equivalent of three weeks of class meetings during a semester for any reason may be assigned a reduced grade for the course ? including the grade of “F” ? solely on the basis of inadequate attendance, regardless of excuse. Students who observe the attendance rules, including the additional Saturdays, will be rewarded a maximum of 10% of the total grade. Participation: Students are expected and encouraged to participate in class discussions. Ten percent (10%) of the total grade is assigned for class participation and presentations.

Reaction paper: Each other week, each student should submit a reaction paper to the assigned readings for that week. Reaction paper should be submitted at the beginning of the respective class period. Late submission of reaction papers is tectonically NOT ACCEPTED. Students are to be assigned to two lists, students of each list should submit their reaction papers each other week. Each reaction paper is worth 3% of the total grade. 20% of the total grade is assigned to this exercise. Final Exam: A comprehensive take-home exam of three questions. Questions will be given to students in the last day of classes.

Both hard and soft copies of the answers should be submitted no later than noon time on the scheduled finial’s day, whatever that is. The final exam is worth 30% of the total grade. Term paper: Students are expected to turn in one term paper of 4,000 words, including the literature review. Students should submit a proposal for their term papers in due time. The paper proposal is worth 5% of the total grade. Students will be required to present their proposals in class so that they can receive feed-back from both the instructor and their colleagues. Students are also required to submit a review of the literature relevant to their topic. % of the total grade is allocated for this assignment. Guidelines towards developing the term paper will be provided in proper time. The final term paper is worth 10% of the total grade. Book Review: Each student is expected to submit a book review for a relevant book. Below you find a tentative list of books to choose from. Books that are not included in the list are welcomed after the approval of the instructor. Guidelines towards developing the book review will be provided in proper time. This exercise is worth 15% of the total grade. List of the suggested books 1 . Abacas Tibia, Arab nationalism : between Islam and the nation-state.