Module SGIA3351: NATURE, SOVEREIGNTY, POWER

Department: Government and International Affairs

SGIA3351: NATURE, SOVEREIGNTY, POWER

Prerequisites

• Any Level 2 SGIA module

Corequisites

• None.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None.

Aims

• The module aims to give students detailed and specific knowledge about how theories of international relations are structured as modern articulations of political life. The module aims to develop students’ critical engagement with theory and the ability to question prevailing assumptions about modern politics and international relations. The module contributes to students’ wider understanding of how political thought functions as a way of making sense out of a complex world, and encourages students’ to think differently about politics and international relations.

Content

• The module will provide students with a theoretical critique of international relations theory, beginning with the levels of analysis problem and then by providing different ways of making sense out of global politics.
• The module challenges students to think critically and creatively about international relations and modern political life, by addressing the discourses of human nature, sovereignty, power, identity and speed. The module engages these discourses by addressing how they function as a means for understanding global politics, and in the process, points out how these discourses are often treated differently in international relations theory and in political theory.
• The module also blurs the distinction between fiction and non-fiction. This blurring is used to help theoretically analyse and challenge the foundations that are conventionally used to make sense out of international relations, and to develop alternative ways of understanding international relations that are not based on the traditional levels of analysis approach, but instead on key discourses that characterize international political life.

Learning Outcomes

• During the module students should develop subject specific knowledge and understanding of:
• The problems of a “levels of analysis” approach to theory and method;
• How discourses of human nature and sovereignty function in international relations theory;
• How subjectivity and objectivity both enable and limit our understanding of politics;
• The significance of identity-politics in international relations;
• The modern relationship, tensions between sovereignty, power and speed.

• Students should also develop important subject specific skills, such as:
• Effectively describing and applying more advanced academic literatures;
• Identifying, evaluating and challenging key assumptions in the modern political thought of international relations;
• Showing an awareness of how theory limits and enables our understanding of international politics.

• Students should also enhance key skills, including:
• Effective communication of their knowledge, including engaging with, structuring and assessing material;
• Independent learning;
• Confidence building (by encouraging individual thought and public expression of individual ideas);
• 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.
• 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. The formative essays also provide students with written feedback on their work, enable students to develop their writing, reading and research skills, and provides the opportunity to develop deeper knowledge of the subject material.
• Summative assessment by examination using a take-home exam enables a wide range of knowledge and understanding to be assessed, with the exam 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. The summative assessment is made up of a selection of long answer questions, out of which the student has to choose 2 questions to answer. The exam will include clear information regarding assessment criteria (a strong and clear argument, a tightly structured essay, formal references, demonstration of knowledge of the material and a well-developed understanding of the specific issue the question addresses). Each question will also have word limits with a minimum word length of 1000 words and a maximum of 1250 words per answer, excluding references.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Two 2,000 word essays.

■ 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