Undergraduate Catalogue of Courses 2013/2014
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
(see also Politics, GD4003, GD4505, PI3550, PI4056, PI4553 & PI4554)
PLEASE NOTE: Resit: (for Honours students only): Candidates achieving a CAS mark of 6-8 may be awarded compensatory level 1 credit. Candidates achieving a CAS mark of less than 6 will be required to submit themselves for re-assessment and should contact the Course Co-ordinator for further details.
Course Co-ordinator: Mr J H Wyllie
Pre-requisite(s): Available to Master of Arts level 4 students only.
Note(s): With agreement of advisers of studies, open to CASS level 4 students outside the School of Social Science, such as Law and History.
The course will scrutinise the historical development, political characteristics and strategic condition of the most enduring and emotive conflict in the international system. The topics to be considered include the political impasse since 2003, the origins of the conflict, the wars and peace plans between 1948 and 1979, the nature and policies of the PLO and Hamas, the Peace Process 1993 - 2000, US - Israeli relations, the EU and the dispute, the 'peace partners': Egypt and Jordan, the 'rejectionsit front': Syria and Iran, and prospects for the resolution of the conflict.
To be taught 'conference style', on a lecture and discussion basis, interspersed with 'team presentations', an 'in-class essay', and occasional DVD material. There will be 1 two-hour and 1 one-hour class each week for 12 weeks.
1st Attempt: 1 three-hour examination (60%); one 'in-class 1,500 word, approximately one and a half-hour, essay' (20%); and 1 'team presentation' (20%).
Print-outs of the team presentation power-points (normally about 20-25 pages) together with the tutor assessment sheets will be sent to the external examiner in the package including examinations scripts and the 'in-class essay' scripts. This has been the routine procedure since IR4516 was introduced three years ago.
Resit: 1 three-hour examination (100%).
Formative Assessment and Feedback Information
'Primary respondent teams' to each of the class 'team presentations' will be given non-assessed feedback on the quality of the insight and detail of their responses.
The team presentations form part of the course summative assessment. However, for each team presentation there is a separate, 'primary respondent team'. While all students deliver a formal, detailed and sourced presentation (summative assessment), they are also required, in due course, on a different topic, to be a 'primary respondent'(ie. providing the first critique and starting class discussion) to another student's formal presentation. There will be commentary by the tutor on the strengths and weaknesses of all students' 'primary responses'. This will be formative in nature and the students' 'primary responses' will not be given CAS grades.
Summative assessment: Written feedback on a tailored assessment document will be delivered within the week of the 'in-class ' essay, which takes place midway through the course. The 'team presentation' materials are circulated by email to the whole class the day before the delivery of the presentations. By the time of the class following any presentation, written feedback on a tailored assessment document will be returned to each member of the presentation team.
Formative assessment:
Orall assessment of the performance of the primary respondent team will be given before the end of that class.
Course Co-ordinator: Dr A Glencross
Pre-requisite(s): IR 3061 International Security.
This course is divided into four parts: the historical and constitutional origins of US foreign policy, the transition to great power status, twentieth century debates over international entanglement, post-Cold War unipolarity. The first learning section provides an overview of the founders' intentions about US foreign policy and the political institutions established to nurture this policy. The second part examines the institutional and cultural reasons for the ambivalence of the US as an international actor from the Monroe Doctrine to entry into World War One. The third part focuses on domestic and international factors that resulted in a bipolar distribution of power after 1945 and a web of US-dominated security alliances. The final section explores the unresolved tension between liberal internationalism, neo-conservatism and neo-isolationism since the 'unipolar moment' created after the end of the Cold War.
1 one-hour lecture and 1 one-hour tutorial per week.
1st Attempt: Examination (60%), in-course assessment (40%); (3,000 word essay (30%) and seminar presentation and performance (10%)).
Resit: Examination (100%) unless candidate opts to carry forward in-course assessment mark.
Formative Assessment and Feedback Information
Presentation exercise in the seminar based on preparing the discussion for the week's seminar and summarising the required readings (10% of mark).
Structured written feedback on seminar presentation; written feedback on in-term essay; summative feedback in form of comments on final exam script.
Course Co-ordinator: Dr R Vij
Pre-requisite(s): Open to students in Honours programmes in Politics and International Relations.
Students acquire a knowledge and understanding of: the developmental state model crafted by post-war Japan's institutions; it's role in stabilizing the Asian region via its key relationship with the United States, its relations with China and India, and its role in developing networks, social movements and institutions related to an emerging Asian cosmopolitanism.
1 two-hour seminar and 1 one-hour tutorial.
1st Attempt: One class presentation (20%); one book review (30%); one research paper 7,000 words (50%).
Resit: 1 two-hour written examination (100%).
Formative Assessment and Feedback Information
Feedback on class presentations.
Detailed written feedback on essay provided within two weeks of submission. Continuous feedback on class discussion and oral feedback on class presentation. Oral and written feedback on book review and 2 meetings minimal while research paper is in progress.
Course Co-ordinator: Professor M Pasha
Pre-requisite(s): IR 3016 International Security. Available to students in Programme Year 4.
The course examines the main theoretical currents surrounding modernity; the Islamic critique of Western modernity; the location, heterogeneity and character of modern Islamic political discourse; and the limits of political Islam as an alternative construction of social and political order.The course also probes the phenomenon of transnational and diasporic Islam and its challenge to liberal understandings of political community, citizenship, rights, tolerance and cosmopolitanism.
1 two-hour seminar and 1 one-hour tutorial per week.
1st attempt: 1 three-hour written examination (60%); 1 essay, 3,000-3,500 words (40%).
Resit: 1 three-hour examination (100%).
Formative Assessment and Feedback Information
Comments and advice on essay outline within a week of submission. Detailed written comments on essay within 2 weeks of submission. Continuous feedback in meetings with students.
Course Co-ordinator: Dr M Bain
Pre-requisite(s): Available to students in programme year 4 of degree programmes in Politics and International Relations
This course examines aspects of contemporary Modern Day Latin America. This includes amongst others the role of the United States. The special case of Cuba, globalisation, guerrilla warfare, the drugs trade and the return to democratisation in the region are examined with appropriate case studies being given. Throughout the course the ideas of development and dependency will be given appropriate attention. This gives students an understanding of a wide range of issues that have affected Latin America's recent past and how they still affect the continent today.
1 one-hour lecture and 1 one-hour tutorial/seminar
1st Attempt: The course is assessed by one essay of 3500 words (30%), one short answer/multiple choice assessment (10%) and 1 three-hour examination (60%)
Resit: 1 three-hour examination (100%)
Formative Assessment and Feedback Information
Each student will give a presentation in the tutorials/seminars.
Written feedback will be provided for the essay and short answer/multiple choice assessment, with oral feedback being provided for the formative assessment.
Course Co-ordinator: Dr A Teti
Pre-requisite(s): Available to students in Programme Year 4 in Politics and International Relations or with the permission of the Head of School on the recommendation of the course co-ordinator.
The course examines the politics of the modern and contemporary Middle East by looking at relevant theories, history and case studies. It provides students with an in-depth understanding of the political, economic and cultural facets of the region's politics by looking at its political systems, its regional and international relations, conflict, political economy, and the 'politics of identity' such as nationalism and Islamism. Assuming no prior expertise in regional politics or history, the course will cover a selection of the following elements:
(i) approaches to Middle East politics: key concepts, theories and issues;
(ii) the regional states system and global dimensions;
(iii) foreign-policy making in the Middle East: a comparative framework;
(iv) state-society relations: Kin, Class, Gender, Monarchy, Military Control, Ideology and Bureaucracy;
(v) Key regional issues such as Islamism, Nationalism, Oil, Water, Wealth, Power, Migration, Conflict: through case studies (Arab-Israeli Conflict, Iran-Iraq war, Gulf Wars, Algerian Civil War, terrorism).
Teaching will be through a combination of lectures and seminars.
2 one-hour lectures per week provide an introduction to the principal historical issues and analytical approaches related to each course Unit.
1 one-hour seminar per week will allow more detailed and advanced discussions: students will be expected to have built up an advanced understanding of the issues in question through independent research. Seminars will be structured around the discussion of set questions/themes.
1st Attempt: Two 2,500 word essays (30% each); presentation (20%) (a visual aides and printed notes of the presentation will be available for external examiner scrutiny); in-course test (20%).
Resit: 1 three-hour examination (100%) (3 essay-style questions in 3 hours).
Formative Assessment and Feedback Information
Feedback will be provided to students in the following means:
- essays; formal feedback, with the possibility of additional informal feedback
- presentations; formal feedback, with the possibility of additional informal feedback
- test; formal feedback, with the possibility of additional informal feedback
- weekly consultation times; specific hours are reserved for students in which an 'open door policy' allows them flexible access to
feedback on any aspect of the course, as well as discussion of pastoral issues as required
Course Co-ordinator: Dr J McEvoy
Pre-requisite(s): IR 3016 International Security.
Following an exploration of theories of Conflict Resolution, Ethnicity and Nationalism, we investigate inter- and intra-state conflict in Russia-Georgia, Iraq, and Israel/Palestine. We analyse the role of external actors in peace negotiations including Northern Ireland and Bosnia. Following a focus on institutions promoted to accommodate groups, we explore post-conflict reconstruction and institution-building in Iraq, Bosnia and Kosovo. We focus on several questions: what causes violent conflict? What can the international community do bring about peace? Should international organizations intervene? How are peace processes managed? What institutional prescriptions should be recommended to accommodate groups? What are the challenges in post-conflict reconstruction?
1 two-hour seminar per week.
1st Attempt: 1 two-hour examination (60%); in-course work (40%). Coursework one 'in-class' essay (20%); one 'team presentation' (20%). Class presentation - a powerpoint and printed notes of the presentation will be available for external examiner scrutiny.
Resit: 1 two-hour examination (60%); In-course grades will be carried forward unless the student opts to resubmit course work (40%).
Formative Assessment and Feedback Information
Weekly feedback in seminars during discussions of ideas. Written feedback on written work. Written feedback will be provided for continuous assessment work. This will normally be provided within three weeks of the submission date. Oral feedback on class presentations will also be provided where appropriate.