Module POC1022 for 2021/2
- Overview
- Aims and Learning Outcomes
- Module Content
- Indicative Reading List
- Assessment
Undergraduate Module Descriptor
POC1022: Violence in World Politics
This module descriptor refers to the 2021/2 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 a range of contemporary forms of violence in world politics, and provide you with the conceptual and analytical tools to critically assess their origins, nature and impact.
- Enable you to critically analyse and evaluate violence through the lens of different theories in International Relations.
- Develop research skills and the ability to find, understand and critically evaluate contemporary political practices.
On successfully completing the programme you will be able to: | |
---|---|
Module-Specific Skills | 1. demonstrate an empirical familiarity with a range of contemporary political problems and the debates that they have generated; 2. evaluate and compare different framings and responses; 3. demonstrate an awareness and some capacity think critically about the causes of, and responses to, different forms of violence in world politics. |
Discipline-Specific Skills | 4. identify, discuss major political concepts and theories, and apply them to actual events and outcomes; 5. list, describe, and evaluate different interpretations and reasoned criticisms of scholarship; 6. construct well-structured, sympathetic and rigorous arguments based on logical deduction. |
Personal and Key Skills | 7. interact effectively within a group to develop argument and analysis, and communicate this effectively to others via oral and written forms; 8. work independently and manage time efficiently in preparing for scheduled learning activities, exercises and assessments; 9. efficiently identify, retrieve and evaluate a range of library-based and electronic research resources, with some guidance. |
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.
Conceptual approaches may include:
- What is violence?
- Direct Violence
- Structural/Economic Violence
- Cultural Violence
- Institutional Violence
- Colonial Violence
- Social Justice
Empirical topics may include:
- Warfare, including the laws of war and military strategy
- Urbicide and Genocide
- Economic inequality and exploitation
- Sexual and Gender-based violence
- Terrorism and counter-terrorism
- Radicalisation and counter-radicalisation
- Slow violence and environmentalism
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 |
---|---|---|
27.5 | 122.5 | 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 Activities | 16.5 | 11 x 1.5 hour lectures |
Scheduled Learning & Teaching Activities | 11 | 11 x 1 hour seminars |
Guided Independent Study | 33 | Reading and preparing for seminars |
Guided Independent Study | 22 | Researching and writing formative assessments and assignments |
Guided Independent Study | 25 | Writing portfolio |
Guided Independent Study | 42.5 | Preparation for examination |
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 |
---|---|---|---|
Formative worksheets and quizzes for seminar | Seven pre-seminar preparatory tasks. Each including 4-5 short-form (<20 words) questions and at least one long-form (<250 word) question | 1-9 | Oral |
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 |
---|---|---|
100 | 0 | 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 |
---|---|---|---|---|
Portfolio of formative responses and critical reflection | 35 | 1,000 words | 1-6, 8-9 | Written |
Essay | 65 | 2,000 words | 1-6, 8 | 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 |
---|---|---|---|
Portfolio of formative responses and critical reflection | Portfolio (1,000 words) | 1-6, 8-9 | August/September re-assessment period |
Essay | Essay (2,000 words) | 1-6, 8 | August/September re-assessment 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.
Arendt, Hannah, 1906-1975. Eichmann In Jerusalem: a Report on the Banality of Evil. New York, N.Y., U.S.A.:Penguin Books, 1994
Baaz, Maria Eriksson, and Maria Stern. "Why do soldiers rape? Masculinity, violence, and sexuality in the armed forces in the Congo (DRC)." International Studies Quarterly 53.2 (2009): 495-518.
Barkawi, Tarak, and Mark Laffey. "The imperial peace: democracy, force and globalization." European Journal of International Relations 5.4 (1999): 403-434.
Davis, Angela Y. Are prisons obsolete?. Seven Stories Press, 2011.
Devji, Faisal. "The paradox of nonviolence." Public Culture 23, no. 2 (2011): 269-274.
Fanon, Frantz, 1925-1961. The Wretched of the Earth. New York :Grove Press, 1968.
Galtung, Johan, and Tord Höivik. "Structural and direct violence: A note on operationalization." Journal of Peace Research 8.1 (1971): 73-76.
Galtung, Johan. "Cultural violence." Journal of peace research 27.3 (1990): 291-305.
Howard, Michael. War and the liberal conscience: The George Macaulay Trevelyan lectures in the University of Cambridge, 1977. Anaya-Spain, 1986.
Guru, Gopal. Humiliation: Claims and Context. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2009
Nandy, Ashis. "The invisible holocaust and the journey as an exodus: the poisoned village and the stranger city." Postcolonial Studies: Culture, Politics, Economy 2, no. 3 (1999): 305-329.
Shepherd, Laura J. Gender, violence and security: Discourse as practice. Zed Books, 2008.