Module POC3020 for 2018/9
- Overview
- Aims and Learning Outcomes
- Module Content
- Indicative Reading List
- Assessment
Undergraduate Module Descriptor
POC3020: The Politics of War
This module descriptor refers to the 2018/9 academic year.
Please note that this module is only delivered on the Penryn Campus.
Module Aims
The aim of this module is to introduce you to contemporary interdisciplinary approaches war, with a particular focus on critical interventions made by scholars within the humanities and social sciences. The module will locate war within its wider social, economic and political context, encouraging a broader understanding of the causes, consequences and legacies of war. You will be introduced to a range of theoretical approaches to war, for example feminism. You will engage with a number of case studies, including: the contemporary wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, Remembrance Day in Britain, the Holocaust and the protests against the Vietnam War. Cultural representations of war in art, novel, film and museums will be critically interrogated, with a focus on race, gender and class. The ultimate aim of the module is to encourage you to think critically about war-making, commemoration and militarism.
| On successfully completing the programme you will be able to: | |
|---|---|
| Module-Specific Skills | 1. demonstrate breadth and depth in the understanding of various strands of critical thought as they have been applied to the social, political and economic legacies of war 2. demonstrate detailed and comprehensive understanding of how war has been theorized and evaluated from different critical perspectives 3. demonstrate excellence in the application of various theoretical perspectives in the analysis of concrete examples of war and its consequences |
| Discipline-Specific Skills | 4. relate the academic study of politics to questions of public concern in order to develop well-reasoned arguments and conclusions 5. apply concepts, theories and methods used in the study of politics to offer comprehensive analysis 6. think critically and independently about events, ideas and institutions with minimal guidance |
| Personal and Key Skills | 7. synthesize challenging literature and effectively articulate complex ideas in written and oral form 8. demonstrate ability to plan and undertake tasks, individually and with others, with minimum guidance, to reflect critically on the learning process and make use of feedback 9. identify, retrieve and use efficiently a range of library-based and electronic resources with minimum guidance 10. design and deliver presentations to peers with minimal guidance 11. demonstrate ability to interact effectively within a team/ learning group, facilitate group discussions and to select appropriate material suitable for inclusion in discussion |
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.
Bourke, J. (1996) Dismembering the Male: Men’s bodies, Britain and the Great War, London: Reaktion Books.
Sylvester, C. (2012) War As Experience, London: Routledge.
Zehfuss, M. (2007) Wounds of Memory, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Edkins, J. (2003) Trauma and the memory of Politics, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
King, A. (2010) ‘The Afghan War and ‘postmodern’ memory: commemoration and the dead of Helmand’ in The British Journal of Sociology, vol. 61(1), pp.1-25.
McSorely, K. (2012) ed. War and the Body: Militarisation, Practice and Experience, London: Routledge,
Gerber, D. A. (ed.) Disabled Veterans in History, revised edition, Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Press.
Zehfuss, M. (2009) ‘Hierarchies of Grief and the Possibility of War: Remembering UK Fatalities in Iraq’ in Millennium, vol. 38(2), pp. 1-22.
Sjoberg, L. and Via, S. (2010).eds. Gender, War, and Militarism: Feminist Perspectives (Santa Barbara, Denver and Oxford: Praeger).
Higate, P. R. (2003) ed. Military Masculinities: Identity and the State. (Westport, CT and London: Praeger).
Goldstein, J. S. (2001) War and Gender: How Gender Shapes the War System and Vice Versa. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).
Enloe, C.( 2000) Manoeuvres: The International Politics of Militarising Women’s Lives.( Berkeley, University of California Press).
Enloe, C. (2007) Globalization and Militarism: Feminists Make the Link. (Lanham and Plymouth: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers).
Basham. V. (Forthcoming 2013). War, Identity and the Liberal State: Everyday Experiences of the Geopolitical in the British Armed Forces (London: Routledge).
