Gwybodaeth Modiwlau
Course Delivery
Assessment
| Assessment Type | Assessment length / details | Proportion |
|---|---|---|
| Semester Assessment | Seminar participation Presentation in the seminar about a covert action, discussed from the perspective of the intervener and the target country. 10 Minutes | 10% |
| Semester Assessment | Research Essay Students will write an essay analysing a covert operation through one or more of the above-described angles. Students will be introduced to a number of online archival resources, including the CIA CREST database and are encouraged to include primary source documents in their papers as much as possible. 2000 Words | 50% |
| Semester Exam | Podcast The students will receive feedback on their presentation and based on this, the student will record a podcast based on the topic of the presentation. One seminar session specifically teaches students how to do podcasts. 10 Minutes | 40% |
| Supplementary Assessment | Report in lieu of seminar participation 500 Words | 10% |
| Supplementary Assessment | Research Essay Students will write an essay analysing a covert operation through one or more of the above-described angles. Students will be introduced to a number of online archival resources, including the CIA CREST database and are encouraged to include primary source documents in their papers as much as possible. 2000 Words | 50% |
| Supplementary Exam | Podcast The students will receive feedback on their presentation and based on this, the student will record a podcast based on the topic of the presentation. One seminar session specifically teaches students how to do podcasts. 10 Minutes | 40% |
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module students should be able to:
Strong familiarity with key concepts of covert actions as a foreign political tool and the capacity to apply these concepts to different case studies
Nuanced understanding of the variety of factors affecting the approval, planning, and execution of covert actions, including the rationale behind plausible deniability and implausible deniability
Detailed understanding of intelligence and covert actions as both a challenge to and a support of international order
Excellent command of literature on different approaches to intelligence studies and covert actions in history and other forms of social science
In depth understanding of problems and possible practical solutions to issues of intelligence, war and security
Through presentations, enhanced communication skills and teamwork
Through the creation of a podcast, students will have enhanced their communication skills, teamwork, journalistic skills like conducting interviews, and moderating talks. The best podcasts will be put online, and the students can include the link to these podcasts in their CVs. Students will thus gain new experience in producing podcasts and this is a feature that can help employability.
Through research essays, enhancing academic writing and research skills
Brief description
This course will teach students about the history, theory, and practice of covert operations in international relations. This module aims to enhance the voice of women and BAME authors and to diversify the case studies discussed in the module. Covert action will thus not only be discussed from an actor perspective – the traditional approach, like CIA’s reasons for intervening somewhere around the world – but it will especially look at the impact that covert actions had on local power dynamics. Altogether, the teaching angle is equally distributed among actors and targets of covert actions around the world. With this, perspectives are turned around: a global view is the result.
Content
This course will teach students about the history, theory, and practice of covert operations in international relations. Despite some efforts and calls for change, intelligence studies are still hugely dominated by white male authors, who focus on the UK and the US. This module aims to enhance the voice of women and BAME authors and to diversify the case studies discussed in the module. Covert action will thus not only be discussed from an actor perspective – the traditional approach, like CIA’s reasons for intervening somewhere around the world – but it will especially look at the impact that covert actions had on local power dynamics. Altogether, the teaching angle is equally distributed among actors and targets of covert actions around the world. With this, perspectives are turned around: a global view is the result.
Module Skills
| Skills Type | Skills details |
|---|---|
| Co-ordinating with others | The seminars will provide the students with an opportunity to dialogue and to learn how to express their thoughts in a group setting. One assessment requires the students to work in groups and this will foster their ability to work as a team. |
| Creative Problem Solving | For the essay, students will have to develop their own research angle, find the relevant primary and secondary sources, critically analyse them, and draft a logical, coherent, and convincing discussion about it. |
| Critical and analytical thinking | Students will hone their critical thinking about word politics by learning about different perspectives of a covert intervention and its impact on the intervening and target country. |
| Digital capability | The groups will create a podcast about a covert action case study. This will enhance their communication skills and digital skill. |
| Real world sense | This module could also service employment in government and non-governmental roles relating to security |
| Reflection | The module will offer ample opportunities for reflection.After the presentations, substantive feedback will be given, which students will reflect upon and integrate in their production of the podcast. |
| Subject Specific Skills | The students will delve into the secret world of covert action. In doing so, students will be introduced to the field of intelligence studies, a pluridisciplinary field that opens up further avenues and linkages to security studies, international history, and strategic studies. The module thus offers specialised subject learning, all the while allowing them to make connections between their primary subject areas and related disciplines.. |
Notes
This module is at CQFW Level 6