Module Information
Course Delivery
| Delivery Type | Delivery length / details |
|---|---|
| Lecture | 20 Hours (20 x 1 hour) |
| Seminars / Tutorials | 18 Hours (9 x 2 hours) |
Assessment
| Assessment Type | Assessment length / details | Proportion |
|---|---|---|
| Semester Assessment | 1 x 500 word Exposition of a political concept | 10% |
| Semester Assessment | 1 x 750 word 'Blog' entry on an international/global theme | 15% |
| Semester Assessment | 1 x 750 word article review | 20% |
| Semester Assessment | 1 x 1,500 word critical review (on selected literature) | 25% |
| Semester Assessment | 1 x 2,000 word essay | 30% |
| Supplementary Assessment | 1 x 500 word Exposition of a political concept | 10% |
| Supplementary Assessment | 1 x 750 word 'Blog' entry on an international/global theme | 15% |
| Supplementary Assessment | 1 x 750 word article review | 20% |
| Supplementary Assessment | 1 x 1,500 word critical review (on selected literature) | 25% |
| Supplementary Assessment | 1 x 2,000 word essay | 30% |
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module students should be able to:
1. Demonstrate a critical knowledge of major concepts in the discipline of International Relations
2. Demonstrate an ability to use these concepts in particular circumstances and refine and/or critique them according to context
3. Outline a broad sense of the discipline and its futures
4. Demonstrate an ability to present a coherent argument in both oral and written forms.
5. Demonstrated ability to write an appropriately presented and referenced coursework
Brief description
This module will offer students a range of different perspectives on the international: theoretical, historical, empirical, critical. These perspectives are introduced via three distinct questions: What is the International? What are the origins of the International? What are the International's key actors? These questions, in turn, are concerned with two key concerns in the discipline of international politics: 1) the intertwinement of and contradictions between the national, the international and the global; and 2) the question of the modern international being a global phenomenon of Western origin – challenges to Western-centric IR. The module also aims to develop key academic writing skills, and these will be incorporated and developed alongside the module's intellectual content.
Content
Section 1 - What is the international?
Lecture 2 - The international space
Lecture 3 - The nation state
Lecture 4 - Inside and outside
Lecture 5 - Sovereignty
Lecture 6 - Ordering the international
Lecture 7 - An unequal space
Section 2 What are its origins?
Lecture 8 - From regions to the world
Lecture 9 - From many to one
Lecture 10 - European origins
Lecture 11 - Europe and the world
Lecture 12 - Deep logics of the international
Lecture 13 - A universal order?
Section 3 What are its actors?
Lecture 14 - States: the main players?
Lecture 15 - States: large and small
Lecture 16 - International institutions: what are they?
Lecture 17 - International institutions: what can they do?
Lecture 18 - Non-state actors: 'civil society'
Lecture 19 - Non-state actors: outsiders and exiles
Lecture 20 - Conclusion
Aims
The module aims to introduce students to the political space of 'the international' and familiarise them with basic ideas about how it is organised, its similarities to and differences from domestic political space. The module will then explore the European/Western origins of the modern international system and how for the first time this system has bound the whole world together. The aim is to provide students with an understanding of the historical character of basic logics of modern international life and of the deep roots of persisting power divisions in the international order. Finally, the module aims to introduce students to different types of actors or agents that populate the international realm and that they will encounter repeatedly in their studies. The module will help students to understand why these are considered to be important, what their principal characteristics are and how the international domain looks when we focus on one of these sets of actors.
Module Skills
| Skills Type | Skills details |
|---|---|
| Application of Number | N/A |
| Communication | Students will learn how to present their ideas both verbally and in writing and how to how to present their arguments most effectively. They will learn the importance of information and clear communication and how to exploit these. They will know how to use the many sources of information available and how to use the most appropriate form of communication to best advantage. They will learn to be clear in their writing and speaking and to be direct about aims and objectives. They will learn to consider only that which is relevant to the topic, focus and objectives of their argument or discussion. Students will also be required to submit their written assessments in word-processed format and the presentation of work should reflect effective expression of ideas and good use of language skills in order to ensure clarity, coherence and effective communication. |
| Improving own Learning and Performance | The module aims to promote self-management but within a context in which support and assistance is available from both the module convenor and fellow students alike. Students will be expected to improve their own learning and performance by undertaking their own research and exercising their own initiative, including searching for sources and deciding (under guidance) the direction of their coursework and presentation topics. |
| Information Technology | Students will be expected to submit their work in word-processed format, via the on-line platform Blackboard. Also, students will be encouraged to search for sources of information on the web, as well as seeking sources through electronic information sources. |
| Personal Development and Career planning | This module is designed to hone and test skills of use to students in their working lives, particularly in speaking to small groups, listening, thinking and responding to the statement of others. Moreover, the written work includes writing clearly and concisely, which is a common task in the workplace. Students will be encouraged throughout to reflect on their performance and to consider lessons for future application. |
| Problem solving | Independent work and problem solving will be one central goal of the module; the submission of a range of study skills assessments will require that students develop independent research skills as well as problem solving skills. The ability of students to solve problems will be developed and assessed by asking them to: adopt differing points of view; organize data and formulate an answer to the problem; reason logically; construct theoretical arguments; divide issues into smaller problems. |
| Research skills | Students will be required to undertake independent research for elements of the assessed work. This will involve utilizing a range of information sources, including core academic texts. |
| Subject Specific Skills | Students have the opportunity to develop, practice and test a wide range of subject specific skills that help them to understand, conceptualise and evaluate examples and ideas on the module. These subject specific skills include: - Collect and understand a wide range of data relating to the module - Evaluate competing perspectives - Apply a range of methodologies to complex historical and contemporary political problems. |
| Team work | Students will undertake team exercises in the seminars. For many of the topics of this module, seminars will consist of small-group discussions where students will be asked to discuss as a group the core issues related to the seminar topic. These class discussions and debates form a significant part of the module, and will allow students to approach and examine a given topic through team work. |
Notes
This module is at CQFW Level 4