Module POLI2131: THEORIES OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

Department: GOVERNMENT AND INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS (POLITICS)

POLI2131: THEORIES OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

Prerequisites

• Introduction to International Relations (POLI1031).

Corequisites

• None.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None.

Aims

• The module aims to give students detailed and specific knowledge about contemporary theories of international relations and to develop students??? critical engagement with theory and the wider implications of such theories for the contested nature of the subject???s boundaries. The module contributes to students??? wider understanding of theoretical, conceptual and particularly methodological matters in the study of politics.

Content

• The module will provide students with an introduction to and understanding of the range of contemporary debates in international relations theory, particularly how these theories are characterised by methodological and normative differences, as well as in their explanatory emphases.
• The course addresses a broad range of the major contemporary theories of international relations and places them within the context of the current central methodological debate in the field. It is divided into three principal sections. The first discusses the development and nature of international relations theory since 1918. The second looks at what have been labelled ???rationalist???, ???positivist??? or ???explanatory??? theories. These might typically include realism, neo-realism, neo-liberal institutionalism and dependency theory. The third section considers theories labelled as ???reflectivist???, ???post-positivist??? or ???constitutive???; for example constructivism, critical theory, post-modernism, feminism and normative theory.

Learning Outcomes

• During the module students should develop subject specific knowledge and understanding of:
• The major contemporary international relations theories, including explanatory and critical theories, in comparative context;
• Important elements of international political thought and political philosophy, particularly in relation to methodological matters;
• Knowledge of the bases for the contested nature of international relations theories.

• Students should also develop important subject specific skills, such as:
• Effectively describing and applying more advanced academic literatures;
• Identifying and evaluating key disputes and debates in the context of IR theory;
• Showing awareness of and some sophistication in the use of methodological ideas and approaches to theorising.

• Students should also enhance key skills, including:
• Effective communication of their knowledge, including engaging with, structuring and assessing material.
• Developing more advanced evaluative techniques.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• Teaching and learning are via lectures and smaller-group tutorials. Lectures provide for the delivery of subject specific knowledge and enable staff to highlight key areas of dispute in the field, including the role of methodological disputes. Smaller-group tutorials enable students to explore the subject in more depth and discuss competing evaluations and assessments of the theories and debates covered in the module. They also offer an opportunity for students to structure and communicate their knowledge in response to the dynamics of the class.
• Summative assessment by examination using a structured paper enables a wide range of knowledge and understanding to be assessed, with the paper???s structure ensuring that students must engage with methodological debates in the field and show an ability to compare and contrast different theories. Marking criteria highlight the role of analytical skills in gaining the highest marks and questions are set to encourage an analytical response. The time pressures of exams test students??? organisational skills and their ability to effectively structure and deploy knowledge and communicate clearly and concisely.
• Formative assessment via essay offers students an opportunity to practice the kind of skills necessary for exams without the associated time pressure and receive feedback on the development of their knowledge and understanding, and their subject specific skills.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Two 2500 word essays. No collections required.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University