Durham University
Programme and Module Handbook

Undergraduate Programme and Module Handbook 2006-2007 (archived)

Module POLI3021: ISSUES IN CONTEMPORARY POLITICAL THEORY

Department: GOVERNMENT AND INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS (POLITICS)

POLI3021: ISSUES IN CONTEMPORARY POLITICAL THEORY

Type Open Level 3 Credits 20 Availability Available in 2006/07 Module Cap None. Location Durham

Prerequisites

  • Foundations of Western Political Thought (POLI2171).

Corequisites

  • None.

Excluded Combination of Modules

  • None.

Aims

  • The module will introduce students to the analysis of some of the key political and moral concepts which have featured in European political discourse during the past two centuries.
  • To encourage rigour and discrimination in the formulation and presentation of written and oral arguments.

Content

  • The past two centuries in Europe and America have seen the elaboration of the distinctive tradition of politics that we call liberalism: a tradition which invokes a range of potent and familiar concepts - liberty, equality, rights, consent and so on.
  • These concepts are, however, characteristically more contestable and problematical than they may at first seem, and a presupposition of this module is that an attempt to come to terms with such contestability is itself a valuable part of an education in Politics.
  • Accordingly, students will be encouraged to look critically at the liberal tradition of political theory, and so to acquire, not a specifically historical or textual knowledge, but some skill in the analysis of political and moral argument and of the ways in which liberal authors have understood and evaluated political processes and relationships.

Learning Outcomes

Subject-specific Knowledge:
  • .
Subject-specific Skills:
    Key Skills:

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

      • .

      Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

      Activity Number Frequency Duration Total/Hours
      Seminars 14 7 in Term 1 and 7 in Term 2 2 hours 28
      Preparation and Reading 172
      Total 200

      Summative Assessment

      Component: Essays Component Weighting: 100%
      Element Length / duration Element Weighting Resit Opportunity
      essay 1 3000 words 50%
      essay 2 3000 words 50%

      Formative Assessment:

      In addition to assessed essays, each student will be required to make One seminar presentation in each of the 2 terms


      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