Unit information: Issues in World Politics in 2020/21

Unit name	Issues in World Politics
Unit code	POLI10001
Credit points	20
Level of study	C/4
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12)
Unit director	Professor. Herring
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	None
Co-requisites	None
School/department	School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies
Faculty	Faculty of Social Sciences and Law

Description including Unit Aims

This unit aims to introduce you to thinking about issues in world politics. It examines the ways in which we interpret and explain the systems, institutions and processes that govern world politics and important beliefs, values and discourses. The unit starts with a discussion of how states, power, people and borders relate to each other. Building on this the unit outlines the profound challenge facing the world of how to have sustainable development, that is meeting the needs of the people of the world within the limits of the environment. Related to that, the unit considers the dangers we face and responses to them; global patterns of poverty and inequality; and idea of neoliberalism. We then examine how our thinking about issues in world politics is shaped by the news media, the digital age and the controls on and flows of information. After that the issue considers as set of key themes – violence; human rights and humanitarian intervention; identity and making positive change happen. The unit is rounded off with revision discussion of the essay topics and essay writing. Throughout we will seek to uncover the assumptions behind the framings of questions and texts, and discuss what questions are left unasked and what frames have not been used.

Aims:

• To provide a scholarly introduction to issues in world politics.
• To explore those issues by means of lectures, forums, essays and seminar discussions.
• To develop transferable skills in small group discussions and in writing.

Intended Learning Outcomes

Upon completing the unit, the student will have demonstrated achievement of the following learning outcomes:

1. knowledge at an introductory level about world politics;
2. an ability to synthesise, interpret and apply critical thinking to information and ideas about world politics;
3. an ability to present an argument about world politics clearly in written form;
4. an ability to reference written material in a scholarly manner.

Teaching Information

The unit will be taught through blended learning methods, including a mix of synchronous and asynchronous teaching activities

Assessment Information

25% for the first essay of 2,000 words.

75% for the second essay of 2,000 words.

Both essays are summative. The first essay will also play a formative role in the unit. Both essays will assess all four learning outcomes specified .

Reading and References

• Jenny Edkins and Maja Zehfuss (eds), Global Politics: a New Introduction (London: Routledge 2014), 2nd edition.
• John Baylis, Steve Smith and Patricia Owens (eds), The Globalization of World Politics (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016) 7th edition.
• David Harvey, A Short History of Neoliberalism (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007).