Module POLM161 for 2021/2
- Overview
- Aims and Learning Outcomes
- Module Content
- Indicative Reading List
- Assessment
Postgraduate Module Descriptor
POLM161: Forced Migration in International Relations
This module descriptor refers to the 2021/2 academic year.
Module Aims
1) To introduce you to the literature and the key historical, socioeconomic, legal and political issues in forced migration, including the rules, norms and institutions of the international refugee regime, the wider global governance of forced migration and the international cooperation problems that affect these.
2) To apply theories of International Relations (IR) in order to critically analyse the root causes and consequences of forced migration as well as policy responses to it.
On successfully completing the programme you will be able to: | |
---|---|
Module-Specific Skills | 1. Demonstrate a contextualised and critical understanding of the key historical, socioeconomic, legal and political issues in forced migration; 2. Apply IR theories to the analysis of the root causes, consequences and policy responses to forced migration, including its global governance in general and the international refugee regime in particular; |
Discipline-Specific Skills | 3. Find, use and analyse secondary and primary data relevant to specific issues in politics and IR; 4. Place contemporary political issues in larger contexts; 5. Deploy critical arguments in analysing political issues and evaluating sources; |
Personal and Key Skills | 6. Work independently and in a group, including the presentation of material for group discussion; 7. Demonstrate analytical skills and the ability to digest, select and organise material; 8. Demonstrate writing skills including the ability to produce well organised and coherent essays to a deadline, practice in articulating and defending positions on tutorial topics. |
Module Content
Syllabus Plan
Whilst the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover some or all of the following topics:
- The international refugee regime: emergence and evolution
- International refugee law and refugee status determination
- Forced migration and International Relations
- The international refugee regime: UNHCR, international cooperation problems and the politics of humanitarianism
- The EU dimension: the Common European Asylum System
- Durable solutions: repatriation, resettlement and local integration
- Internally displaced persons (IDPs)
- Environmental displacement
- Gender and forced migration
- Peacebuilding, state-building, transitional justice and reparations
- Biopolitics and refugees
Learning and Teaching
This table provides an overview of how your hours of study for this module are allocated:
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | Guided independent study | Placement / study abroad |
---|---|---|
22 | 278 | 0 |
...and this table provides a more detailed breakdown of the hours allocated to various study activities:
Category | Hours of study time | Description |
---|---|---|
Scheduled learning and teaching activity | 22 | 11 x 2-hour seminars |
Guided independent study | 78 | Reading for seminars |
Guided independent study | 200 | Completion of coursework |
Online Resources
This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).
How this Module is Assessed
In the tables below, you will see reference to 'ILO's. An ILO is an Intended Learning Outcome - see Aims and Learning Outcomes for details of the ILOs for this module.
Formative Assessment
A formative assessment is designed to give you feedback on your understanding of the module content but it will not count towards your mark for the module.
Form of assessment | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
---|---|---|---|
Individual presentations | 5 minutes | 1-7 | Oral feedback |
Summative Assessment
A summative assessment counts towards your mark for the module. The table below tells you what percentage of your mark will come from which type of assessment.
Coursework | Written exams | Practical exams |
---|---|---|
85 | 0 | 15 |
...and this table provides further details on the summative assessments for this module.
Form of assessment | % of credit | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
---|---|---|---|---|
Essay | 55 | 4,500 words | 1-5, 7-8 | Written/oral |
Book review | 30 | 2,500 words | 1-5, 7-8 | Written/oral |
Presentation in pairs | 15 | 20 minutes | 1-7 | Oral |
Re-assessment
Re-assessment takes place when the summative assessment has not been completed by the original deadline, and the student has been allowed to refer or defer it to a later date (this only happens following certain criteria and is always subject to exam board approval). For obvious reasons, re-assessments cannot be the same as the original assessment and so these alternatives are set. In cases where the form of assessment is the same, the content will nevertheless be different.
Original form of assessment | Form of re-assessment | ILOs re-assessed | Timescale for re-assessment |
---|---|---|---|
Essay | Essay (4,500 words) | 1-5, 7-8 | August/September reassessment period |
Book review | Book review (2,500 words) | 1-5, 7-8 | August/September reassessment period |
Presentation in pairs | Short essay (1,000 words) & presentation slides | 1-8 | August/September reassessment period |
Re-assessment notes
Where you have been referred/deferred for the presentation in pair, you will individually complete a written summary of your presentation in essay form and prepare presentation slides.
Indicative Reading List
This reading list is indicative - i.e. it provides an idea of texts that may be useful to you on this module, but it is not considered to be a confirmed or compulsory reading list for this module.
Betts, A. and G. Loescher (eds.) (2011) Refugees in International Relations (Oxford University Press).
Betts, A. (2009) Forced Migration and Global Politics (Wiley).
Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, E., G. Loescher, K. Long and N. Sigona (eds.) (2014) The Oxford Handbook of Refugee and Forced Migration Studies (Oxford University Press).
Agamben, G. (1998) Homo Sacer: Sovereign Power and Bare Life (Stanford University Press).
Agier, M. (2008) On the Margins of the World: The Refugee Experience Today (Polity Press).
Agier, M. (2011) Managing the Undesirables: Refugee Camps and Humanitarian Government (Polity Press).
Barnett, M. (2011) Empire of Humanity: A History of Humanitarianism (Cornell University Press).
Black, R. and K. Koser (eds.) (1999) The End of Refugee Cycle? Refugee Repatriation and Reconstruction (Berghahn).
Chatty, D. (2010) Displacement and Dispossession in the Modern Middle East (Cambridge University Press).
Dumper, M. (ed.) (2006) Palestinian Refugee Repatriation: Global Perspectives (Routledge).
Dumper, M. (2007) The Future for Palestinian Refugees: Toward Equity and Peace (Lynne Rienner).
Goodwin-Gill, G. and J. McAdam (2007) The Refugee in International Law (3rd ed.) (Oxford University Press).
Haddad, E. (2008) The Refugee in International Society: Between Sovereigns (Cambridge University Press).
Hammerstad, A. (2014) The Rise and Decline of a Global Security Actor: UNHCR, Refugee Protection, and Security (Oxford University Press).
Hyndman, J. (2000) Managing Displacement: Refugees and the Politics of Humanitarianism (Minnesota University Press).
Larking, E. (2014) Refugees and the Myth of Human Rights: Life outside the Pale of the Law (Ashgate).
Loescher, G. (1993) Beyond Charity: International Cooperation and the Global Refugee Crisis (Oxford University Press).
Marfleet, P. (2006) Refugees in a Global Era (Palgrave Macmillan).
Marrus, M. (1985) The Unwanted: European Refugees in the Twentieth Century (Oxford University Press)
Nyers, P. (2006) Rethinking Refugees: Beyond State of Emergency (Routledge).
Steiner, N., M. Gibney and G. Loescher (eds.) (2003) Problems of Protection: The UNHCR, Refugees and Human Rights in the 21st Century (Routledge).