Module POL1028 for 2021/2
- Overview
- Aims and Learning Outcomes
- Module Content
- Indicative Reading List
- Assessment
Undergraduate Module Descriptor
POL1028: Introduction to Strategic Studies
This module descriptor refers to the 2021/2 academic year.
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:
- What is strategy?
- Strategic Dimensions – Land warfare’;
- Strategic Dimensions – Naval warfare;
- Strategic Dimensions – Air warfare;
- Strategic Dimensions – Space warfare;
- Strategic Dimensions – Cyber warfare;
- Strategic Practice – Classical warfare;
- Strategic Practice – Early modern warfare;
- Strategic Practice – Napoleonic warfare;
- Strategic Practice – Total War;
- Strategic Practice – The Cold War;
- Strategy towards the 21st century.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 26.5 | 123.5 | 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 Activity | 16.5 | 11 x 1.5 hr lectures |
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activity | 10 | 10 x 1 hr tutorials |
| Guided independent study | 40 | Tutorial preparation |
| Guided independent study | 83.5 | Assessment preparation and completion |
Online Resources
This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).
Combating Terrorism Centre (Westpoint): http://ctc.usma.edu/sentinel/
UK Defence Academy: http://www.da.mod.uk/podcasts
‘MERLIN’ US National Defence University: http://merln.ndu.edu/
US Army War College: http://www.carlisle.army.mil/
International Studies Association web resources: http://www.isanet.org/links/
US Naval Postgraduate School: http://www.nps.edu/
US Homeland Security: http://www.inhomelandsecurity.com/
UK Resilience (Cabinet Office Civil Contingencies Secretariat):
http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/ukresilience.aspx
Center for Strategic and International Studies: http://csis.org/
Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies: http://www.rusi.org
Chatham House (Royal Institute for International Affairs): http://www.chathamhouse.org.uk
International Institute for Strategic Studies: http://www.iiss.org
Brookings Institute: http://www.brookings.edu/
Canadian Institute of Strategic Studies: http://www.ciss.ca/
Centre for Defence Information: http://www.cdi.org/
CIA Factbook: http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/
Human Rights Watch http://www.hrw.org/
International Crisis Group: http://www.icg.org/home/index.cfm
Rand Corporation: http://www.rand.org/
Other Learning Resources
Other materials and resources will be identified by the module convener in lectures and via ELE and by tutors in tutorials.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Strategy assessment | 500 words | 1-11 | Oral |
| Essay Outline | 500 words | 1-11 | 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 60 | 40 | 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 | 40 | 1 hour | 1-12 | Written |
| Essay | 60 | 2,500 words | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Examination | Examination (1 hour) | 1-12 | August /September reassessment period |
| Essay | Essay (2,500 words) | 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.
Barkawi, T. Globalization and War (Rowman and Littlefield, 2006)
Baylis, J., Wirtz, J., Gray, C.S., Strategy in the Contemporary World 5th Edition (Oxford: OUP, 2016)
Beckett, I. Modern Insurgencies and Counter-Insurgencies: Guerrillas and their Opponents since 1750 (Routledge, 2001)
Corbett, J.S., Some Principles of Maritime Strategy, (London: Longmans Green, 1911)
Freedman, L., Strategy: A History (Oxford: OUP, 2013)
Gray, C.S. Modern strategy (Oxford University Press, 1999)
Heuser, B., The Evolution of Strategy: thinking war from antiquity to the present, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010).
Jordan, D. et al, Understanding Modern Warfare (Cambridge: CUP, 2008)
Knox, M., Murray, W., The Dynamics of Military Revolution, 1300-2050 (Cambridge: CUP, 2001)
Lebow, R.N. Why Nations Fight: Past and Future Motives for War (Cambridge University Press, 2010)
Mahnken, T., Maiolo, J. (ed), Strategic Studies: A Reader 2nd Edition (Abingdon: Routledge, 2014)
Murray, W., Knox, W., Bernstein, A., The Making of Strategy: Rulers, States, and War (Cambridge: CUP, 1994)
Porter, P. Military Orientalism: Eastern War through Western Eyes (Hurst, 2009)
Smith, R. The Utility of Force: The Art of War in the Modern World (Allen Lane, 2005)
Strachan, H. and Schiepers, S. (eds.), The Changing Character of War (Oxford University Press, 2011)
Strachan, H., The Direction of War : Contemporary Strategy in Historical Perspective,
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013)
Townshend, C. (ed.), The Oxford History of Modern War (Oxford University Press, 2005)
Tzu, Sun (Samuel B. Griffiths trans.), The Art of War (Oxford: OUP, 1971)
Von Clausewitz, C. On War. Edited and translated by Michael Howard and Peter Paret. (Princeton University Press, 1976)
