Module Information
Course Delivery
| Delivery Type | Delivery length / details |
|---|---|
| Seminar | 5 x 2 Hour Seminars |
| Lecture | 12 x 1 Hour Lectures |
Assessment
| Assessment Type | Assessment length / details | Proportion |
|---|---|---|
| Semester Assessment | 2,000 word essay (Folder of two short written pieces | 40% |
| Semester Assessment | 1 x 3,000 word written essay | 60% |
| Supplementary Assessment | 2,000 word essay (Folder of two short written pieces) | 40% |
| Supplementary Assessment | 1 x 3,000 word written essay | 60% |
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module students should be able to:
1. Critically evaluate principal debates in twentieth century and contemporary political theory in a systematic manner.
2. Critically analyse the strengths and weaknesses of competing approaches to theorizing justice and order.
3. Devise and sustain arguments to evaluate ethical aspects of the studied theories.
4. Critically evaluate the concept of human rights and its theoretical underpinnings, showing an appreciation of uncertainty, ambiguity and limits of knowledge.
5. Critically discuss the overlaps and differences between normative theories of domestic politics and international politics.
Brief description
The module develops students’ knowledge-base in the subjects of political theory, international political theory and international ethics. Starting with the crisis of normative political theory in the aftermath of the horrors of the world wars and the Holocaust, the module explores the constructive responses to this crisis in the form of renewed trust in the concept of justice on the one hand and the quest to theorise the role of politics to renew political order on the other hand. The module then focuses on the issue of human rights to both address one of the key notions of global ethics and demonstrate how the deconstructive and constructive modes of political theorising, explored earlier in the module, affect this notion. The module gives students an opportunity to read and analyse original texts by some of the most influential twentieth century political thinkers. Particular emphasis is placed on the international aspects of these works.
Content
1. Political Theory after the Holocaust: Identifying the Crisis
2. Renewed Trust in Justice
3. Critiques of Modernity and Communicative Justice
4. Agonistic and Negative Approaches to Order
5. Theorising Human Rights
Module Skills
| Skills Type | Skills details |
|---|---|
| Application of Number | N/A |
| Communication | Students will learn how to present their ideas both verbally and in writing and how to assert themselves to advantage. They will understand the importance of information and clear communication and how to exploit these. They will know how to use the many sources of information available and how to use the most appropriate form of communication to the best advantage. They will learn to be clear and direct in their writing and speaking and to be direct about aims and objectives. They will learn to consider only that which is relevant to the topic, focus and objectives of their argument or discussion. Seminars will be run in groups where oral discussion and presentations will form the main medium of teaching and the emphasis throughout the module will be on student participation and communication |
| Improving own Learning and Performance | The module aims to promote self-management but within a context of assistance from both the convenor and the fellow students alike. Students will be expected to improve their own learning and performance by undertaking their own research and to exercise their own initiative, including searching for sources, compiling reading lists, and deciding (under guidance) the direction of their essay topics. The need to meet an essay deadline will focus students' attention on the need to manage their time and opportunity resources well. |
| Information Technology | Students will be expected to submit their work in word-processed format. Also, students will be encouraged to search for sources of information on the web, as well as seeking sources through electronic information sources. Students will also be expected to make use of the resources that will be available on the Blackboard. |
| Personal Development and Career planning | This module is designed to hone and test skills of use to students in their working lives, particularly in speaking to small groups, listening, thinking and responding to the statement of others. Moreover, the written work includes writing clearly and concisely, which is a common task in the workplace. Students will be encouraged throughout to reflect on their performance and to consider lessons for future application. |
| Problem solving | Problem solving is one of the central goals of the module; the submission of an essay will require that the student develops independent research skills as well as problem solving skills. The ability of students to solve problems is developed and assessed by asking them to: adopt differing points of view; organize data and estimate an answer to the problem; consider extreme cases; reason logically; construct theoretical models; consider similar cases; look for patterns; divide issues into smaller problems. |
| Research skills | The submission of an essay reflects the independent research skills of the student. The need to locate appropriate research resources and write up the results also facilitates research skills. |
| Subject Specific Skills | Students have the opportunity to develop, practice and test a wide range of subject specific skills that help them to understand, conceptualise and evaluate examples and ideas on the module. These subject specific skills include: • Collect and understand a wide range of data relating to the module • Ability to evaluate competing perspectives • Demonstrate subject specific research techniques • Apply a range of methodologies to complex political problems |
| Team work | Students will undertake team exercises in the seminars. For many of the topics of this module, seminars will consist of small-group discussions where students will be asked to discuss as a group the core issues related to the seminar topic. These class discussions and debates form a significant part of the module, and will allow students to approach and examine a given topic through team work. |
Notes
This module is at CQFW Level 6