Time and Place: 1948: The Arab-Israeli Conflict (V1449)

15 credits, Level 5

Spring teaching

This module is an introduction to the history, politics, and diplomacy of the Arab-Israeli conflict. We will examine the beginning of the conflict, the rise of Jewish and Arab nationalism from the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century, and the failure of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process in 2000.

You will study:

• the conflict’s social, political, ideological, and diplomatic origins
• the growing conflict between the two national movements, Zionist and Palestinian
• the involvement of the Arab states in the conflict
• the process that culminated in the 1948 war
• the disappearance of the Palestinian national movement from the Middle Eastern political map and the on-going Israeli-Arab wars
• the diplomatic process that followed each war
• the impact of the 1967 war on the region and the re-emergence of the Palestinian national movement
• the impact of the Cold War on the conflict
• how the Israeli-Palestinian struggle became the heart of the conflict.

Contact hours and workload

This module is approximately 150 hours of work. This breaks down into about 21 hours of contact time and about 129 hours of independent study. The University may make minor variations to the contact hours for operational reasons, including timetabling requirements.

We regularly review our modules to incorporate student feedback, staff expertise, as well as the latest research and teaching methodology. We’re planning to run these modules in the academic year 2024/25. However, there may be changes to these modules in response to feedback, staff availability, student demand or updates to our curriculum.

We’ll make sure to let you know of any material changes to modules at the earliest opportunity.