Module Information
Course Delivery
Delivery Type | Delivery length / details |
---|---|
Seminars / Tutorials | 22 Hours. 1 x 2 hour seminar per week |
Assessment
Assessment Type | Assessment length / details | Proportion |
---|---|---|
Semester Assessment | Essay: 3,000 words | 30% |
Semester Assessment | Presentation: | 10% |
Semester Assessment | major essay proposal Essay: 250 words | 10% |
Semester Assessment | Essay: 750 words | 20% |
Semester Exam | 3 Hours | 30% |
Supplementary Exam | Students may, subject to Faculty approval, have the opportunity to resit this module, normally during the supplementary examination period. For further clarification please contact the Teaching Programme Administrator in the Department of International Politics. |
Learning Outcomes
At the end of this module, students should be able to:
- discuss the core tenets associated with the theory of realism
- discuss the historical development of realism
- assess the differences that exist among the various versions of realism such as between realism and neo-realism
- demonstrate the connections that exist between classical thinkers such as Hobbes, and contemporary academic realists
- discuss the tensions and problems that exist within realism, the degree to which realism either does or does not constitute a singular theoretical position.
Brief description
This course examines critically what has been the dominant theoretical approach to the study of international relations - Realism
Aims
The course explores the various ways in which realism has been represented and characterized in the literature. The course will critically examine the notion that rather than there being one singular and coherent version of realism, there actually are a variety of realism, all of which are entwined with the politics of modernity.
Content
The module's examination will be facilitated by close readings of both classical and contemporary representatives of the realist tradition. By engaging in careful reading of many of the classical realist texts, the course aims to develop students' understanding of realism. The teaching programme will cover the writings of classical political theorists, the academic realists who began to enter the field with the onset of World War Two, neo-realists, and the writings of some of the most recent realists.
Transferable skills
15 ECTS credits
Notes
This module is at CQFW Level 7