Idir Ouahes

ARA101/POL1023 Politics and Economy of the Contemporary Middle East

ARA2020- Contemporary Theories of World Politics

This mid-level undergraduate course introduced a mix of politics and history students to the core International Relations "Theories". Among the conceptual approaches to inter-state relations covered were: the panoply of rationalist approaches, from (neo)realist and (neo) liberal/functional; approaches rooted in other disciplines such as social psychology; gender and feminist readings of IR and social constructivist approaches.

Example seminars can be found here and here. I had office hours responsibilities and marked over 75 individual essays as wells as exams.

ARA2170/2171- History of the Modern Middle East

This second year undergraduate course examines the modern history of Middle East, ranging from Ottoman times through the nationalist period and up to the Iranian Revolution in 1979.

Example Seminars can be consulted here, here and here.

I was also given the opportunity by the course convenor, Dr. Alam Saleh, to guest lecture one of the week's themes, on the Middle East Mandates.

I had office hours responsibilities and marked over 20 individual essays as well as exams.

HIH1400- Making History

This course is an introduction to the methods and questions of history writing in the framework of a group assignment. Students work together in groups of four to write a co-edited group essay which they are marked on, with each sub-section being individually written. The essays outline historiographical debate on a selected theme: British Empire and economics in the 19th century, Violence in French and independent Algeria, The World War Treaties and the Making of the Modern Middle East, the Orientalist debate. Students also prepare a final group presentation outlining their findings. Some examples seminars can be found here and here.

The course therefore encourages team-work as well as historiographical skills.

I had marked 4 group written essays from 16 students.

ARA101/POL1023 Politics and Economy of the Contemporary Middle East

This is an introductory survey course in Politics. It is convened by Dr.Omar Ashour with guest lectures from various lecturers in the department of Politics and Institute of Arabic and Islamic Studies including Dr. William Gallois, Prof. Ilan Pappé, Dr. Marc Valeri & Dr. Michael Axworthy.

I teach three tutorial groups each made up of around 20 students.

• I make use of a range of teaching techniques in order to familiarise them with the region, its politics and history.
  • I prepare short presentations of my own, one of which can be accessed here. These supplement the hour long lectures.
  • Students must prepare a presentation of their own, I then encourage them to discuss as a class.
  • I use other techniques, often opening the class with a 'Photo Quiz' (example) which encourages the students to share what they know of a political party or personality. I have also used a quiz in pairs (example) in which the students test one another's knowledge. Finally I've used flags to create Model United Nations atmosphere in the classroom during which the students must consider their official stance on diplomatic issues. 
  • In our first class, I distributed a readings supplement to encourage the students' analysis. See this sample.
  • Halfway through our seminars I asked my students for feedback, which I used to tailor the sessions to their needs. Among the feedback was:
    • "Photo quiz is more interactive"
    • "[Student and tutor] presentations also helpful for understanding basic parts of the topic in [a] different way than before"
    • "Presentations are really good (better than lectures even)"
    • "Nothing is missing. Good but maybe more IR theory?"
    • "Quizzes are good"
    • "Good detailed feedback [from tutor] on [essay] plan".
  • In the formal feedback through the University's records I received positive ratings such as:
    • "Idir is an excellent tutor, very knowledgable, helpful, enthusiastic."
• I have office hours responsibilities and have helped students prepare their presentations and structure their essays.
• I have responsibility for marking c. 60 essays (twice) which count for the assessment of the module.

Teacher Training

I completed the first stage of the  Learning and Teaching in Higher Education (LTHE) programme in November 2014 (info)

• This consisted of a full day session in teaching practices, including the use of audio-visual and interactive tools

I completed LTHE Level 2 (info) in February 2015.

• This consisted of three half day sessions
• The last session included a 15 minute micro-teaching exercise. You can consult my microteaching presentation, on colonial Algeria, here and the cloze assignment for the students here.

Following this, I will undertake the necessary steps, including a short dissertation, to complete a Masters Level assignment in LTHE (info)

• As part of this I have observed and will be observe by Professor Marc Valeri. 
• I have also kept a record of my teaching.
• I will submit a 2000 word essay on teaching techniques.
• I will pass an oral exam, preferably in late March 2015.

This will make me an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (AFHEA) and put me on the path to gain a Postgraduate Certificat in Higher Education (PGCHE).