Year 1

Compulsory Courses

Academic Writing for Social Sciences (AW1006)

This compulsory evaluation is designed to find out if your academic writing is of a sufficient standard to enable you to succeed at university and, if you need it, to provide support to improve. It is completed on-line via MyAberdeen with clear instructions to guide you through it. If you pass the evaluation at the first assessment it will not take much of your time. If you do not, you will be provided with resources to help you improve. This evaluation does not carry credits but if you do not complete it this will be recorded on your degree transcript.

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Professional Skills Part 1 (PD1001)

This course, which is prescribed for level 1 students and optional for level 2 students, is studied entirely online and covers topics relating to careers and employability, equality and diversity and health, safety and wellbeing. During the course you will learn about the Aberdeen Graduate Attributes, how they are relevant to you and the opportunities available to develop your skills and attributes alongside your University studies. You will also gain an understanding of equality and diversity and health, safety and wellbeing issues. Successful completion of this course will be recorded on your Enhanced Transcript as ‘Achieved’ (non-completion will be recorded as ‘Not Achieved’). The course takes approximately 3 hours to complete and can be taken in one sitting, or spread across a number of weeks and it will be available to you throughout the academic year.

This course, which is prescribed for level 1 students and optional for level 2 students and above, is studied entirely online and covers topics relating to careers and employability, equality and diversity and health, safety and wellbeing. During the course you will learn about the Aberdeen Graduate Attributes, how they are relevant to you and the opportunities available to develop your skills and attributes alongside your University studies. You will also gain an understanding of equality and diversity and health, safety and wellbeing issues. Successful completion of this course will be recorded on your Enhanced Transcript as ‘Achieved’ (non-completion will be recorded as ‘Not Achieved’). The course takes approximately 3 hours to complete and can be taken in one sitting, or spread across a number of weeks and it will be available to you throughout the academic year.

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Introduction to Anthropology: Peoples of the World (AT1003)

15 Credit Points

Anthropology is the comparative study of human ways of life through the study of societies and cultures around the world. In this course we introduce some of the key topics of contemporary anthropological inquiry: What is Anthropology? What do anthropologists do? What is ethnography? How can we see the diverse world of societies and cultures around us, not by looking from the outside, but by looking at how people themselves make their own lives and meanings?

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Politics & International Relations 1: Democracy and Governance (PI1018)

15 Credit Points

Politics and International Relations impacts on all parts of our lives, with more specifically it being the study of ideas, events, institutions and choice. Studying these provides us with both knowledge of the world and also how it operates and functions. It also changes our perception of our surroundings and makes us aware of an ever changing global context. This course will introduce students to concepts and ideas that form the basis for the study of these disciplines while simultaneously also helping us understand our own place within a global context.

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Introduction to Anthropology: Questions of Diversity (AT1502)

15 Credit Points

In this course students will be offered an extended introduction to social anthropology and will focus on topics: language and culture, belief and religion, gender and sex, kinship, and race. Students will develop and refine their understanding of major issues in the discipline of social anthropology through staff lectures, tutorials, and ethnographic films.

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Politics & International Relations 2: Power and Conflict (PI1518)

15 Credit Points

Politics and International Relations impacts on all parts of our lives, with more specifically it being the study of ideas, events, institutions and choice. Studying these provides us with both knowledge of the world and also how it operates and functions. It also changes our perception of our surroundings and makes us aware of an ever changing global context. This course will introduce students to concepts and ideas that form the basis for the study of these disciplines while simultaneously also helping us understand our own place within a global context.

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Optional Courses

Select a further 60 credit points from courses of choice.

Year 2

Compulsory Courses

Key Debates in Anthropology (AT2010)

30 Credit Points

This course explores some of the key questions that anthropologists have debated: what it is to be human, the nature of human interaction with other humans, with non-humans, and with the environment, and the different ways that people perceive the world and act within it. Themes that will be discussed in this course include the category of the person, morality and ethics, art and aesthetics, what is power, how to engage with Otherness, and how anthropologists engage actively, outside academia, in development, health, or business.

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Ideas and Ideologies in Politics and International Relations (PI2009)

30 Credit Points

Ideas and ideologies are core to teaching, learning and research in Politics and International Relations. Theoretical developments are at the forefront of academic debates within the discipline, demonstrated by the appearance of a number of new approaches as more traditional theories have struggled to account for an ever changing world. This course will introduce students to these with profound questions and struggles over identity, belonging, justice and rights underpinning these theoretical debates.

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Reimagining Colonialism (AT2515)

30 Credit Points

This course will explore contemporary colonial expressions from an anthropological perspective. It will be split into two main themes: Material Histories; and Mediated Histories. Within these themes it will address topics such as the "capturing" of cultures in museums, kinship and politics, gendered colonialism, economic development, media, aboriginal rights and contemporary resistance movements.

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Global Politics: Equality and Inequality (PI2508)

30 Credit Points

Equality and inequality are at the forefront of many debates within contemporary Politics and International Relations. This course will examine the historical context, theoretical underpinnings, and also key concepts which continue to uphold equality and inequality on a global scale.

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Year 3

Compulsory Courses

Anthropological Theory (AT3027)

30 Credit Points

This course explores theoretical issues and key debates in contemporary anthropology. We begin with the questioning of the central concepts of culture and society in anthropology during the 1980s. Following this, we ask: how can anthropology proceed if the targets of its investigation can no longer be understood as objective entities? How can anthropology proceed if the anthropologist themselves is inevitably implicated in and part of those very targets? To look for possible answers, the course examines current anthropological interest in power and history, political economy and phenomenology, experience, embodiment and practice, ontology and things that speak.

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Researching in the 21st Century (PI3069)

30 Credit Points

Research methods and techniques are fundamental to the study of Politics and International Relations. In addition, they are highly desired by employers. This course will introduce students to a number of different research techniques which they will use throughout their studies at Honours and in particular their Honours dissertation. Moreover, they will also constitute a significant part of their graduate attributes.

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Optional Courses

Select two courses from Anthropology Level 3 courses listed below:

• AT 3522 Society & Nature
• AT 3526 Emotion, Self and Society
• AT 3534 Religion, Power and Belief

Plus, select one level 3 Politics & International Relations course listed below:

• Nordic Politics
• PI 3562 Political Parties in Britain
• PI 3565 Soviet and Post-Soviet Russian Foreign Policy
• PI3567 International Terrorism, Counterterrorism and International Relations
• PI 3570 Memory and Politics of the Past
• PI 3572 Human Rights in Global Politics
• SL 3504 Global Challenges in an Ethnographic Perspective
• TR 3501 Between Conflict and Peace Transition in Society and Politics
• PI 3575 The First 9/11: Revolution and Counter Revolution in Chile

Emotion, Self and Society (AT3526)

15 Credit Points

This course addresses the anthropological study of emotion and self. It covers the different theoretical approaches to emotion, self and subjectivity. The broad questions addressed revolve around the cultural construction of emotion and self, and the entanglement of psychodynamic processes and power in the formation of the subject. The topics covered include anger and fear, grief and compassion, personhood, technologies of self and subjectification, identification and melancholia.

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Religion, Power and Belief (AT3534)

15 Credit Points

What is religion? What does ritual do? Does ritual have effects, in the persons performing them, in society, or the world? How might ritual be a means or medium for political action? This course is an ethnographically grounded discussion of how anthropologists have addressed the concept of religion, the interface of religion and power, and is a critical interrogation the concept of belief.

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Political Parties in Britain (PI3562)

30 Credit Points

The course involves a detailed examination of Britain’s party system and the individual political parties. Through this course, students should acquire a knowledge and understanding of a number of inter-related themes, including the role and democratic function of political parties in Britain, the development of party philosophies and how these relate to the realities of party policy, the organisation and distribution of power within Britain’s political parties, and elections and party campaigns. In this way, the course examines the contested and changing nature of political debate in British politics.

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Soviet and Post - Soviet Russian Foreign Policy (PI3565)

30 Credit Points

This course examines contemporary Russian Foreign Policy through the historical framework of Soviet foreign relations. International, domestic, cultural and ideological factors will be examined throughout the course. This will provide an understanding of a wide range of issues that have affected Moscow’s foreign policy decision making in both the recent past and their legacy in the contemporary situation.

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International Terrorism Counterterrorism & International Relations (PI3567)

30 Credit Points

International terrorism and counterterrorism are at the top of today’s agenda – of scholarly debates in International Relations (IR) as well as of policy discussions on international politics. The course focuses on both the (individual and/or structural) causes and different manifestations of terrorism and reviews the debates on how to respond to terrorism not only effectively but also without violating humanitarian principles and international law. The course is interdisciplinary and will provide both an overview on current research on international terrorism and counterterrorism in IR and also with in-depth knowledge of core aspects of the issue.

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Memory and Politics of the Past (PI3570)

30 Credit Points

This course examines the ways in which societal understandings of the past shape political outcomes in the present. Introducing students to the concept of ‘Collective Memory’, the course engages with key theoretical and empirical debates in this emerging field of Politics and IR. It asks such questions as: How can narratives of the past reproduce or challenge contemporary power relations? To what extent do political actors and institutions engineer particular historical narratives that serve their current interests? To what extent are societal ideas of the past malleable? What is the relationship between ‘remembering’, ‘forgetting’ and political power?

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Human Rights in Global Politics (PI3572)

30 Credit Points

Human Rights have long been at the epicentre of heated debates in contemporary global politics. This course will examine the theoretical and philosophical foundations of human rights within their historical context, along with the key controversies that shape current implementation and enforcement of the human rights regime in global politics. This course is suitable for specialist and non-specialist alike. No prior knowledge is required.

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Global Challenges in an Ethnographic Perspective (SL3504)

30 Credit Points

This course addresses major global challenges of the contemporary world as they emerge is specific local contexts. It offers an understanding of these challenges from a local point of view. The challenges the course will discuss include: global warming and rising sea levels; the ecological crisis; oil and energy; war and terrorism; religion and politics; sexual violence; the economic crisis; mining in post-colonial contexts; animal rights; the war on drugs; human rights and global justice; science and the state.

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Between Conflict and Peace Transitions in Society and Politics (TR3501)

30 Credit Points

This course utilises a range of disciplinary and theoretical approaches to analyse the concept of ‘transition’ as a fundamental condition of world history. It examines this through two related processes: the transition from conflict to peace and from peace to conflict at both a macro and micro level. Topics include how states transition through revolutionary violence or through peaceful means, how individuals are radicalized into terrorist groups or become involved in non-violent movements, and transitions in global institutions, norms and technology that generate local and individual changes.

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Year 4

Optional Courses

Choose one of the following options:

Option 1

• AT4036 Independent Study in Anthropology

Plus one course from:

• IR4032 Global Politics from the Middle East
• PI4060 The Extreme Right in Western Europe
• PI4072 Energy & Climate Politics
• PI4077 Dirty War and its Aftermath

Option 2:

• IR4031 Dissertation (International Relations)

Plus one course from:

• AT403A Anthropology, Museums and Society
• AT4038 More Than Human
• AT4044 Anthropology of the North

Both options will then select one level 4 Anthropology course and one level 4 Politics and International Relations course:

Anthropology courses:

• AT 4525 The Constitutional Imagination: Religion, Politics and the State in Human Society
• AT 4526 Roads: Mobility, Movement, Migration
• AT 4547 The Political Anthropology of Indigenous Rights
• AT 4548 Anthropology and Art: On Place, Landscape and Materials

Politics and International Relations courses:

• IR 4516 Arab-Israeli Relations
• IR 4528 War & Peace in International Relations
• PI 4569 Nationalism in Modern Europe
• PI 4573 Political Islam: Islamist Ideologies and Practices
• PI 4575 Soviet Successor States in Global Politics
• PI 4576 Wealth, Poverty and International Order
• PI 4579 International Migration & Europe
• PI 4582 Devolution & Constitutional Change
• TR 4502 Deconstructing Peace and Conflict: The End of Utopia
• AT 4525 The Constitutional Imagination: Religion, Politics and the State in Human Society
• AT 4547 The Political Anthropology of Indigenous Rights

Independent Study In Anthropology (AT4036)

30 Credit Points

This course is open to joint honours students in anthropology. Having chosen a topic for their study, students will be allocated a supervisor and carry out readings, research and writing under the guidance of their supervisor. Students will write a 10,000-word dissertation based on library research.

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Dissertation (International Relations) (IR4031)

30 Credit Points

This course affords students the opportunity to apply their knowledge/research skills in the field of Politics & International Relations to an individual piece of research, focusing on a topic selected by the student and approved by the Dissertation supervisor. Over the course of the project, with guidance from a supervising member of staff, the student will conduct a literature review of relevant material, select appropriate research methods, gather data where necessary, analyse data, and write a final analysis in the form of the Dissertation. Particular emphasis will be given to helping students develop their own skills.

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Global Politics from the Middle East (IR4032)

30 Credit Points

The course draws on key debates in global political theory to examine the politics of the modern and contemporary Middle East. The course focuses first on theoretical debates (e.g. sovereignty, security and surveillance, revolution, democracy, debt, poverty), and then encourages the development of an analysis of those debates, their applicability, strengths, weaknesses and possible innovation by exploiring them through concrete problems in Middle East politics, from the region's exprience with colonialism and neocolonialism to the emergence of nationalism and 'political Islam', from the Palestinian-Israeli question to the Arab Uprisings.

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The Extreme Right in Western Europe (PI4060)

30 Credit Points

This course will provide an in-depth analysis of a European party family which is growing in electoral support as well as political influence. Individual countries and parties will be covered, as well as key concepts such as fascism, racism, xenophobia and populism. Students will also be familiarised with different theoretical approaches explaining the growth of extreme right parties, and responses from the political environment. The course will be beneficial to future study and work in a wide range of areas and contexts, and has relevance to social and political challenges such as integration, internationalisation, globalisation and social cohesion.

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Energy and Climate Politics (PI4072)

30 Credit Points

Energy and Climate Politics is a course designed to increase understanding of how energy and climate politics affects conventional political analysis and vice versa. EU politics of energy, controversies surrounding electricity market reform in the UK, how problems of energy security and climate change interact are among the topics.How contemporary political issues are illustrated by energy issues is an important subject for discussion - for example electricity policy and the debate about the referendum and devolution and the issue of how different political systems work in their policy consultation patterns are important topics in the course.

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Anthropology, Museums and Society (AT403A)

30 Credit Points

This course is organised around a series of seminars and visits to selected museums. The course is divided into two parts. The first addresses approaches in anthropology to the meanings of artefacts; the second considers contemporary curatorial practice. Assessment is based on an artefact study, which will involve original research utilising the collections of the University of Aberdeen, and an essay in which students reflect upon the course as a whole.

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More Than Human (AT4038)

30 Credit Points

This course explores new directions in how we think about humans and other species. Recent years have seen an upsurge in interest in how the social sciences and humanities deal with animals, plants and other organisms and we scrutinise these cutting edge ideas in depth. A lot of emphasis is placed on trying to think through real life encounters and issues, from a walk in the park to new revelations about life from the bottom of the ocean. Although the focus is on anthropological work, the course should appeal to students from a wide range of backgrounds.

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Roads: Mobility, Movement, Migration (AT4526)

30 Credit Points

In this course students will be introduced to the topical themes in contemporary anthropology: roads, automobility, car cultures, migration, road narratives, and roads in film and literature. The course is based on the notions of movement and mobility and will incorporate the ethnographic material from the North, including Scotland and Siberia. During the course students will conduct their own research on the road of their choice. The course includes: a fieldwork element, screenings of documentary films about roads, and weekly student-led discussions.

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Arab - Israeli Relations (IR4516)

30 Credit Points

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 - 2003, US - Israeli relations, the EU and the dispute, the 'peace partners': Egypt and Jordan, the 'rejectionist front': Syria and Iran, and prospects for the resolution of the conflict.

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War and Peace in International Politics (IR4528)

30 Credit Points

The course aims to provide students with an understanding of how conflict between ethno-national groups impacts on international politics. It explores the responses of the international community to intra-state conflict. Following an initial exploration of the relevant theories, the course focuses on a number of key conflicts in international politics. What explains violent conflict between ethnic groups? What role do external actors play in peace processes? Should the international community intervene to stop violent conflict? What kind of institutional frameworks do external actors promote in post-conflict states?

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Nationalism in Modern Europe (PI4569)

30 Credit Points

Nationalism is one of the most powerful forces in modern politics but one of the most difficult to understand. The course addresses theories of nationalism, including primordial and modernist approaches and more recent syntheses. It addresses normative questions about the relationship of nationalism to democracy, social solidarity and conflict. These theoretical perspectives are complemented by a study of cases of nationalism across Europe. There is a strong emphasis on combining theory with cases and on the historical context of nationalism. Students are encouraged to explore cases, and there is a strong focus on in-class discussion.

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Political Islam: Islamist Ideologies and Practices (PI4573)

30 Credit Points

Taking a historical approach, the course will trace the key events that have led to current Political Islam (Islamism) concentrating on the ideology and practice of various movements and groups. It will explore contemporary constructs of identity and political arrangements within Islamism and encourage critical analysis and independent thought in relation to the challenges Islamist poses to existing theoretical paradigms. Areas to be explored will include: the political construct of early Islam, the Sunni/Shia divide, key ideologues, and contemporary movements such as the Muslim Brothers, Hamas and Hizbullah.

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Soviet Successor States in Global Politics (PI4575)

30 Credit Points

This course introduces students to political, economic and security developments in the fifteen independent states of the former Soviet Union. The territory of these states stretches from the Baltic Sea through Central Asia to the Pacific Ocean. This course will evaluate political developments within the region using concepts from international relations, security studies and political science. By the end of this course, students will be able to assess the impact of the Soviet legacy, to critically examine regional developments, to draw parallels between regional problems and issues of global politics, and to develop skills in both academic and policy-oriented analysis.

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Wealth, Poverty and International Order (PI4576)

30 Credit Points

This course introduces advanced Politics and International Relations students to different ways of thinking about how the production of wealth and poverty serves to sediment economic, political and cultural hierarchies globally, especially how international practices depend on the re-production of these hierarchies for their legitimation.

Beginning with a reading of some classic texts on the sources of wealth and poverty, the course offers a close theoretical and historical investigation of the silences around questions of wealth and poverty in dominant understandings of the contemporary shape of the world, including questions of development, gender, security, and human rights.

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International Migration and Europe (PI4579)

30 Credit Points

International Migration has recently gained increased academic and policy interest. This course, while introducing the main analytical concepts concerning migration, addresses the policy dimension in the European context. Additionally the course will assist students in becoming active cizitens in an ever changing world.

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Devolution and Constitutional Change (PI4582)

30 Credit Points

Constitutional change in the UK has been at the centre of political debate for close to two decades. Most recently, referendums in Wales (2011), Scotland (2014) and the UK-wide EU referendum (2016) have provided significant impetus to these discussions. This course will place these changes in a historical and comparative context and consider why these methods of decentralisation have been followed.

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Deconstructing Peace and Conflict the End of Utopia (TR4502)

30 Credit Points

This module encourages students to explore and engage with the concepts of political and social progress and our contemporary anxieties with utopian thinking and peacebuilding. It will enable students to identify the intellectual, cultural, social and political roots of historical progress and the main critiques from a number of theoretical and disciplinary perspectives. The course will afford students the opportunity to demonstrate their ability to apply theoretical concepts acquired in previous courses to debates about neoliberalism, democratization, Political Islam, Marxism and the apocalyptic in contemporary culture.

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The Constitutional Imagination: Religion, Politics and The State in Human Society (AT4525)

30 Credit Points

This course will examine anthropological theories of the state, political organization and violence. Through an analysis of both modern and historical case studies from Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas, we will critically examine theories of state of modern and non-modern state formation and organisation, and the nexus of religion and colonial history. In the second half of the course, particular attention will we paid to the ethnography of violence as a mode of state and proto-state political action.

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