Course content

The course is an international regional study of the Middle East, the United Kingdom/Ireland, and Sub-Saharan Africa. Selected central issues in global political economy, development, state formation and state-dissolving factors, as well as natural resources and resource use, are thematized in various ways in the study of the three regions. Central theories of international and comparative politics are emphasized in the work with the three regions. Didactically, the course will focus on comparison as a method in the study of global inequality, power, and political systems.

In the study of the Middle East, the focus is on the development towards independent states, democratic conditions, central conflicts, and how actors within and outside the region have influenced the development in the Middle East. The Israel-Palestine conflicts and the conflicts between Israel and its neighboring countries are emphasized.

In the section on the United Kingdom/Ireland, economic development, state development, and contradictions between different parts of the island nation are emphasized. Central themes are social, political, and ethnic conflicts and the political system. Social science school subjects are thematized, and these, as well as the political system, party system, and electoral system, are compared with Norway.

In the section dealing with Sub-Saharan Africa, the focus will be on development issues, poverty, and natural resource utilization. Here, the emphasis is on how colonialism, state formations, and post-colonial structures in a selection of countries have influenced political, economic, and social development, as well as local resource use.

Learning outcome

KNOWLEDGE

The student

• has in-depth knowledge of how external great power intervention and the international community have influenced state development, power, and democratic conditions in the Middle East.
• has in-depth knowledge of how states, ideologies, and religion have sought to regulate political, social, and ethnic conflicts in the Middle East.
• has in-depth knowledge of economic development, state development, the political system, and the social science school subjects in the United Kingdom/Ireland.
• has in-depth knowledge of a selection of ethnic, political, or social conflicts within or between different parts of the United Kingdom/Ireland.
• has in-depth knowledge of development, education, and poverty issues in Sub-Saharan Africa and how this can be linked to local and global processes.
• has in-depth knowledge of how the resource basis provides opportunities and limitations for development at the local and national level in a selection of countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.
• has advanced theoretical knowledge of international relations and global development that is relevant for understanding and teaching about the three regions and their challenges.

SKILLS

The student

• can compare socio-demographic, economic, and political conditions and development trends in the regions.
• can find, assess, select, and adapt relevant academic sources for use in schools.
• can plan, implement, and evaluate comparison as a subject didactic method.
• can carry out comparative analyses.
• can assess which considerations social studies teaching about conflict areas should take.
• can critically assess objectivity, neutrality, and balance in representations of political conditions and conflicts.
• can use and create knowledge summaries.

GENERAL COMPETENCE

The student

• can use insights from the course in development work in schools.
• can analyze and assess academic and ethical issues related to global inequality, power, and political systems.

Learning methods and activities

Lectures and seminars, independent work, and group work.

Completion of mandatory and other assignments individually and in groups.

Compulsory assignments

• Mandatory activities according to the course description

Specific conditions

Required previous knowledge

The student must have passed Social Studies 1 (30 credits) and completed Social Studies 2 (30 credits) in order to start courses in cycle 2. Passing is understood to mean that the student has completed and passed the examination in the course. Completed is understood as all compulsory work requirements in the course are approved, in other words that the student is ready for the exam.

Credit reductions