The course Africa and the Middle East. Society, Culture, Institutions is geared to provide the student with basic knowledge on:

1- main issues and processes of modernisation in Africa and the "Middle East" (Southwest Asia) and the process of contemporary state formation (through case studies in the main macro-areas)

2- main issues debated in contemporary African and Middle Eastern societies, through digital materials, news, literary sources, videos, art, cinema and with participatory teaching tools. In relation to this section: students enrolled in different curricula (or in mutuated courses) will be able to select cultural content by literary, artistic or economic field.

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

- Nomadic cultures and stages of globalisation in the contemporary age

- African modernisation between travel and reform (case studies: Arab countries)

- The formation of the contemporary Middle East: stages, protagonists, case studies

- Decolonisation, Africanism, Negritude: major themes and protagonists

- Decolonisation and conflicts: narrating the struggles for national independence

- Africa and its voice: arts, literatures, historiographies and memories

- Arab countries: multiple affiliations and multilingualism

- South Africa: national formation and role on a continental scale

- Ethiopia: national formation and role on a continental scale

- Supranational actors in Africa and the Middle East.

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.

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

Innovative teaching methods

Participatory teaching with working class.

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):

Materials and information on the Moodle platform.

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 the course, 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

Materials and information specifically for non-students available on the Moodle platform.

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).