Aims
The primary aim of the module is to ensure that students are provided with a sophisticated understanding of the key concepts necessary to study Politics and International Politics at honours level.

These would include: key concepts in the literature on the nation-state, security studies, international political economy and historical investigation. Lectures and readings will focus on the meaning of principal concepts in the field, their location within larger perspectives, and their application to theoretical and empirical analysis.

Objectives
By the end of the module students will:

• possess a sophisticated understanding of the key concepts necessary to study Politics and International Politics at honours level
• apply this understanding to other areas of study, including the development and design of the dissertation (IP36820) and in the dissertation itself (IP36720)

The module covers all main subject/research areas within the Department. There will be four sets of lectures across the module. At the end of each set of lectures a `Round Table? will be chaired by the Module Convenor and students will be required to ask questions and prompt debates about particular issues that have been covered during the lecture course. To formulate questions students will be organised into informal groups who will work outside the formal timetable to discuss further issues arising from the lectures. In addition, after each round table there will be an hour of informal discussion to encourage discussion and debate as well as give students the opportunity to identify and meet staff (including part time teaching staff) from different teaching/research areas in the Department.

10 ECTS Credits