Postgraduate Module Descriptor

POLM502: International Relations: Power and Institutions

This module descriptor refers to the 2021/2 academic year.

Module Aims

The main aim of the module is to illuminate why the main concepts and theories in International Relations take the form that they do. This involves exploring the emergence of IR theory in its historical context. It ought subsequently to be possible for students to reflect critically on their own theoretical assumptions and how they shape claims about the future of world politics. For example, the rise of China, can be understood as a modern articulation about long standing views about revisionist powers in modern world politics. 

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

This module's assessment will evaluate your achievement of the ILOs listed here - you will see reference to these ILO numbers in the details of the assessment for this module.
On successfully completing the programme you will be able to:
Module-Specific Skills1. Demonstrate substantive knowledge of modern IR, the origins of the field, the context in which it developed and the major critical positions adopted towards its development;
2. Identify and discuss the key methodological, conceptual and theoretical debates in IR and demonstrate knowledge in relation to the development of IR as a field of knowledge-production;
Discipline-Specific Skills3. Demonstrate advanced critical, historical and analytical understanding of the development of IR as a field of academic knowledge-production;
4. Exercise informed judgement concerning the practical implications of abstract political principles and ability to locate arguments within an historical context and to understand the relationship between context and theory;
Personal and Key Skills5. Conduct independent research, give well-designed presentations, exercise critical judgment, write cogently and persuasively; and
6. Identify spurious conclusions and distinguish rigorous from merely persuasive argument.

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:

  1. The philosophical and historical origins of contemporary IR
  2. The Second World War and the origins of ‘realism’
  3. The management of Cold War bipolarity
  4. The end of the Cold War and the rise of constructivism
  5. Poststructuralism and the discursive construction of world politics

Learning and Teaching

This table provides an overview of how your hours of study for this module are allocated:

Scheduled Learning and Teaching ActivitiesGuided independent studyPlacement / study abroad
222780

...and this table provides a more detailed breakdown of the hours allocated to various study activities:

CategoryHours of study timeDescription
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities22 hours11 x 2 hour per week Seminars: Small group work, presentations, discussion, reflection
Guided independent study200 hoursReading for and writing essays
Guided independent study78 hoursReading for seminars

Online Resources

This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).

Other Learning Resources

 

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.

Barry Buzan, and Richard Little, International Systems in World History: Remaking the Study of International Relations (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000).

Michael W. Doyle, Ways of War and Peace: Realism, Liberalism, and Socialism (New York; London: Norton, 1997).

Timothy Dunne, Milja Kurki, and Steve Smith (eds.), International Relations Theories: Discipline and Diversity. 2nd ed (New York: Oxford University Press, 2010).

Naeem Inayatullah, and David L. Blaney, International Relations and the Problem of Difference (London: Routledge, 2004).

David Long, and Brian C. Schmidt (eds.), Imperialism and Internationalism in the Discipline of International Relations (Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press, 2005).

Ido Oren, Our Enemies and US: America's Rivalries and the Making of Political Science (Ithaca, N.Y.; Cornell University Press, 2003).

Brian C. Schmidt, The Political Discourse of Anarchy: A Disciplinary History of International Relations (New York: State University of New York Press, 1998).

Arlene B. Tickner, and Ole Wæver (eds.), International Relations Scholarship around the World: Worlding Beyond the West (London: Routledge, 2009).