College of Social Sciences and International Studies

College of Social Sciences and International Studies

War and its Aftermath: Interventions and Contemporary Conflict
Module POL3168 for 2021/2

Overview
Aims and Learning Outcomes
Module Content
Indicative Reading List
Assessment

Undergraduate Module Descriptor

POL3168: War and its Aftermath: Interventions and Contemporary Conflict

This module descriptor refers to the 2021/2 academic year.

Module Aims

This module will introduce you to a broad range of scholarship – primarily in the discipline of International Relations – that addresses conflict and its aftermath. This field of study has expanded exponentially in the post-Cold War period and much of it is based on extensive field research. The module will encourage you to grapple with the more theoretical texts in light of well-researched case studies. Furthermore, it will ask you to consider the efficacy of common policy prescriptions in light of recent scholarship. The module aims to help you develop professional values and engage meaningfully with scholarship focused on issues related to war and post-conflict recovery from an academic and policy perspective.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)
This module's assessment will evaluate your achievement of the ILOs listed here – you will see reference to these ILO numbers in the details of the assessment for this module.
On successfully completing the programme you will be able to:
Module-Specific Skills	1. Identify the major arguments in the fields of comparative politics and international relations regarding conflict and its aftermath 2. Evaluate different interpretations about the nature of war and prescriptions for its cessation
Discipline-Specific Skills	3. Articulate in-depth knowledge of a subfield of International Relations, and knowledge of contemporary issues in international politics 4. Deploy theoretical arguments, concepts, and methods, and apply them to practices and common policy prescriptions in the global arena;
Personal and Key Skills	5. Communicate effectively in writing and speech 6. Write well-structured arguments 7. Work independently and with peers to achieve common goals

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:

the character of war in the post-Cold War era, terrorism, genocide, actors in war, humanitarian intervention, aid, international criminal tribunals, truth and reconciliation commissions, and state apologies. The first half of the course will address the issues confronted during war (such as the character of fighting, whether or not to intervene, and humanitarian assistance) while the second half of the course will address measures to deal with legacies of mass atrocities in the aftermath of war. Most seminars in the second term will focus on a case study and a cross-cutting thematic issue.

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 & Teaching activities	44	Twenty-two seminars of 2 hours each will involve small group discussion of texts and presentations.
Guided independent study	200	Reading and preparation for tutorials, including preparation of comment papers
Guided independent study	56	Research and writing of essay