Module Identifier IPM4430  
Module Title CULTURAL ENCOUNTERS IN THE INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM  
Academic Year 2001/2002  
Co-ordinator Dr Stephen Hobden  
Semester Semester 1  
Course delivery Seminar   1 x two hour seminar per week over one semester  
Assessment Essay   1 x 2,000 words   25%  
  Essay   1 x 6,000 words   75%  

Objectives


By the end of the module students will be able to:

Aims


The aim of the module is to examine cultural encounters between rival civilisations within the framework of an expanding international system.

General description


At the end of the twentieth century global society appears to be becoming increasing homogenised and globalised. The model of society that is becoming the norm throughout the globe is based on Western traditions and values, these derived primarily from European origins. This module examines this process of westernisation through out the globe, focusing in particular on cultural encounters whereby non-western civilisations have been incorporated into an expanding European civilisation.


The first section examines the foundations on which the expansion of European society (normally described as the Rise of the West) were built. In the 1300s & 1400s Europe was a peripheral area compared to the civilisations of China and the Middle East. However by the 1600s Europe became the most dynamic region in the world. This first section explains competing interpretations for this `take off' and discusses how a particular model of international society, based on the European system became globalised. The second section examines three particular sites of global encounter, where the expanding European civilisation confronted non-Western civilisations. The third section discusses three contemporary examples of resistance to Western hegemony. The concluding section looks at broader issues of the theorising of culture and identity in international relations.