Module Identifier IP19810  
Module Title BEHIND THE HEADLINES: GLOBAL POLITICAL ISSUES 1  
Academic Year 2001/2002  
Co-ordinator Professor Mick Cox  
Semester Semester 1  
Mutually Exclusive GW19810  
Course delivery Lecture   20 Hours (20 x 1 hour)  
  Group Work   Self Managed  
Assessment Group project   2 x 2,500 word group reports   50%  
  Exam   3 Hours open book examination   50%  

Brief description


This module seeks to focus on what you might already know (the `headlines') and then build upon it (by looking at what is `behind' the headlines). We will identify a series of major contemporary issues in global politics at different levels - from the state of the world to global politics - and seek to explain why the issues are important, what are the main dynamics driving them, and what are their implications. This will be done through a variety of different teaching methods: traditional lectures, the use of video material, roundtables and debates.   


A number of other non-traditional approaches will be adopted, such as self-managed small groups, an open-book examination and the writing up of two group reports. Among the headlines to be explored in this module - together with IP19910 - will be those associated with recent developments in the global economy, the future of Europe, human rights protection, the international drug trade and Northern Ireland and the Israel-Palestine conflicts. In addition to looking behind the headlines, the module will also introduce you to a set of study skills that will be essential for all modules in the department.

Aims


The module has two central aims. The first is to provide an introduction to the critical analysis of a wide selection of global political issues. The second is to introduce a set of study skills, and provide the opportunity for employing them in a range of different learning environments.

Objectives


On the completion of this module you should be able to:

Reading Lists

Books
Michael Cox, Ken Booth and Tim Dunne, eds. The Interregnum: Controversies in World Politics 1989-1999. Cambridge University Press, 1999
Ken Booth. Statecraft and Security: The Cold War and Beyond. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998
John Baylis and Steve Smith. The Globalization of World Politics: An Introduction to International Politics. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2nd Ed - 2001