Module Identifier IP31120  
Module Title POSTSTRUCTURALIST POLITICS  
Academic Year 2002/2003  
Co-ordinator Dr Jenny Edkins  
Semester Intended for use in future years  
Next year offered N/A  
Next semester offered N/A  
Pre-Requisite IP31020  
Course delivery Seminars / Tutorials   11 Hours Regular tutorials held (e.g. 11 x 1 hour)  
Assessment Semester Assessment   1 x 1,500 word draft paper   10%  
  Semester Assessment   Initial Bibliography and reading plan   5%  
  Semester Assessment   Discussion + Tutorial Contribution   15%  
  Semester Assessment   Presentation of paper including circulating draft   10%  
  Semester Assessment   Essay: 6,000 - 7,000 words   60%  
  Supplementary Exam   Students may, subject to Faculty approval, have the opportunity to resit this module, normally during the supplementary examination period. For further clarification please contact the Teaching Programme Administrator in the Department of International Politics.    

Learning outcomes

At the end of the module, students will be able to:
- demonstrate a specialised knowledge of an area of poststructuralist work
- show evidence of analytical skills and independent reading
- produce an extended piece of written work
- profit from tutorial discussions of their work

Brief description

A guided reading course where students work on a topic of their choice within the broad area of poststructural politics

Aims

Poststructuralist, psychoanalytic, feminist and deconstructivist thought has a prominent place in contemporary political and international relations theory as in other fields of social inquiry. This module provides students who are already acquainted with this area of work, with an opportunity to develop their knowledge at a more advanced level in one of a number of ways.

Content

Each year, one of the following will be selected by the Module Convenor as a framework for study:

(1) a study of the work of a particular philosopher or social theorist such as, for example, Agamben, Baudrillard, Bhabha, Butler, Deleuze, Irigaray, Kristeva, Nancy, Lefebvre, Virilio; or
(2) an analysis of a specific method of enquiry, for example, discourse analysis, semiotics, film theory, image analysis; or
(3) an exploration of a concept of particular concern in this area, for example, identity, territory, the political, temporality, space, borders, movement; or
(4) a study of a contemporary international relations or postcolonial scholar who draws on this work.

The module is a guided reading course: there are no lectures or seminars. Students first develop their topic in conjunction with the module co-ordinator. Regular small group tutorials give students the chance to discuss issues arising from their reading as it progresses with the tutor and other module members. Students prepare an extended paper on a topic of their choice; they receive feedback on an assessed draft and bibliography early in the module and have the opportunity to present their work to the tutorial group.

Transferable skills

The module helps students to develop the ability to work individually and as a group, Each student has to set their own goals and methods of work. Time management, self motivation and focus are very important skills needed for this. In the weekly tutorials students are expected not only to be able to outline and present their own ideas and profit from critical comments from their peers, they are also expected to engage with their colleagues projects in a constructive and helpful way.

10 ECTS Credits