The course of History of Arab Culture is oriented to provide students with the knowledge of the main cultural issues related to "being Arab" today and to the declinations of the idea of Arabism as structured between the 19th and 21st centuries in the countries of Mediterranean Africa and Southwest Asia ("Middle East").

The course is also aimed at the acquisition of the main theoretical and methodological tools for the study of cultural history (awareness of critical approaches to definitions of culture as well as to contemporary redefinitions of the idea of Arabism).

In particular, the course aims to deepen

•     the knowledge of the deep contemporary interrelationships between the Arabic language and some of the main non-Arabic linguistic-cultural components within different Arab areas;
•     the main cultural themes debated in contemporary Arab societies, through digital materials, news, videos, art, cinema, music;
•     the relevance of some cultural markers declined in the fields of economics, tourism, advertising, trade, negotiations.

The details of the programme, week by week, can be accessed via the digital platform Moodle.

Knowledge and understanding. The student will have to demonstrate a good knowledge of the course topics indicated in the programme and will have to show the ability to understand the critique of the categories of colonial orientalism. The student should also demonstrate a good knowledge of the periodizations of Arab history and of the political history of the Arab states (knowledge and understanding).

Applied knowledge and understanding. The student will have to demonstrate that he/she has the ability to interpret and apply his/her own knowledge, skills and understanding in the in-depth study of themes on the different Arab areas, with reference to concrete and specific contexts (case studies dealt with in class) and with an interdisciplinary approach (applying knowledge and understanding).

Autonomy of judgement. The student will have to integrate the knowledge acquired during the course with that of his/her own basic training and demonstrate the ability to interpret Arab political processes using the tools of comparison between areas of the world (making judgements).

Communication skills. The student will demonstrate the ability to communicate clearly and unambiguously their knowledge, to express their considerations and conclusions with reference to the lectures and also to the thematic seminars organised as part of the course (working class). The student must demonstrate that he/she is able to present the acquired notions with argumentative coherence, logical-systematic rigour and property of language (communication skills).

Ability to learn. The student will have to demonstrate that he/she has developed the ability to understand the complexity of institutional processes, as well as the ability to analyse the major economic and social issues that will allow him/her to contextualise the debate on current topics and to organise an autonomous constant updating of his/her own skills, making use of the tools acquired during the course (learning skills).

The teaching material prepared by the lecturer in addition to recommended textbooks (such as for instance slides, lecture notes, exercises, bibliography) and communications from the lecturer specific to the course can be found inside the Moodle platform › blended.uniurb.it

For this specific course, the collective discussion in the classroom on cultural issues (working class) is particularly important. Materials for in-depth study and reflection will be viewed and discussed during each lesson, with the support of digital content of various types.

In particular, the frontal teaching is integrated with the support of:

• - Digital materials for in-depth study of cultural themes.
• - Projection of video materials, documents and photos.
• - Recommended filmography.

Teaching

(a) Lectures; (b) Proposals for digital content on the topics covered; (c) Working class.

Frontal lectures may be accompanied by special activities such as individual lectures or seminars with invited guest speakers.

For the activities of the course and the use of the working class materials, there is a special section within the University digital platform Moodle.

Attendance

- Participation in working-class discussions;
- The study of specified texts.

Course books

For attending students (students with at least 75% attendance at working class in the semester):

- Barbara DE POLI, Musulmani nel terzo millennio, Carocci, Roma 2007.

Assessment

The assessment of learning, for students attending, takes place either during the working class activity (60%) or with a final oral assessment (40%).

(a) 60% working class. The course, of 40 hours, includes 20 topics to be discussed in working class and to be considered "attending" the student must participate in at least 14 working classes. [The evaluation of the active participation in the working classes corresponds to 60% of the assessment.]

(b) 40% final oral examination. The final oral test mainly assesses the knowledge acquired in the framework of the study programme [30%] and also allows to verify the acquisition of the appropriate vocabulary and of the basic skills necessary for the discussion of the themes of Arab cultural history, as well as to assess the student's ability to synthesise, the aptitude for analysis and comparison, and communication and expressive skills (10%). [The evaluation of the final oral examination corresponds to 40% of the assessment.]

The overall examination is graded in thirtieths.

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.

Teaching

It is recommended that non-attending students consult the course's Moodle page for access to thematic content, suggestions, information on the semester's cultural initiatives and additional digital tools for contact with the lecturer (chat, forum, meet room).

Attendance

Accurate study of all the topics of the programme using the specified study texts.

Course books

1. Barbara DE POLI, Musulmani nel terzo millennio, Carocci, Roma 2007;

2 (a) - Ersilia FRANCESCA, Economia, religione e morale nell'Islam, Carocci, Roma 2013 (for LIM-AZI students).

2 (b) - Paolo BRANCA Barbara DE POLI, Patrizia ZANELLI, Il sorriso della mezzaluna. Umorismo, ironia e satira nella cultura araba, Carocci, Roma 2013 (for LIM-TUR students).

Assessment

For non-attending students, learning is assessed by means of a final oral examination of the examination texts and course materials.

The final oral test mainly assesses the knowledge acquired within the framework of the specified study programme [70%] and also verifies the acquisition of the appropriate vocabulary and of the basic skills necessary for the discussion of the themes of Arab cultural history (20%), as well as assessing the student's ability to synthesise, his aptitude for analysis and comparison, and his communicative and expressive skills (10%).

The overall examination is graded in thirtieths.

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.

It is recommended that all students consult the course's Moodle page for access to thematic content, suggestions for further study, information on the semester's cultural initiatives and digital tools for contact with the lecturer (chat, forum, meet room online).