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.

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 assessmentSize of the assessment (eg length / duration)ILOs assessedFeedback method
Interim seminar participation and self-assessment800 words1-11Written and verbal
Seminar participationN/A ongoing throughout module1-11Verbal

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.

CourseworkWritten examsPractical exams
20080

...and this table provides further details on the summative assessments for this module.

Form of assessment% of creditSize of the assessment (eg length / duration)ILOs assessedFeedback method
Oral examination5045 minutes in pairs (approx. 23 minutes per student)1-7Written and verbal
Seminar participation and self-evaluation (1500 words)20Seminar participation and self-evaluation (1500 words)1-11Written and verbal
Group presentation and student-led seminar3030 minutes presentation + Q & A (approx. 10 minutes per student). Student-led seminar (approx. 1 hour)1-11Written and verbal
0
0
0

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 assessmentForm of re-assessmentILOs re-assessedTimescale for re-assessment
Oral examinationOral examination (individual, 20 minutes)1-7August/September re-assessment period
Seminar participation and self-evaluation (1500 words)Seminar participation and self-evaluation (1500 words)1-11August/September re-assessment period
Group presentation and student-led seminarIndividual presentation to module convenor (approx.20 minutes)1-11August/September re-assessment period

Re-assessment notes

Where work is re-assessed, students must answer different question/ discuss different topics and issues.

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).