Module Information
Course Delivery
| Delivery Type | Delivery length / details |
|---|---|
| Lecture | 22 x 1 Hour Lectures |
| Seminar | 5 x 1 Hour Seminars |
Assessment
| Assessment Type | Assessment length / details | Proportion |
|---|---|---|
| Semester Assessment | 1 x 2,500 word essay | 40% |
| Semester Assessment | Seminar Performance | 10% |
| Semester Exam | 2 Hours (1 x 2 hour exam) | 50% |
| Supplementary Assessment | 1 x 2,500 word essay | 40% |
| Supplementary Assessment | 1 x 1,000 word assignment in lieu of seminar performance | 10% |
| Supplementary Exam | 2 Hours (1 x 2 hour exam) | 50% |
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module students should be able to:
1. Evaluate competing arguments about the political and intellectual origins of the League of Nations
2. Critically discuss the factors influencing the creation of the League at the Paris Peace Conference, and its political and institutional structure.
3. Demonstrate an understanding of the successes and failures of the League in the field of collective security.
4. Evaluate the League's achievements in the field of disarmament.
5. Explain the League's contribution to post-war reconstruction and to managing the Great Depression.
6. Critically discuss the origins and functioning of the League mandates system.
7. Evaluate the League's achievements in social and humanitarian affairs.
8. Demonstrate an understanding of contemporary debates about the League in international and transnational history.
Brief description
This module explores the history of the League of Nations between the wars. It examines the intellectual and political origins of the League and its creation at the 1919 Paris Peace Conference. It then analyses the full range of the League's activities in the realms of: collective security and arbitration; disarmament; economics and finance; minority protection; the mandates system; and social and humanitarian affairs. The module also explores the decline of the League and its relationship to its successor, the United Nations. It introduces students to contemporary debates about the League in international and transnational history, and locates it within the larger context of the development of transnational civil society.
Aims
The module aims to provide students with insight into the history of the League of Nations and its place both in international politics between the wars and the longer history of the development of transnational civil society.
Content
1. Introduction and Overview
2. The Origins of the League
3. Creating the League at the Paris Peace Conference
4. Building the League
5. Collective Security in Theory and Practice
6. Collective Security in the 1920s
7. Collective Security and the Manchurian Crisis
8. Collective Security and the Abyssinian Crisis
9. The Dream of Disarmament
10. The Failure of Disarmament
11. The League and Post-War Reconstruction
12. The League and the Great Depression
13. Minority Protection
14. The League and Refugees
15. From Empire to Mandates
16. Running the Mandates System
17. Drugs, Slavery, Health, Labour and the Arms Trade
18. Advocates and Enemies of the League
19. From League to United Nations
20. Conclusions: The League, Global Governance and Transnational Civil Society
Seminars
1. Creating the League
2. Manchuria
3. Disarmament
4. Abyssinia
5. The League, Global Governance and Transnational Civil Society
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 assert themselves to advantage. They will understand 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 the 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. Seminars will be run in groups where oral discussion and presentations will form the main medium of teaching and the emphasis throughout the module will be on student participation and 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 convenor and the fellow students alike. Students will be expected to improve their own learning and performance by undertaking their own research and to exercise their own initiative, including searching for sources, compiling reading lists, and deciding (under guidance) the direction of their coursework and presentation topics. The need to conduct a seminar presentation and to meet coursework deadlines will focus students’ attention on the need to manage their time and opportunity resources well. |
| Information Technology | Students will be expected to submit their work in word-processed format. Also, students will be encouraged to search for sources of information on the web, as well as seeking sources through electronic information sources. Students will also be expected to make use of the resources that will be available on Blackboard. |
| Personal Development and Career planning | The discussions in particular will help to develop students' verbal and presentation skills. Learning about the process of planning coursework and a presentation, framing the parameters of the projects, honing and developing the projects and seeing them through to completion will contribute towards students' portfolios of transferable skills. |
| Problem solving | Independent project work and problem solving will be one of the central goals of the module; the submission of coursework will require that students develop independent research skills as well as problem solving skills. The need to research and prepare seminar presentations will also enable students to develop independent project 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 estimate an answer to the problem; consider extreme cases; reason logically; consider similar cases; look for patterns; divide issues into smaller problems. A final examination will ensure that an assessment of students' ability to work alone can be undertaken. |
| Research skills | The submission of coursework will reflect the independent research skills of students. The need to locate appropriate research resources and write up the results will also facilitate research skills. Research preparation for a seminar presentation will also enable students to develop independent project skills. A final examination will ensure that an assessment of students' ability to work alone can be undertaken. |
| 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 - Ability to evaluate competing perspectives - Demonstrate subject specific research techniques - Apply a range of methodologies to complex historical and political problems |
| Team work | Seminars will consist in part of small-group discussion where students will be obliged to discuss as a group the core issues related to seminar topics. Such class room debates and discussions are a vital component of the module. |
Notes
This module is at CQFW Level 6