Module POC1028 for 2021/2
- Overview
- Aims and Learning Outcomes
- Module Content
- Indicative Reading List
- Assessment
Undergraduate Module Descriptor
POC1028: Modern Political Theory
This module descriptor refers to the 2021/2 academic year.
Please note that this module is only delivered on the Penryn Campus.
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:
- Political Theory: Ancient and Modern
- Machiavelli Power Politics
- Hobbes: A New Science of Politics
- Locke: Consent and Limited Government
- Rousseau: The Social Contract
- Rousseau and The French Revolution
- The American Revolution and the Federalists
- Radicalising Revolution: Feminism and Slavery
- Marx’s Critique of Alienation
- Marx: The Communist Manifesto
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 and Teaching Activities | 16.5 | 11 x 1.5 hour lectures |
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | 11 | 11 x 1 hour tutorials |
| Guided Independent Study | 45 | directed reading |
| Guided Independent Study | 6 | completing the formative research outline |
| Guided Independent Study | 26.5 | completing the essay |
| Guided Independent Study | 45 | studying for the exam |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Textual Analysis | 1,000 words | 1, 2, 4 | Written or verbal |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Essay | 100 | 3,000 words | 1-7 | Written |
| 0 | ||||
| 0 | ||||
| 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 assessment | Form of re-assessment | ILOs re-assessed | Timescale for re-assessment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essay | Essay (3,000 words) | 1-7 | 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.
Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince
John Locke, Two Treatises on Government
Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, The Social Contract
Maximilien Robespierre, The Justification of the Use of Terror
Gordon S. Wood, The Radicalism of the American Revolution
Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman
Christopher Rose, The Haitian Revolution
Anthony Bogues, The Dual Haitian Revolution and the Making of Freedom in Modernity
Leslie Thiele, Theory and Politics
Hannah Arendt, Between Past and Future
Karl Marx , The Communist Manifesto
