Module POL2105 for 2018/9
- Overview
- Aims and Learning Outcomes
- Module Content
- Indicative Reading List
- Assessment
Undergraduate Module Descriptor
POL2105: Total War, Total Peace
This module descriptor refers to the 2018/9 academic year.
Module Aims
The module aims to explore the different levels of violence and socio-economic mobilisation employed by societies during war. It differs from traditional approaches by being global in approach and in exploring warfare and societies from the much deeper past. Another key aim is that knowledge of the course material will be developed with a focus on your research, participation, and engagement, through simulations and interactive learning activities rather than through passive consumption of lectures. Thus, you will be encouraged to learn empathically by coming to appreciate the contingencies and limitations faced by practitioners when engaging in strategic decision-making.
| On successfully completing the programme you will be able to: | |
|---|---|
| Module-Specific Skills | 1. Understand distinctions between forms of warfare, levels of violence, and strategic context over the long term. 2. Demonstrate good knowledge of the disparities in the levels of violence and socio-economic mobilisation achieved by various belligerents in particular conflicts. |
| Discipline-Specific Skills | 3. Understand the links between politics, society, economics, and warfare. 4. Display good awareness of a range of conceptual frameworks to understand the complex and changing interaction between war and societies. |
| Personal and Key Skills | 5. Demonstrate empathic appreciation of policy decisions. 6. Demonstrate awareness of contingency in decision-making processes. 7. Study independently and manage time and assessment deadlines effectively. 8. Communicate effectively in speech and writing. 9. Demonstrate critical and analytical skills through module assessments. 10. Demonstrate proficiency in the use of the internet, online journal databases and other IT resources for the purposes of tutorial and assessment preparation. 11. Demonstrate effective applied writing. |
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 World Wars
- the Napoleonic Wars
- industrial wars
- ‘tribal’ and ‘nomadic’ warfare
- non-Western ‘total’ wars
- wars and ‘policing operations’ of empires
- post-WW2 conflicts
- civil wars
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 | 128 | 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 & Teaching Activity | 22 | 11 x 2-hour seminars |
| Guided Independent Study | 50 | Private study reading and preparing for seminars |
| Guided Independent Study | 78 | Preparation for essay and pre-seen exam including researching and collating relevant sources; planning the structure and argument; writing up the essay |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essay outline | 500 words | 1-11 | Peer-assessed |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 50 | 50 | 0 |
...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 | 50 | 2,000 words | 1-11 | Written |
| Pre-seen exam | 50 | 2 hours/ 2 questions | 1-11 | Written |
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 (2,000 words) | 1-11 | August/September reassessment period |
| Pre-seen exam | Pre-seen exam (2 hours/2 questions) | 1-11 | August/September reassessment period |
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.
Black J. 2010. The Age of Total War, 1860-1945. Plymouth: Roman and Littlefield, 1-12.
Giddens, A. 1985. ‘Capitalist development and the industrialization of war’. In: The Nation State and Violence. Cambridge: Polity, 222-254.
Heuser, B. 2010. The Evolution of Strategy: Thinking War from Antiquity to the Present. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Howard, M. 2005. ‘Total war: some concluding remarks’. In: Chickering, R., Förster, S., and Geiner, B. (eds). A World at War: Global Conflict and the Politics of Destruction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 375-383.
Howard M. 2009. War in European History. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Keegan J. 1994. A History of Warfare. London: Pimlico.
Imlay, T. 2007. ‘Total war’, The Journal of Strategic Studies 30:3, 547-570.
Philpott, W.J. 2006. ‘Total war’. In: Hughes, M. and Philpott, W.J. (eds). Palgrave Advances in Modern Military History. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 131-152.
Saint-Amour, P.K. 2014. ‘On the partiality of total war’. Critical Enquiry 40:2, 420-449.
Strachan, H. 2000. ‘Essay and reflection: on total war and modern war’. The International History Review 22:2, 341-70.
