Module POL3000 for 2021/2
- Overview
- Aims and Learning Outcomes
- Module Content
- Indicative Reading List
- Assessment
Undergraduate Module Descriptor
POL3000: Deadly Words: The Language of Political Violence
This module descriptor refers to the 2021/2 academic year.
Module Aims
The primary aim of this module is to develop the analytical skills required for the study of extremist texts and speeches. You will gain a fine understanding of the most pertinent theoretical approaches focusing on language and conflict broadly construed, and will learn to put these approaches to play for the study of violent political actors’ communications.
More broadly, the module ought to strengthen your critical understanding of 1) political communication at large (including mainstream), 2) conflict and insecurity, and 3) processes of “othering”, categorization and classifications in socio-political contexts.
| On successfully completing the programme you will be able to: | |
|---|---|
| Module-Specific Skills | 1. Identify the main approaches and theories of language and violence; 2. Explain in a sophisticated way how these theories help to analyse specific cases; 3. Draw the implications of this theoretical framework to a wider variety of political speeches and texts in a critical way; |
| Discipline-Specific Skills | 4. Integrate complex and unconnected scientific inquiries (from various disciplines) within a single coherent piece of analysis on extremist political language; 5. Apply highly theoretical constructs to real-life political examples; 6. Analyse past and ongoing political problems through the prism of the theoretical framework seen in class; |
| Personal and Key Skills | 7. Applying practical analysis of any example of extremist language. 8. Deliver a systematic analysis of a real case of extremist prose that is written rigorously yet comprehensibly for a non-academic target readership. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Individual presentations of required readings | 10 min | 1, 3-4 | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Essay | 50 | 2,500 words | 1-3; 5 | Written |
| Practical Analysis | 50 | 2,500 words | 3-7 | 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 (2,500 words) | 1-3; 5 | August/September reassessment period |
| Practical Analysis | Practical Analysis (2,500 words) | 3-7 | August/September reassessment period |
