Module SOC2095 for 2019/0
- Overview
- Aims and Learning Outcomes
- Module Content
- Indicative Reading List
- Assessment
Undergraduate Module Descriptor
SOC2095: On Violence
This module descriptor refers to the 2019/0 academic year.
Module Aims
On Violence aims to increase your confidence in developing independent thinking, expressing that thinking verbally and in written materials, and responding to other people’s contributions, in a seminar environment. It also exposes you to an issue that is challenging in many ways, and cross-disciplinary by nature.
On Violence will help develop and strengthen your abilities to:
- synthesize and critically assess the relationship between different approaches to violence;
- apply the insights and findings in the literature to the analysis of problems confronting society;
- scrutinize the methodological foundations of studying harm;
- conduct independent analysis.
| On successfully completing the programme you will be able to: | |
|---|---|
| Module-Specific Skills | 1. Demonstrate a clear understanding of the types of social science research into violence 2. Engage with different sources of information about violence, both quantitative and qualitative, and how they are produced - including their location in particular political and social frameworks - and how they can be interpreted |
| Discipline-Specific Skills | 3. Develop and deploy arguments grounded in theoretical frameworks; 4. Draw thematic comparisons between material from different sources; 5. Clearly present research, policy debates and your own arguments; |
| Personal and Key Skills | 6. Present an argument orally in a clear, organized and effective manner; 7. Evaluate your own work and those of others; 8. Demonstrate skills in collaborative working, e.g. group work, including the presentation and discussion of material in groups; and 9. Demonstrate the ability to work independently, within a limited time frame, and without access to external sources, to complete a specified task. |
Module Content
Syllabus Plan
The module will examine a wide range of type of violence. 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 themes over one or more weeks:
Defining Violence - Primary Question: How is violence defined?
Communication and Violence - Primary Question: How is communication characterized by violence?
Measuring Violence - Primary Question: How is violence measured?
Seeing Violence - Primary Question: How are violent acts rendered seen and unseen?
Systematizing Violence - Primary Question: How is violence ‘structural’?
Bounding Violence - Primary Question: How are social limits placed on violence?
Ignoring Violence - Primary Question: How do societies learn to ignore harm?
Remembering Violence - Primary Question: How do societies remember violence?
Symbolic Violence - Primary Question: In what way do representations entail forms of violence?
Re-defining Violence - Primary Question: How should violence be defined?
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 44 | 256 | 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 | 44 | 22 x 2-hour seminars (lecturers explanations, student participation and discussion) |
| Guided Independent Study | 48 | Preparing for the seminars |
| Guided Independent Study | 80 | Reading assignments |
| Guided Independent Study | 20 | Additional reading/research |
| Guided Independent Study | 108 | Preparation for and completion of all exams |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Two one-hour mock exams to be student peer reviewed and collectively analysed in seminar | One hour exam, two hours assessment and discussion | 1,2,5,6,9 | Written |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 30 | 70 | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Examination Term 1 | 40 | 90 minutes | 1,2,3,4,7,9 | Written |
| Examination Term 2 | 40 | 90 minutes | 1,2,3,4,7,9 | Written |
| Introductions to readings | 10 | 10 minute presentations | 1-8 | Verbal class feedback |
| Contributions to discussions | 10 | 22 x 2-hour seminars | 1-8 | Verbal class feedback |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Examination 1 | Examination 1 (90 minutes) | 1,2,3,4,7,9 | August/September assessment period |
| Examination 2 | Examination 2 (90 minutes) | 1,2,3,4,7,9 | August/September assessment period |
| Introductions to readings | 10 minute presentations | 1-8 | TBA with students |
| Contributions to discussions | 1000 word comment-piece on selected seminar themes | 1,2,3,4,7,9 | August/September assessment period |
Re-assessment notes
When students’ ability to participate in seminars is severely impaired for condonable reasons, an alternative to contributions to discussions will be offered.
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.
Basic reading:
Rosenberg, M. (1999) Nonviolent Communication
Pachirat, T. (2012) Every Twelve Seconds
Maguire, M., Morgan, R. and Reiner, R. (eds.) (1997) The Oxford Handbook in Criminology
Rappert, B. (2012). How to Look Good in a War
Safran Foer, J (2009) Eating Animals
Henckaerts, Jean-Marie and Doswald-Beck, Louise. (2005) Customary International Humanitarian Law
Price, R. (1997) The Chemical Weapons Taboo
Proctor, R. (2011) Golden Holocaust
WHO. (2002) World report on violence and health
