Contemporary Issues in Africa and the Middle East - INST1007
Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
School: School of Humanities and Languages
Course Outline: School of Humanities & Languages
Campus: Sydney
Career: Undergraduate
Units of Credit: 6
EFTSL: 0.12500 (more info)
Indicative Contact Hours per Week: 3
CSS Contribution Charge: 1 (more info)
Tuition Fee: See Tuition Fee Schedule
Further Information: See Class Timetable
Available for General Education: Yes (more info)
View course information for previous years.
Description
This course provides essential regional knowledge for those wishing to work, study, or simply understand contemporary developments in Africa and the Middle East. In this course you will learn about changes to the economic and cultural profile of populations that now inhabit this transcontinental space. You will also examine some of the dynamics that are leading to the reconfiguration of territory and producing new forms of urbanization, ethnic tensions and flows of refugees and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). Seeking to understand the momentous changes that have accompanied the Arab Spring, we will analyze current areas of conflict and claims to self-determination in both regions. We will also analyze the growth of non-state actors such as ISIS, al Qa’ida, al Shabaab and Boko Haram and the way that they are now challenging traditional forms of authority in East Africa, the Sahel, the Levant and other countries across the Arabian Peninsula.