BA Middle Eastern Studies and Politics

Programme overview

Entry requirements

Entry Requirements are available on the Course Search entry

Programme specification

What This Programme Offers You

By choosing this Joint Honours degree, you will be able to:

- Study across more than one discipline, with the flexibility to explore three subject areas during your degree.
- Develop two disciplines in real depth, reaching the same academic level as single honours students, while working with a slightly narrower range of topics in each.
- Build a strong foundation for further study, whether you continue in one of your chosen disciplines or pursue an interdisciplinary pathway.

What Makes Joint Honours at Leeds Distinctive

- A unique blend of depth, breadth, and flexibility
Joint honours degrees at Leeds stand out because they allow you to study two subjects in depth while also developing a wider set of skills and perspectives than a single honours route typically provides. You also benefit from one of the broadest ranges of subject combinations available in the UK.

- Freedom to shape your own academic pathway
These are joint honours programmes, not integrated degrees. This means you choose how your two subjects speak to each other. With a wide selection of optional modules in each discipline, you can make your own connections and tailor your learning to your interests rather than following a fixed set of prescribed modules.

- Developing intellectual flexibility
Studying two disciplines requires, and helps you develop, the ability to switch between different ways of thinking, learning, and analysing problems. This intellectual agility is highly valued by employers and postgraduate programmes alike.

- A structure that supports change and exploration
The programme is designed to give you room to adjust your direction as your interests evolve. Joint honours students often have more flexibility to make meaningful changes to their academic pathway than those on single honours degrees.

Year 1

[Learning Outcomes, Transferable (Key) Skills, Assessment]
View Timetable

Compulsory Modules

Students will be required to study the following compulsory modules

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
ARAB1150	Early and Medieval Islamic History	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
ARAB1171	Studying the Middle East and North Africa	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
MODL1100	Politics, Culture and Society	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
PIED1110	Comparative Politics	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)	PFP
PIED1601	Freedom, Power and Resistance: An Introduction to Political Ideas	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)	PFP

Discovery Modules

Students will be required to study 20 credits of discovery modules.

Year 2

[Learning Outcomes, Transferable (Key) Skills, Assessment]
View Timetable

Compulsory Modules

Students will be required to study the following compulsory modules

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
ARAB2181	Cultures of the Arab Middle East and North Africa	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
ARAB2310	Modern Middle Eastern History	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)

Optional Modules

Students may study up to 20 credits from the following optional modules:

Optional modules Basket 1:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
ARAB2066	Palestine and the Arab-Israeli Conflict	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
ARAB2095	Global Media: Discourse, Representation and Society	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)

Please note that optional modules run subject to enrolments. An optional module may not run if only a low number of students choose it.

Students will be required to study 40 credits from the following optional modules (20 credits from Basket A and 20 credits from Basket B):

Basket A

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
PIED2601	Revolution and Reaction: Political Problems in the 20th Century	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)	PFP
PIED2602	Justice, Community and Conflict	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)	PFP

Please note that optional modules run subject to enrolments. An optional module may not run if only a low number of students choose it.

Basket B

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
PIED2161	Media and Democracy	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
PIED2301	Politics and Policy in the EU	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
PIED2448	Politics of Contemporary China	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
PIED2455	State and Politics in Africa	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
PIED2463	United States Politics	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
PIED2721	Approaches to Analysis	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)

Please note that optional modules run subject to enrolments. An optional module may not run if only a low number of students choose it.

Students may study up to 20 credits of the following optional modules

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
MODL2003	Global Queer Politics and Cultures	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
MODL2006	Social Class across Cultures	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)	PFP
MODL2015	Black Europe	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
MODL2075	Global Environmental Humanities	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
MODL2250	Digital Communications Across Cultures	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)

Please note that optional modules run subject to enrolments. An optional module may not run if only a low number of students choose it.

Discovery Modules

Students may study up to 20 credits of discovery modules

Year 3

[Learning Outcomes, Transferable (Key) Skills, Assessment]
View Timetable

Students are required to take a minimum of 40 credits in each subject. Overall, students must take 100 credits across their two subjects. All students must take 40 credits as a Final Year Project module, which can be taken in - and count towards - either of their two subjects.  

Compulsory Modules

Students will be required to study the following compulsory module:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
ARAB3110	Middle Eastern Politics: Regimes, Societies and Conflict	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)

Optional Modules

Students will be required to study 40 credits from the following optional modules:
Optional modules Basket 1:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
MODL3050	Final Year Project	40	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)	PFP
PIED3775	POLIS Final Year Project	40	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)	PFP

If PIED3775 is taken, students will be required to study 40 credits from the following lists of optional modules (20 credits from Basket 1 and 20 credits from Basket 2):

If MODL3050 is taken, students may study up to 40 credits from the following lists of optional modules (20 credits from Basket 1 and 20 credits from Basket 2):

Basket 1:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
ARAB3072	Islam and Modernity	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
ARAB3210	Arab Cinemas: Politics, Poetics and Aesthetics	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)

Please note that optional modules run subject to enrolments. An optional module may not run if only a low number of students choose it.

Basket 2:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
MODL3410	Contemporary World Literature	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
MODL3620	Decolonial Approaches	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
MODL3630	Social Movements across Cultures	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
MODL3650	Minoritised Languages, Dialects and Cultures from Past to Present	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)

Please note that optional modules run subject to enrolments. An optional module may not run if only a low number of students choose it.

If MODL3050 is taken, students will be required to study 40 credits from the following lists of optional modules (20 credits from Basket 3 and 20 credits from Basket 4):



If PIED3775 is taken, students may study up to 40 credits from the following lists of optional modules (20 credits from Basket 3 and 20 credits from Basket 4):

Basket 3:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
PIED3171	The Politics of national identity in the UK	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
PIED3261	Violence and Reconciliation in Africa	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
PIED3325	Europe in the World	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
PIED3608	Philosophy of Human Rights	20
PIED3810	Video Games: Politics, Society and Culture	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)

Please note that optional modules run subject to enrolments. An optional module may not run if only a low number of students choose it.

Basket 4:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
PIED3158	British Foreign Policy	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
PIED3171	The Politics of national identity in the UK	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
PIED3304	Extreme Right Parties	20	Not running in 202627
PIED3343	Gender, Violence and Security	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
PIED3565	Terrorism: Concepts, Debates, Cases	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
PIED3612	Rethinking Resistance	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)	PFP

Please note that optional modules run subject to enrolments. An optional module may not run if only a low number of students choose it.

Discovery Modules

Candidates may study up to 20 credits of discovery modules.

Last updated: 08/05/2026 16:51:27

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