Module Identifier IP35520  
Module Title THE CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS  
Academic Year 2006/2007  
Co-ordinator Mr Simon B Rushton  
Semester Semester 1  
Course delivery Lecture   (9 x 1 hour)  
  Seminars / Tutorials   (6 x 2 hour)  
Assessment
Assessment TypeAssessment Length/DetailsProportion
Semester Assessment 1 x 2,000 word essay  30%
Semester Exam2 Hours Examination  70%
Semester Assessment OR students can submit 2 x 3,000 word essays  100%
Supplementary Exam Students may, subject to Faculty approval, have the opportunity to resit this module. For further clarification please contact the Academic Administrator in the Department of International Politics. 

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module the student should be able to:

10 ECTS Credits

Brief description

In October 1962 Cold War came close to nuclear war. Ever since scholars, political leaders and military officials have pondered and debated how close we were to Armageddon. The causes, courses and consequences of the crisis continue to generate debate and disagreement among academics and surviving participants on all sides.

Aims

The aim of the module is to explore the debates surrounding the Cuban Missile Crisis, and examine how historians, political scientists and students of crisis management analyse the events of 1962. A second aim is to show how the study of the crisis illuminates various aspects of scholarship. What, for example, can recent historiography tell us about the opportunities and challenges for historical method, especially now that the Cold War is over? Third, the possible lessons of the crisis for diplomacy and crisis management are studied not just in the Cold War context, but in the age of weapons of mass destruction which we still inhabit.

Content

Notes

This module is at CQFW Level 6