The programme is designed to provide students with an intellectual training in the disciplines of Philosophy and Politics which, while discrete subjects, are complementary and mutually enriching. The combination of Philosophy and Politics allows for the development of an in-depth appreciation of the ideas that help to explain the foundations of the modern world, democracy and political stability.
Philosophy and Politics at Queen’s were both ranked joint 1st in the UK for Research Intensity in their respective disciplines (Complete University Guide 2022).
Philosophy and Politics highlights
Global Opportunities
QUB students, uniquely in the UK, still have the opportunity to spend part of the course studying in other European universities, through our Erasmus programme. There are also opportunities to study at partner institutions in the USA and Canada.
Possible examples include:
• George Washington University (Washington DC, USA)
• Aarhus Universitet (Denmark)
• College of Charleston (South Carolina, USA)
• Institut d’Etudes Politques de Bordeaux (France)
• University of Oslo (Norway)
• Universiteit Utrecht (Netherlands)
• Vanderbilt University (Nashville, Tennessee, USA)
Industry Links
Students in their final year have the opportunity to secure a semester long placement, giving them hands-on experience of political issues and policymaking.
Research-led Teaching: We have particular strengths in the areas of ethics and political philosophy.
Internationally Renowned Experts
Our Philosophy department offers expertise in continental and analytical philosophy, logic, philosophy of science, and moral and political philosophy.
The School of History, Anthropology, Philosophy and Politics at Queen‘s has 30 full-time academics, making it the largest institutional centre for the study of these subjects in Ireland and one of the largest in the UK.
The School also boasts the following:
• Democracy Unit
• Centre for Gender in Politics
• Centre for Public History
• The Senator George J Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice
• Institute of Cognition and Culture
• Institute of Irish Studies
• Two International Summer Schools (the Irish
Studies Summer School; and the Conflict
Transformation and Social Justice Summer
School)
Student Experience
Our vibrant Politics Society (Polysoc) provides a welcome and stimulating environment for new students. There is also an active student run Philosophy Society and the School is the home of the Belfast branch of the Royal Institute of Philosophy, which organises regular talks and seminars by distinguished visiting philosophers.
Further Study Opportunities
For those wishing to pursue further study after their first degree, the School provides a range of MA programmes in both politics and philosophy, which can be taken either full-time (one year) or part-time (two years). There are also opportunities to do an MPhil or PhD by thesis; see the School website for information. http://www.qub.ac.uk/happ
Student Experience
Queen’s is ranked in the top 170 in the world for graduate prospects (QS Graduate Employability Rankings 2022).
16% of the Queen’s student population are international students (Queen’s Planning Office, 2023).
Cutting-edge research drives our externally commended teaching, most recently evidenced in the latest student satisfaction survey.
Industry Links
Unique to the BA Politics programme is the opportunity in the final year to undertake a part-time placement within a local organisation to gain direct experience of policy-making and political decision-making.
Student Experience
Northern Ireland post-conflict society offers a globally significant location for studying key political themes. Strong links with local government, NGOs, museums etc.
Student Testimonials
“I found it very easy to talk to the Philosophy staff and they always went out of their way to help me. They were genuinely interested in my progress and always had my best interests at heart.“
Adrian Downey
“I chose Queen’s because the wide choice of modules essentially allows me to build my own degree. I enjoy the way we are taught through lectures and tutorials where we are given an overview of a topic, able to research more for ourselves, and then debate with our peers in tutorial sessions.”
Jessica Simonds
The degree programme does not presuppose any prior training in Philosophy and can profitably be taken by those who have studied the subject at school – as well as those who have not.
PHILOSOPHY
Year 1
Students choose six modules from a range of introductory modules.
Year 2
Students choose 6 modules that explore the wide range of major debates and inquiry in Philosophy, exploring questions that range from how to understand the mind, to how ‘reality’ might be understood, to key political theories about how we live as a society.
Year 3
In the final year, students focus on particular areas of specialisation that build on their studies in years 1 and 2. Students will write a dissertation (double-weighted) and choose four modules.
POLITICS
Year 1
There are two core modules introducing students to the study of politics and of political ideas, Students choose additional optional six modules from a range of introductory philosophy and politics modules.
Year 2
Students choose 6 modules that explore the wide range of major debates and inquiry in Philosophy, exploring questions that range from how to understand the mind, to how ‘reality’ might be understood, to key political theories about how we live as a society.
Year 3
At level three, students may choose from a wide range of specialist modules drawn from the various sub-fields that make up the disciplines of philosophy and politics. Students may also opt to do a placement at a partner organisation, or write a dissertation on a topic of their choice under the supervision of a member of academic staff.
Stage 1
PHILOSOPHY
Stage1
Students choose six modules from a range of introductory modules including the following:
• Introductory Logic
• Perspectives on Politics
• Philosophy and Human Nature
• Philosophy and the Good Life
POLITICS
Stage1
• Comparative Politics
• Contemporary Europe
• Issues in Contemporary Politics
• Perspectives on Politics
Stage 2
PHILOSOPHY
Stage 2
Students choose 6 modules that explore the wide range of major debates and inquiry in Philosophy, exploring questions that range from how to understand the mind, to how ‘reality’ might be understood, to key political theories about how we live as a society.
Examples include:
• History of Philosophy
• Knowledge and Reality
• Philosophy of Race and Gender
• Modern Political Thought
• Moral Theories
• Philosophy of Science
POLITICS
Stage 2
• American Politics
• British Politics in crisis
• Identity Politics in Diverse Societies
• International Organisations
• Modern Political Thought
• Politics and Policies of the European Union
• Security and Terrorism
• Studying Politics
• The Politics of Deeply Divided Societies
Stage 3
PHILOSOPHY
Stage 3
In the final year, students focus on particular areas of specialisation that build on their studies in years 1 and 2. Students will either write a dissertation (double-weighted) and choose one module, or choose three modules.
Examples of options include:
• Applied Ethics
• Philosophical Theology
• Philosophy for Children
• Issues in the Philosophy of Science
• Philosophy of Technology
• Topics in Epistemology
• Dissertation
POLITICS
Stage 3
• Arms Control
• Asylum and Migration in Global Politics
• Contemporary Political Philosophy
• Global Political Economy of Energy
• Politics of the Global Economy
• European Cultural Identities
• National and Ethnic Minorities in European Politics
• Northern Ireland: A Case Study
• Political Parties and Elections in Northern Ireland
• Challenges to Contemporary Party Politics
• Politics, Public Administration and Policymaking
• Security and Technology
• The Far Right in Western Europe and North America
• The Politics of Irish Literature
• Earth, Energy, Ethics and Economy
• Radical Hope: Inspiring Present-day Sustainability Transformations
• Internship
• The Placement
• Dissertation
Note that this is not an exclusive list, and these options are subject to staff availability.
6 (hours maximum) In a typical week, you will have 3-6 hours of tutorials (or later, project supervision).
Large Group Teaching
6 (hours maximum) In a typical week you may have up to 6 hours of lectures, depending on the level of study.
Personal Study
10 (hours maximum) Typically 10 hours per module (30 hours per week), revising in your own time
Learning and Teaching
Examples of opportunities for learning provided on this course are:
Dissertations
In their final year, students can write a dissertation based on a research topic of their choice and under one-to-one supervision by an academic with specialist knowledge in the chosen field. This provides a unique opportunity for students to marshal all the research and writing skills they have learned through the course of their degree to produce an original piece of research which reflects the particular interests that they have acquired in their time studying at Queen’s.
E-Learning technologies
Information associated with lectures and assignments is normally communicated via a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) called Canvas. This means that each course has its own mini-website containing all of ethe relevant course information, essential readings, recordings, discussion boards, etc. E-learning experiences are also embedded in the degree programme through the use of, for example, interactive support materials, podcasts and web-based learning activities.
Lectures
These introduce foundation information about new topics as a starting point for further self-directed private study/reading. As the module progresses this information becomes more complex. Lectures, which are normally delivered in large groups to all year-group peers, also provide opportunities to ask questions and seek clarification on key issues as well as gain feedback and advice on assessments.
Self-directed study
This is an essential part of life as a Queen’s student when important private reading, engagement with e-learning resources, reflection on feedback to date and assignment research and preparation work is carried out.
Seminars/tutorials
A significant amount of teaching is carried out in small groups (typically 10-12 students). These sessions are designed to explore, in more depth, the information that has been presented in the lectures. This provides students with the opportunity to engage closely with academic staff who have specialist knowledge of the topic, to ask questions of them and to assess their own progress and understanding with the support of their peers. During these classes, students will be expected to present their work to academic staff and their peers.
Assessment
The way in which you are assessed will vary according to the Learning objectives of each module. Details of how each module is assessed are shown in the Student Handbook which is provided to all students during their first year induction. Level 3 students can take a dissertation module (it is double weighted) which reduces their contact hours, however they are expected to have regular one-to-one meetings with supervisors, and to conduct more personal study.
Most modules are assessed solely through project work or written assignments.
Others are assessed through a combination of coursework and end of semester examinations.
Feedback
As students progress through their course at Queen's they will receive general and specific feedback about their work from a variety of sources, including lecturers, module co-ordinators, personal tutors and peers. Feedback may be provided in a variety of forms, including:
Feedback provided via formal written comments and marks relating to work that you, as an individual or as part of a group, have submitted.
Face to face comment. This may include occasions when you make use of the lecturers’ advertised “office hours” to help you to address a specific query.
Placement employer comments or references (where relevant).
Online or emailed comment.
Once you have reviewed your feedback, you will be encouraged to identify and implement further improvements to the quality of your work. All students are required to meet with their Personal Tutor to discuss their overall academic progress and performance at least once a semester. They are encouraged to bringing assignment mark-sheets to these meetings to help with discussing ways of improving assignment performance and preparing for exams.
General comments or question and answer opportunities at the end of a lecture, seminar or tutorial.
Pre-submission advice regarding the standards you should aim for and common pitfalls to avoid. In some instances, this may be provided in the form of model answers or exemplars which you can review in your own time.
Feedback and outcomes from practical classes.
Comment and guidance provided by staff from specialist support services such as, Careers, Employability and Skills or the Learning Development Service.
In philosophy, every lecture, tutorial and seminar is a ‘feedback’ session, where students get a better sense of their academic progress by being actively encouraged to discuss anything they do and don’t understand with each other and their class leader.
The information below is intended as an example only, featuring module details for the current year of study (2024/25). Modules are reviewed on an annual basis and may be subject to future changes – revised details will be published through Programme Specifications ahead of each academic year.
This module provides a comprehensive introduction to the empirical study of politics. Politics is an essential and pervasive feature of social life, deeply affecting how our lives are structured, whether or not we are involved directly in political decision-making. Politics is a complex phenomenon, with many different aspects and is found in a range of different contexts, from formal electoral politics, to relations in families and workplaces, exchanges on social media, and in the construction of social values and attitudes. The empirical study of politics, accordingly, has a number of distinct sub-fields focused on particular aspects of political life. This module will introduce you to research on political attitudes and behaviour, electoral politics, political institutions, and public policy. Focusing on these substantive areas, this module will equip you with an understanding of how politics is studied, and the different types of analyses that are conducted to reach conclusions about these important aspects of the political world.
Learning Outcomes
Students will:
- Appreciate the ways in which the academic study of politics differs from political commentary.
- acquire an appreciation of the different ways that empirical researchers study political behaviour, institutions and policies
- understand the complexity of politics
- become familiar with the variety of approaches adopted in the empirical study of politics
Skills
Intellectual skills
• Managing & Prioritizing Knowledge: identify relevant and subject-specific knowledge, sources and data; manage such information in an independent manner.
• Analytical Thinking: identify, understand, interpret and evaluate relevant subject-specific arguments made by others; construct independent arguments.
• Critical & Independent Thinking: ability to think critically and construct one’s own position in relation to existing and ongoing debates in the field.
Professional and career development skills
• Communication Skills: ability to communicate clearly with others, both orally and in writing.
• Teamwork: ability to work with others in a team, negotiate conflicts and recognize different ways of learning.
• Diversity: ability to acknowledge and be sensitive to the range of cultural differences present in the learning environment.
• Self-Reflexivity: ability to reflect on one’s own progress and identify and act upon one’s own development needs with respect to life-long learning and career development.
• Time Management: ability to negotiate diverse and competing pressures; cope with stress; and achieve a work / life balance.
Organizational skills
• Efficient and effective work practice: demonstrate ability to work efficiently to deadlines.
• Clear organisation of information: show efficiency in the organisation of large amounts of complex information and the ability to identify, describe and analyse the key features of the information.
• Organisation and communication: demonstrate ability to use evidence to develop logical and clear arguments; show aptitude for the effective use of information in a direct and appropriate way.
• Enterprising thinking: Demonstrate ability to think and argue in novel and enterprising ways, to display originality of thought and argument and the ability to clearly support arguments in innovative ways.
This module aims to introduce students to the broad field of political theory and philosophy, a necessary and integral component of the study of politics generally. Taking a contemporary approach to the subject, the module stresses the vital importance of theoretical enquiry for understanding, analysing, and criticizing everyday socio-political life. Students are therefore introduced to key concepts and problems in the study of politics, including the meaning of democracy, the fraught relation between the individual and society, and the contested nature of power and political authority. In exploring these themes, students come to an appreciation of the complexities surrounding our everyday notions of democratic rule, freedom, justice, citizenship, government, and power.
Learning Outcomes
Students should acquire an understanding of a number of ways of conceptualising and analysing critically key aspects of political life. On successful completion of the module they will have demonstrated capacities for reading texts in contemporary political theory and exploring the implication of these writings for practical politics.
Skills
Analytical and conceptual skills. The ability to argue cogently in oral and written communication.
This course aims to delve into essential themes within the field of Comparative Politics, providing students with the tools to comprehend fundamental structures, institutions, and processes that underpin contemporary political systems. Through the application of the comparative method, students will gain insight into the dynamics of real-world politics. The initial lectures will establish a theoretical foundation for the comparative method, emphasising its utility as a means of understanding diverse political landscapes. Subsequent lectures will employ this method to examine various themes, including regime types (democratic versus authoritarian), systems of governance (global versus local), institutions, political organisations and outputs of public policy. Notably, the course adopts a broad approach by not confining itself to specific geographic regions; instead, it explores a diverse range of cases to underscore the usefulness and applicability of the comparative method across different contexts.
Learning Outcomes
On successfully completing the module students will be able to:
- Understand the field of comparative politics and be familiar with the comparative method.
- Identify key debates in the field of comparative politics and extrapolate key questions of theoretical and societal relevance.
- Demonstrate a basic understanding of differences between political institutions, key processes and the outcomes they produce.
- Demonstrate a basic understanding of the key actors active in political systems and the dynamics of power underpinning their relationships.
- Understand the main methodological approaches used in the field of comparative politics as well as the major data sources.
- Independently apply basic concepts of comparative politics to cases beyond the ones reviewed in class.
Skills
Intellectual skills:
- Managing & Prioritising Knowledge: identify relevant and subject-specific knowledge, sources and data; manage such information in an independent manner.
- Analytical Thinking: identify, understand, interpret and evaluate relevant subject-specific arguments made by others; construct independent arguments.
- Critical & Independent Thinking: ability to think critically and construct one’s own position in relation to existing and ongoing debates in the field.
Professional and career development skills:
- Communication Skills: ability to communicate clearly with others, both orally and in writing.
- Diversity: ability to acknowledge and be sensitive to the range of cultural differences present in the learning environment.
- Self-Reflexivity: ability to reflect on one’s own progress and identify and act upon one’s own development needs with respect to life-long learning and career development.
- Time Management: ability to negotiate diverse and competing pressures; cope with stress; and achieve a work / life balance.
Organisational skills:
- Efficient and effective work practice: demonstrate ability to work efficiently to deadlines.
- Clear organisation of information: show efficiency in the organisation of large amounts of complex information and the ability to identify, describe and analyse the key features of the information.
- Organisation and communication: demonstrate ability to use evidence to develop logical and clear arguments; show aptitude for the effective use of information in a direct and appropriate way.
- Enterprising thinking: Demonstrate ability to think and argue in novel and enterprising ways, to display originality of thought and argument and the ability to clearly support arguments in innovative ways.
The module provides a wide-ranging introduction to political developments in contemporary Europe. Following analysis of the nature and consequences for Europe of the Cold War, the module analyses some of the major political, economic and security challenges Europe has had to face since 1989 including the processes of economic and political transformation in Central and Eastern Europe as well as war in the former Yugoslavia and Ukraine. Featuring prominently in the module are developments in the process of European integration with a primary focus on the EU, how it is organized and operates, what powers it has, the attitudes of selected states in contemporary Europe towards membership, and the effects of integration on them. In doing so, the module considers the origins and implications of the Eurozone crisis for European integration as well as public attitudes towards the process.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module, students will
1. Understand the historical background to contemporary Europe;
2. Analyse critically selected major political developments and trends in Europe since the end of the Cold War;
3. Appreciate key concepts and understandings associated with the political organization of Europe;
4. Appreciate key concepts and understandings associated with the European Union as a political entity;
5. Analyse how the major European states have engaged with the European Union since 1957;
6. Understand public reactions to European integration.
7. Appreciate selected major political and security challenges facing contemporary
Skills
The module will develop students' analytical, research and communication skills; allow students to refine their essay-writing skills; and enhance their abilities to think critically.
An introduction to fundamental logical notions such as validity and entailment, including an examination of the nature of critical thinking in argumentation. This introduction may include some treatment of elementary issues in the philosophy of logic, but will focus primarily on elementary formal symbolic logic (especially propositional but also predicate calculus), using natural deduction techniques.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module, students will:
• Acquire at least a limited ability to practice symbolic reasoning at the most basic level together with a more discursive grasp of the basic notions of logic, and of standard examples of fallacious reasoning.
• Develop skills in analysis and communication
• Develop the ability to comprehend and some ability to formulate clear and extended arguments.
Skills
Intellectual skills
• Analytical Thinking: identify, understand, interpret and evaluate relevant subject-specific arguments made by others; construct independent arguments
• Critical & Independent Thinking: ability to think critically and construct one’s own position in relation to existing and ongoing debates in the field
Professional and career development skills
• Communication Skills: ability to communicate clearly with others, both orally and in writing
• Teamwork: ability to work with others in a team, negotiate conflicts and recognize different ways of learning
• Self-Reflexivity: ability to reflect on one’s own progress and identify and act upon ones own development needs with respect to life-long learning and career development
• Time Management: ability to negotiate diverse and competing pressures; cope with stress; and achieve a work / life balance
Technical and practical skills
• Information Technology: demonstrate the knowledge and ability to use contemporary and relevant ICT
Organizational skills
• Efficient and effective work practice: demonstrate ability to work efficiently to deadlines
• Organisation and communication: demonstrate ability to use evidence to develop logical and clear argument; show aptitude for the effective use of information in a direct and appropriate way
This module is an introduction to moral philosophy, requiring no prior acquaintance with the subject. The module is topic based. In the first half, we will investigate some major theories of morality – systematic accounts of what makes something morally right or wrong. In the second half, we will look at the application of these theories to some practical issues, including abortion, the treatment of animals, and our duties to those in the developing world.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module, students will be able to demonstrate knowledge of a number of theories in moral philosophy; explain the relevance of these theories to some key issues in applied ethics; converse and write with critical authority about the ideas of a number of important philosophers; demonstrate the principles of sound and effective reasoning and argument; show tolerance for different and challenging ideas.
Skills
Students should develop skills in literacy, analysis, and communication, and the ability to comprehend and develop clear and extended arguments.
An introduction to some fundamental philosophical problems arising from theories of human nature in the western philosophical tradition, and to the methods which philosophers use for solving them, including techniques of sound reasoning and argument. Topics covered will include the soul, personal identity, free will, God and evil, and life after death (among others). Reference will be made to the ideas and arguments of many important figures in the history of philosophy, including Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas, Descartes, Hume and Kant.
Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of this introduction to the nature and range of Philosophy, students will have developed a familiarity with the ideas of a number of important philosophers and a sense of the principles of sound and effective reasoning and argument.
Skills
KEY Intellectual skills, e.g., critical analysis, creative thinking, problem solving; communication skills, e.g., oral, listening and written; improvement of learning and performance; managing information. EMPLOYABILITY Research and communication skills (written and oral), independent learning (organising and prioritising ideas), critical/independent thinking. SUBJECT SPECIFIC Listening/analytical/literacy/presentation skills; textual analysis; the comprehension and formulation of extended and cogent arguments; the ability to participate in a tolerant and supportive learning environment.
What is to be done? Sustainability, climate change and just energy transitions in the Anthropocene
Overview
The module will comprise three distinct sections:
1. Section one will introduce students to the module and set the context for a study of environment and sustainability in the context of the Anthropocene;
2. Section two will focus on key issues such as society’s dependency on fossil fuels and associated socio-ecological conflicts; and
3. The third section will concentrate on pathways towards sustainability, using complex systems thinking to help integrate students’ appreciation of the contributions of diverse disciplines. In doing so, this module will introduce students to some of the most significant problems facing our world and offer alternative individual and institutional pathways to a more sustainable future.
Breakdown of lecture/tutorial topics
Section One
Society-environment interactions
Risk society
Welcome to the Anthropocene
Is climate change a ‘wicked’ problem?
Climate change mitigation & adaptation
The politics of our personal/ political responses to the Anthropocene
Section Two
Carbon captured? Carbon lock in & our dependency on fossil fuels
Extractive industries
Sustainability politics and policies
Social conflicts and the environment
The organisation of ‘sustainable degradation’
The mythic lure of techno-optimism
The impact of neoliberalism or transnational global environmental negotiations and law making
The political economy of lobbying and capture
Section Three
Just Energy transitions x 2
Renewable energies, people and place
Rethinking Economics and Rethinking prosperity x 2
Post-growth rethinking beyond GDP/GNP, critical approaches to wellbeing
Creativity, envisioning and Developing sustainable communities and societies
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the module, students will be able to:
-Understand key concepts such as the ‘Anthropocene’, socio-technical transitions, just transition, environmental and climate justice, energy democracy;
-Articulate key socio-ecological issues such as enclosure of common natural resources, carbon lock-in, sustainability policy formation;
-Analyse society-environment interactions in the context of unequal resource distribution and inequality in both a global and national context;
-Offer a cultural political economy analysis of anthropogenic climate change and just energy transitions;
-Critically evaluate the concept of sustainability/sustainable development;
-Confidently integrate a variety of disciplinary perspectives and bodies of knowledge within the arts, humanities and social sciences and between the latter and natural science and technological studies;
-Formulate their own conceptualisation of desirable and realisable low and post-carbon energy futures;
-Utilise learning technologies to deepen their learning process.
Skills
Ability to work with other people;
Ability to work across and integrate different disciplinary perspectives on the same issue;
Managing & Prioritizing Knowledge: identify relevant and subject-specific knowledge, sources and data; manage such information in an independent manner
Analytical Thinking: identify, understand, interpret and evaluate relevant subject-specific arguments made by others; construct independent arguments *
Critical & Independent Thinking: ability to think critically and in creative and innovative ways and construct one’s own position in relation to existing and ongoing debates in the fields of study
Communication Skills: ability to communicate clearly with others, both orally and in writing Teamwork: ability to work with others in a team, negotiate conflicts and recognize different ways of learning
Diversity: ability to acknowledge and be sensitive to the range of cultural differences present in the learning environment
Self-Reflexivity: ability to reflect on one’s own progress and identify and act upon ones own development needs with respect to life-long learning and career development
Time Management: ability to negotiate diverse and competing pressures; cope with stress; and achieve a work / life balance Technical and practical skills
Information Technology: demonstrate the knowledge and ability to use contemporary and relevant ICT Organizational skills
Efficient and effective work practice: demonstrate ability to work efficiently to deadlines
Clear organisation of information: show efficiency in the organisation of large amounts of complex information and the ability to identify, describe and analyse the key features of the information.
Organisation and communication: demonstrate ability to use evidence to develop logical and clear arguments; show aptitude for the effective use of information in a direct and appropriate way
Enterprising thinking: Demonstrate ability to think and argue in novel and enterprising ways, to display originality of
Without understanding the methodology of research practice it is not possible to undertake political research effectively or to critically assess the work of others. Equally, without research skills it is not possible to test our assertions, assumptions, knowledge and preconceptions about the political world. Research methods are therefore crucial if we are to be able to address the important questions of ‘how do we know’ and ‘what is there to know’, which are critical in all fields of political studies. Consequently, this module has four aims. Firstly, to introduce students to the political research environment, incorporating both the elements and processes that underpin inquiry. Secondly, the module seeks to examine different methodologies and techniques to enable the undertaking of both original and critical research. Thirdly, to encourage candidates to develop a critical appreciation of data including both content and use. Fourthly, to promote a general awareness and working knowledge not only of the complexities of political research but also of the variety of environments in which research takes place.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module, students will be able to:
• Describe the relationship between the researchers of, the actors in and the environment determining political and social processes.
• Develop communication skills through computer lab participation and writing for coursework.
• Identify both the strengths and weaknesses of different research techniques.
• Pursue intellectual questions on the basis of interpretation and analysis of data in a rigorous and academic manner by employing analytical skills and critical thinking.
• Critically assess the collection of data and understand its use as a tool for understanding political processes.
• Evaluate and discriminate between qualitative and quantitative data analyses and, in doing so, demonstrate a willingness to implement good practice.
• Interpret the research of others and appreciate the problems involved in both collection and interpretation of data.
• Compare, contrast and choose between different quantitative research methods and justify the choice through an awareness and working knowledge of quantitative methodology.
• Implement basic intellectual skills that include data understanding, analysis, numeracy, and problem solving.
• Present research findings in an appropriate manner and communicate finding to others in a clear and concise manner in written form.
Skills
To think analytically and methodologically, to apply quantitative analysis techniques using specialised computer software, and to interpret and communicate results of statistical analyses.
The Politics of the Planetary Crisis: power, people and place
Overview
We live in a time of climate and ecological crisis. Both globally and locally evidence of the negative impacts of a destabilised climate, extreme weather events and impacts of declining biodiversity and ecosystem health are resulting in impacts on human health and safety, food production, forcing people to migrate as well as having significant economic impacts. At the same time we see a variety of political and social responses to the ‘polycrisis’, ranging from political parties and governments developing climate and ecological policies, the rise in direct action climate and ecological justice movements such as Fridays for Future, Just Stop Oil, calls for universities to change what they teach and research so as to be ‘fit for future purpose’, as well as local communities responding in imaginative ways to the dangers and transformative opportunities presented by this crisis.
A unique feature of this module will be that which the first 10 lectures will be chosen by the academic teaching team, the last 10 will be chosen by students.
This module introduces students to the causes, consequences and solutions to the planetary crisis and how it intersects with existing forms of injustices, tensions and conflicts, as well as creating new ones. It explores the variety of ways communities, social movements businesses, political parties and states have, or have not, responding to the crisis. Questions considered will include.
1. What are the variety of explanations for or approaches to understanding the causes, consequences and solutions to the planetary crisis?
2. How and in what ways is decarbonisation connected to democratisation?
3. How are both the above connected to decolonisation?
4. Why, despite the decades of climate and ecological science indicating that humanity is facing a planetary crisis, have governments done so little?
5. Why, when governments ‘listened to the science’ in relation to shaping responses to the Covid 19 pandemic, they are not implementing the transformations in economies, societies and livelihoods demanded by the climate and ecological science?
6. How and in what ways have citizens, communities, movements and interest groups responding both to the planetary crisis and the perceived lack of government action in addressing it?
7. How have difference political ideologies responded to the planetary crisis – liberalism, capitalism, green politics, socialism, feminism, nationalism, fundamentalism, Marxist, right wing populism/fascism?
8. Is non-violent direct action justified, legitimate and/or effective as a political response to failures by governments to do what is necessary to protect a ‘habitable world’ and the life-supporting systems of the planet?
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module, students will:
1. Be familiar with the main stakeholders/actors necessary to understand the planetary crisis;
2. Understand the range of explanations for the causes of the climate and ecological crisis and their intersection with class, race, colonial and gender injustice and politics
3. An awareness of the intersection between ‘facts/science/empirical realities’ and value based/ideological responses to these in policy and politics, and how there are multiple ways of responding to the same scientific evidence.
4. Awareness of the tension and computability between political ideologies and political/policy and economic responses to the polycrisis
5. Be able to identify the ideological and value-based dimensions of how both the understanding of the planetary crisis and responses to it are framed within the media, popular discourse and from different political perspectives
Skills
1. An understanding of the range of perspectives and knowledge-bases necessary to comprehend the dynamics shaping world that is now unfolding and within which students will have jobs, careers and families
2. Awareness of the necessity of an interdisciplinary understanding of the policy crisis
3. Group work, negotiation, planning and time management; in small groups of students develop their own research project, developing their independent research skills.
4. Independent thinking and initiative in both developing their group project ideas, choosing the last 10 lectures and associated resources, as well as individual self-reflection and applying the learning on the module to their lived experience in relation to the academic diary.
In this module we cover several perspectives pertaining to deeply divided societies and the unique challenges such conflicts face. We discuss, compare, and contrast cases such as Northern Ireland, South Africa, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Israel-Palestine while also discussing other cases from around the globe. Understanding deeply divided societies’ internal and external dynamics and effects is at the core of this module. It covers domestic causes and effects of identity-based conflicts, their regional embeddedness, and their effects on global politics.
Throughout the semester, students will learn to appreciate a range of dimensions throughout the conflict cycle, from claim making (violence, political competition), through strategies for conflict mitigation (institutional reform, societal cohesion, international involvement) and opportunities for conflict management (power-sharing, secession).
More specifically, we will investigate the challenges of reforming state institutions, their relationship with the governed, and international recognition of domestic claims to power and regime legitimacy.
Learning Outcomes
• Identify and explain the phenomenon and unique features of deeply divided societies
• Applying theoretical arguments related to such key features and the different processes deeply divided societies go through to both historical and contemporary cases
• Evaluate debates amongst scholars who represent different theoretical perspectives
• Comparing and contrasting cases of deeply divided societies from other types of conflicted societies
• Comparing and contrasting between cases of deeply divided societies
• Acquire a deeper and complex understanding of key topics in the study of deeply divided societies (T, P, A)
• Attain a better understanding of several theoretical traditions in International relations and comparative politics and the way they help us identify, examine, and understand deeply divided societies (T, P, A)
• Have the ability to critically analyse and formulate view on central debates and controversies in the study of deeply divided societies (T, P, A)
• Have the ability to compare and contrast between historical and contemporary cases of deeply divided societies (T, P, A)
Cognitive:
• Develop analytical thinking (P, A)
• Develop critical thinking (P, A)
• Apply theoretical concepts to real-life events (P, A)
• Synthesise information from various sources (P, A).
• Collect, sort, criticise, and analyse data (T, P, A)
Transferable:
• Communicate clearly both orally and in writing (P, A)
• Construct evidence-based arguments (P, A)
• Display originality of thought and argument (P, A)
This module examines the interface and inter-relationships between politics, philosophy and economics and draws on the disciplines of political economy, political theory and moral philosophy, and political science to provide a comprehensive account of these relations. Particular topics covered will vary from year but may include, for example:
issues in classical political economy
the relationship between political ideology and economics,
the history of economic thought,
how democratic institutions interact with the economy and the notion of public goods.
Post-war economic development project,
Modernity and conceptions of development
Debates about the concept of the rational actor
Freedom and economic life
Distributive justice
Libertarian ideas about the relations between the market and politics
The idea of ‘market society’
Workplace democracy
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the module students will:
• Have a familiarity with some of the key debates in classic political economy and moral and political philosophy concerning economic power, the economy as a political creation and the relationship between the state and the economy; freedom and economic relations
• Be able to apply these concepts and debates to questions of economic development, the ethical implications of contemporary development trajectories and to current policy issues;
Skills
Students will develop the ability to think critically and philosophically about economics and the economy, while placing it in its appropriate political context.
Students will be able to communicate ideas to others in coherent and concise, written and oral form;
Students will be able to think analytically, critically and logically about a range of important contemporary social issues.
The American political system is in many ways exceptional and has throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries exerted an increasingly global influence. Peoples worldwide have looked to America as an example of a resilient democracy, based on that peculiar combination of egalitarianism and liberty, community and individualism of which Tocqueville and others so highly spoke. The American republic has since its inception claimed to represent universal aspirations to democracy and freedom. Since the very beginning, however, a triumphal account of American democracy and its liberal tradition has coexisted uncomfortably with institutions of slavery and racial segregation, persistent inequalities and controversial ‘foreign entanglements’. American democracy has endured, yet it is often criticised for what it has become.
The American Civil War was the bloody resolution to a national deadlock over slavery and states’ rights but did not end institutional discrimination. Victory in World War II entrenched America’s role as the world’s leading military and economic power, from which emerged a prosperous middle-class society but, in turn, also tumultuous social change that would eventually result in historically high levels of polarisation. American wealth has dominated the global economy but coexists with high levels of socioeconomic inequality and widespread marginalisation, intensifying scrutiny of the country’s claim to being a democratic exemplar. While American ‘exceptionalism’ still underpins national politics, increasing socio-cultural, political, economic and ideological divisions pose a serious challenge to American democracy from within.
Learning Outcomes
This module is a survey course, introducing students to the American political system and current debates about democracy in America. Students will acquire an understanding of the key institutions of the American political system, its origin and evolving dynamics. Students will become familiar with contemporary debates on the nature of democracy and the democratic process in America, including controversies surrounding a range of socio-economic developments and related policy processes.
Skills
This module will assist in developing students’ skills in a number of important areas. These include:
Intellectual skills
• Managing & Prioritizing Knowledge: identify relevant and subject-specific knowledge, sources and data; manage such information in an independent manner
• Analytical Thinking: identify, understand, interpret and evaluate relevant subject-specific arguments made by others; construct independent arguments
• Critical & Independent Thinking: ability to think critically and construct one’s own position in relation to existing and ongoing debates in the field
Professional and career development skills
• Communication Skills: ability to communicate clearly with others, both orally and in writing
• Self-Reflexivity: ability to reflect on one’s own progress and identify and act upon one’s own development needs with respect to life-long learning and career development
Organizational skills
• Efficient and effective work practice: demonstrate ability to work efficiently to deadlines
• Clear organisation of information: show efficiency in the organisation of large amounts of complex information and the ability to identify, describe and analyse the key features of the information
• Organisation and communication: demonstrate ability to use evidence to develop logical and clear arguments; show aptitude for the effective use of information in a direct and appropriate way
• Enterprising thinking: Demonstrate ability to think and argue in novel and enterprising ways, to display originality of thought and argument and the ability to clearly support arguments in innovative ways
This module will introduce students to key aspects of British politics, focusing on institutions and elections and voting. The module will provide students with an understanding of the main institutions of the UK (Parliament, the executive, devolution), the parties and party systems of the UK, and elections and voting behaviour. The module will allow students to use the skills developed in PAI2043 Studying Politics in the study and analysis of elections and voting in the UK. The module takes a contemporary and practical approach and will develop the students’ analytical, statistical, and writing skills.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this module, students will be able to identify the key institutions and players in British politics and to identify and define the major issues in British politics. Moreover, students will be able to appreciate and explain the major changes in British politics that have taken place over time. Students will be able to locate and engage with data relevant to past and contemporary British politics.
Skills
Intellectual skills
• Managing & Prioritizing Knowledge: identify relevant and subject-specific knowledge, sources and data; manage such information in an independent manner
• Analytical Thinking: identify, understand, interpret and evaluate relevant subject-specific arguments made by others; construct independent arguments
• Critical & Independent Thinking: ability to think critically and construct one’s own position in relation to existing and ongoing debates in the field
Professional and career development skills
• Communication Skills: ability to communicate clearly with others, both orally and in writing
• Time Management: ability to negotiate diverse and competing pressures; cope with stress; and achieve a work / life balance
Technical and practical skills
• Information Technology: demonstrate the knowledge and ability to use contemporary and relevant ICT
Organizational skills
• Efficient and effective work practice: demonstrate ability to work efficiently to deadlines
• Organisation and communication: demonstrate ability to use evidence to develop logical and clear arguments; show aptitude for the effective use of information in a direct and appropriate way
• Enterprising thinking: Demonstrate ability to think and argue in novel and enterprising ways, to display originality of thought and argument and the ability to clearly support arguments in innovative ways
This module on International Organizations offers an introduction into the multilateral global security architecture. The core focus of the module is collective security. The module IO thus will deal with international law, collective security, regimes in international security and International security organizations. The United Nations system forms the core of the study. Peacekeeping, peace enforcement, peace building and the ‘outsourcing’ of core collective security tasks to regional players will dominate the sessions of the module. Core military interventions by international organizations will be analyzed. The module thus will deal with military interventions by the UN, NATO, CIS/CSTO, EU and core security and mediation tasks by the CIS, SCO and OSCE. The new policy agenda of energy security will be tackled by studying resource control: The NPT regime, the IAEA and oil and gas regimes thus will be scrutinized at the end of the semester. The major aim of the module is to outline the ‘institutionalized’ world order of today – with its hierarchies, cleavages and contradictions. The module is wedded to a strategic studies approach to IR.
Northern Ireland’s peace process, the legacy of conflict and enduring divisions present a range of ongoing challenges for politics and society. Drawing on expertise from across the School of History, Anthropology, Philosophy and Politics – combined with that of relevant practitioners, where possible – this interdisciplinary, team-taught module will examine a range of thematic challenges with respect to conflict, conflict transformation, peacebuilding, community relations, public representations of the past, and democratic governance. Rooted in the case of Northern Ireland, the module will also routinely consider broader comparisons with other cases and possible generalisation to other cases. It will be structured into three main parts. First, it will critically engage with Northern Ireland’s past. What were the underlying sources of division, and what can we learn about the complexities and nuances of identity over time? Second, it will explore how the past continues to interact with contemporary Northern Ireland. How is this past represented and understood in today’s public history landscape? Is it possible for Northern Ireland’s contested past to be publicly represented in ways that promote mutual understanding? Can Northern Ireland now be characterised as a ‘post-conflict’ region? Finally, the module will look ahead. Does the current political settlement represent a sustainable form of governance for the region? What do internal developments, such as demographic change, and external challenges, such as climate change, mean for Northern Ireland’s future? By critically engaging with these interrelated themes through relevant disciplinary perspectives, this module ultimately seeks to better understand contemporary Northern Ireland, the history that has shaped it, and the future directions that are possible.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this module the successful student should be able to demonstrate in assessed essays, coursework and tutorial contributions:
- A familiarity with a range of topical issues and debates in Northern Ireland, including their historical roots, their contemporary political significance, and their relevance for the region’s future;
- An understanding of the Northern Ireland conflict and the peace process, including the factors that contributed to both;
- A critical appreciation of the challenges associated with conflict transformation, peacebuilding, community relations, public representations of the past, and democratic governance in a divided society from a variety of disciplinary perspectives in the humanities and social sciences;
- Awareness of the role that arts, culture, heritage and public engagement with the past can play in reducing political and social divisions;
- A heightened sense of the complexity of identity, politics and place in Northern Ireland.
Skills
Intellectual skills
• Managing & Prioritizing Knowledge: identify relevant and subject-specific knowledge; manage such information in an independent manner;
• Analytical Thinking: identify, understand, interpret and evaluate relevant subject-specific arguments made by others; construct independent arguments;
• Critical & Independent Thinking: ability to think critically and construct one’s own position in relation to existing and ongoing debates in the field.
Professional and career development skills
• Communication Skills: ability to communicate clearly with others, both orally and in writing;
• Teamwork: ability to work with others in a team, negotiate conflicts and recognize different ways of learning;
• Diversity: ability to acknowledge and be sensitive to the range of cultural differences present in the learning environment;
• Self-Reflexivity: ability to reflect on one’s own progress and identify and act upon ones own development needs with respect to life-long learning and career development;
• Time Management: ability to negotiate diverse and competing pressures; cope with stress; and achieve a work / life balance .
Technical and practical skills
• Information Technology: demonstrate the knowledge and ability to use contemporary and relevant ICT.
Organizational skills
• Efficient and effective work practice: demonstrate ability to work efficiently to deadlines;
• Clear organisation of information: show efficiency in the organisation of large amounts of complex information and the ability to identify, describe and analyse the key features of the information;
• Organisation and communication: demonstrate ability to use evidence to develop logical and clear argument; show aptitude for the effective use of information in a direct and appropriate way;
• Enterprising thinking: Demonstrate ability to think and argue in novel and enterprising ways, to display originality of thought and argument and the ability to clearly support arguments in innovative ways.
This module focuses on a critical analysis of key texts and themes in the history of modern political thought. It has two aims. Firstly, by adopting a historical approach to the development of modern political thought we learn about the ideas that have shaped our own political thinking. We are typically unaware of the ways in which this history has shaped how we frame problems and our basic assumptions about how to respond to them. Adopting a historical perspective on modern political thought helps us to bring these unexamined assumptions into focus and allows us to think more creatively about how to respond to political problems. In learning about this history we are learning about ourselves
Secondly, the course has a practical aim. Ideas are tools for responding to problems. By learning about the different arguments of these thinkers we can acquire tools to help us think about our own political problems. Some of the ideas of these thinkers are good ones, some not so good and there is often disagreement about which is which. We can learn from the mistakes of others as much as we can learn from their positive contributions.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module, students will:
- Be familiar with the central arguments of key texts in the history of modern political thought
- Understand the main traditions of thought which have shaped contemporary political thinking
- Be equipped with the analytical skills necessary to necessary to interpret and criticize complex arguments.
Skills
The aim of the module is to provide students with the necessary analytical and interpretive tools to understand complex arguments. It will provide students with an opportunity to develop communication skills (listening, oral and written), and equip students with basic intellectual skills (particularly critical thinking and analysis). Students will also learn to present their own thoughts and arguments in a logical and coherent manner and to make points in a clear and succinct manner. These are key transferable skills.
Liberal values in Europe, as elsewhere, are coming under serious threat, driven by identity politics designed to exploit societal divisions. The historical link between liberalism and diversity in Europe, and the extent to which one can negotiate and accommodate, if not facilitate the other, holds the key to sustainable, coherent and peaceful societies. The module provides an overview and critical analysis of minority protection offering engagement with issues underpinning national politics, law and societal processes in Europe. Using a critical approach to contemporary politics, this module provides:
- a historical analysis of state formation and nation building in Europe with context of religious wars and political revolutions, including the (re-)conceptualisation of basic concepts and terms such as territoriality, sovereignty, state, nation and citizenship;
- reassesses primordial views on ethnicity/nationality and language & religious identities and provides a sociologically informed political lens to reconcile the requirements for political unity, obligations to international law and ensure social cohesion for the culturally diverse society;
- examines the liberal and national ideological framings of equality protection in liberal-democratic regimes and the number of mechanisms from voting rights to proportional representation in state bodies, forms of cultural and territorial autonomy and federalism to engage with the challenges of the ongoing re-nationalisation in all parts of Europe.
This module will help students interested in European politics, human and minority rights, governance and nationalism, and politics of diverse societies to understand the origins of and anticipate political developments of their increasingly diverse societies.
Learning Outcomes
- Place issues of governance in diverse societies in the context of domestic and European political and legal obligations to ensure equality of all citizens;
- Contrast the differential impact nation-state building had in different parts of Europe on diverse resident populations and reflect on the role of European integration on political process;
- Ascertain importance of diversity and equality as guarantee for societal stability and peace in and around Europe
- Understand and be able to reflect critically on the impact accommodation and support for minorities has on the likelihood of conflict in contemporary Europe
- Communicate clearly and concisely, both orally and in written form on issues relating to equality and diversity in contemporary Europe
- Pursue intellectual questions in an academic manner, using analytical skills and critical thinking to develop transferrable skills
Skills
Intellectual skills
- Managing & Prioritizing Knowledge: identify relevant and subject-specific knowledge, sources and data; manage such information in an independent manner
- Critical & Independent Thinking: ability to think critically and construct one’s own position in relation to existing and ongoing debates in the field
Professional and career development skills
- Communication Skills: ability to communicate clearly with others, both orally and in writing
- Teamwork: ability to work with others in a team, negotiate conflicts and recognize different ways of learning
- Self-Reflexivity: ability to reflect on one’s own progress and identify and act upon ones own development needs with respect to life-long learning and career development
- Time Management: ability to negotiate diverse and competing pressures; cope with stress; and achieve a work / life balance
Technical and practical skills
- Information Technology: demonstrate the knowledge and ability to use contemporary and relevant ICT Organizational skills
- Efficient and effective work practice: demonstrate ability to work efficiently to deadlines
- Clear organisation of information: show efficiency in the organisation of large amounts of complex information and the ability to identify, describe and analyse the key features of the information
- Organisation and communication: demonstrate ability to use evidence to develop logical and clear argument; show aptitude for the effective use of information in a direct and appropriate way
This module sets out to help students understand and analyse the development of International Relations as a discipline through its theories and major issues. The key theories of international relations are examined, from Realism, through Marxism to contemporary approaches such as Poststructuralism, with a focus upon how each one criticises and responds to the others revealing its strengths and weaknesses. Within this, major issues of international relations will be explored from a theoretical and conceptual perspective, such as the balance of power, peace, international society, norms and gender. Finally, the course turns to modern challenges to the discipline of International Relations, such as International Political Economy, the spread of Globalization, and contemporary concerns with security and the War on Terror. The module therefore considers how well International Relations is responding to these challenges.
Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of this module, students should be able to: Understand the main approaches to the study of IR, including current theoretical developments in the discipline. Understand the relationship between the academic analysis of international relations and the actual behaviour (e.g. foreign policy) of states. Communicate ideas to others in a clear and concise manner, both orally and in written form. Pursue intellectual questions in a rigorous and academic manner, employing analytical skills and critical thinking.
Skills
The module aims to equip students with basic intellectual skills (e.g. critical thinking, analysis, problem solving), as well as communication skills.
This module serves as in introduction to the European Union and demonstrates how this evolving and expanding tier of European governance impacts on national political systems. The module is divided into four parts. The first part sets the scene for the study of the EU and introduces students to the evolution of the EU, the treaty base and the theories of integration. The second part explores the composition and powers of the main EU institutions (such as the Commission, the European Parliament, the Council and the Courts). It also accounts for the decision making process and the role of NGOs in the EU system. The third part focuses on the EU policy base and explores a selection of salient policy regimes within the EU. These include the common agricultural policy, environmental policy, the euro, the single market, enlargement and immigration policy. The fourth part explores the role of the EU on the world stage via lectures on trade policy and defence policy before turning to assess the UK’s current relationship with the EU post Brexit.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the module participants:
- Should be able to demonstrate a critical understanding of the UK’s relationship with the EU
- Should understand debates about explanations of the EU referendum outcome and challenges for delivering Brexit
- Should be able to understand how different theories and approaches in political science can help make sense of the UK’s changing relationship with Europe
- Should have developed basic blog writing skills and basic policy brief writing skills
Skills
Students will advance their:
Intellectual skills
• Managing & Prioritizing Knowledge: identify relevant and subject-specific knowledge, sources and data; manage such information in an independent manner
• Analytical Thinking: identify, understand, interpret and evaluate relevant subject-specific arguments made by others; construct independent arguments
• Critical & Independent Thinking: ability to think critically and construct one’s own position in relation to existing and ongoing debates in the field
Professional and career development skills
• Communication Skills: ability to communicate clearly with others, both orally and in writing
• Teamwork: ability to work with others in a team, negotiate conflicts and recognize different ways of learning
• Diversity: ability to acknowledge and be sensitive to the range of cultural differences present in the learning environment
• Self-Reflexivity: ability to reflect on one’s own progress and identify and act upon one’s own development needs with respect to life-long learning and career development
• Time Management: ability to negotiate diverse and competing pressures; cope with stress; and achieve a work / life balance
Technical and practical skills
• Information Technology: demonstrate the knowledge and ability to use contemporary and relevant ICT
Organizational skills
• Efficient and effective work practice: demonstrate ability to work efficiently to deadlines
• Clear organisation of information: show efficiency in the organisation of large amounts of complex information and the ability to identify, describe and analyse the key features of the information
• Organisation and communication: demonstrate ability to use evidence to develop logical and clear arguments; show aptitude for the effective use of information in a direct and appropriate way
• Enterprising thinking: Demonstrate ability to think and argue in novel and enterprising ways, to display originality of thought and argument and the ability to clearly support arguments in innovative ways
This will be an exploration of fundamental philosophical issues raised by the practice of science. It will cover issues in scientific methodology, scientific knowledge, the language of science, the relation between scientific theories and reality, the rationality of science and progress and the relation between science and society.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module, students will at least be able to
• demonstrate an understanding of the ‘demarcation’ problem between science and non-science
• articulate various versions of the problem of induction, as well its consequences for the justification of scientific claims
• demonstrate familiarity with differing accounts of scientific methodology, including inductivism and falsificationism
• confidently discuss and evaluate issues to do with observation, observables, and the theory-ladenness of observation
• demonstrate familiarity with the realism/antirealism debates in the philosophy of science
Skills
Intellectual skills
• Managing & Prioritising Knowledge: identify relevant and subject-specific knowledge, sources and data; manage such information in an independent manner
• Analytical Thinking: identify, understand, interpret and evaluate relevant subject-specific arguments made by others; construct independent arguments
• Critical & Independent Thinking: ability to think critically and construct one’s own position in relation to existing and ongoing debates in the field
Professional and career development skills
• Communication Skills: ability to communicate clearly with others, both orally and in writing
• Self-Reflexivity: ability to reflect on one’s own progress and identify and act upon ones own development needs
Organizational skills
• Efficient and effective work practice: demonstrate ability to work efficiently to deadlines
• Organisation and communication: demonstrate ability to use evidence to develop logical and clear arguments; show aptitude for the effective use of information in a direct and appropriate way
• Enterprising thinking: Demonstrate ability to think and argue in novel and enterprising ways, to display originality of thought and argument and the ability to clearly support arguments in innovative ways
Problems in contemporary analytical epistemology and metaphysics. Epistemology topics covered will include scepticism, analysis of knowledge, internalism/externalism, and sources of justification; metaphysics topics will include identity, necessity, universals, and particulars.
Learning Outcomes
Students should be able to demonstrate an understanding of current theories of knowledge.
Skills
Students should be able to identify, formulate and appreciate the key points in an argument as presented in lecture or reading; and to develop cogency in written expression.
This module engages critically with major issues in the philosophy of race through analysis of historical and contemporary texts and arguments. The module incorporates attention to social epistemological and metaphysical issues as well as to ethical and political issues, and will encourage students to appreciate the interconnections between these. The module may include discussion of the following questions: What is race? How do race, class, and gender intersect? How does colonialism affect our understanding of race? In what was does the history of racism impact on knowledge? How has race and racism affected our understanding of artworks and bodies? The precise issues covered in the module may vary from year to year, but are likely to include critical philosophy of race, metaphysics of race, epistemic injustice and race, coloniality, gender, and race, debates concerning social constructivism and biological realism, aesthetics and race, and feminist philosophy and race.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:
• Demonstrate critical analysis of key debates in the philosophy of race;
• Apply relevant philosophical theories to analysis of key issues in the
philosophy of race;
• Demonstrate critical understanding of diverse accounts of race within
philosophy and society.
Skills
Intellectual Skills
• Managing & Prioritizing Knowledge: identify relevant and subject-specific knowledge, sources and data; manage such information in an independent manner.
• Analytical Thinking: identify, understand, interpret and evaluate relevant subject-specific arguments made by others; construct independent arguments.
• Critical & Independent Thinking: ability to think critically and construct one’s own position in relation to existing and ongoing debates in the field.
Professional and career development skills
• Communication Skills: ability to communicate clearly with others, both orally and in writing.
• Teamwork: ability to work with others in a team, negotiate conflicts and recognize different ways of learning.
• Diversity: ability to acknowledge and be sensitive to the range of cultural differences present in the learning environment.
• Self-Reflexivity: ability to reflect on one’s own progress and identify and act upon one’s own development needs with respect to life-long learning and career development.
• Time Management: ability to negotiate diverse and competing pressures; cope with stress; and achieve a work / life balance.
Organizational skills
• Efficient and effective work practice: demonstrate ability to work efficiently to deadlines.
• Clear organisation of information: show efficiency in the organisation of large amounts of complex information and the ability to identify, describe and analyse the key features of the information.
• Organisation and communication: demonstrate ability to use evidence to develop logical and clear arguments; show aptitude for the effective use of information in a direct and appropriate way.
• Enterprising thinking: Demonstrate ability to think and argue in novel and enterprising ways, to display originality of thought and argument and the ability to clearly support arguments in innovative ways.
This module explores contemporary approaches to the study of security and terrorism. It will examine changes in definitions of security and terrorism, the evolution of approaches to the study of security and terrorism. Students will be familiarised with the main “threats” to state and human security; the changing nature of war and other organised violence; and areas of security policy and practice including arms control, alliance formation, peacekeeping and peacebuilding, among others. Students will also explore domestic and transnational non-state terrorism, state terrorism, and counter-terrorism policy and practice.
Learning Outcomes
On completion of the course students will:
• Be familiar with the main theories and approaches to the study of security and terrorism; and the debates between them.
• Understand and be able to discuss the relative merits of different theoretical approaches to security issues.
• Be able to critically evaluate international policy and practice in key areas of security policy and counter-terrorism.
• Be able to communicate ideas to others in a clear and concise manner, both orally and in written form;
• Be able to pursue intellectual questions in a rigorous and academic manner, employing analytical skills and critical thinking.
Skills
Managing & Prioritizing Knowledge: identify relevant and subject-specific knowledge, sources and data; manage such information in an independent manner.
• Analytical Thinking: identify, understand, interpret and evaluate relevant subject-specific arguments made by others; construct independent arguments.
• Critical & Independent Thinking: ability to think critically and construct one’s own position in relation to existing and ongoing debates in the field.
Communication Skills, including oral and written communication.
• Time-Management
• Information Technology skills;
• Organisation and communication skills;
• Enterprise Thinking.
This module explores both the status and content of morality. Drawing on historical and contemporary sources, it addresses a broad range of metaethical and normative questions, including: can morality be objective? Are moral judgments based on feeling? Are there any reasons to be moral? Is moral truth relative to particular cultures or societies? What makes right acts right? Does the end justify the means? Are there any absolute restrictions on human conduct? Is happiness all that matters? Do animals have rights?
Learning Outcomes
Students should be able to give a brief history of ethical theory from ancient times together with a more detailed discussion of some twentieth century moral philosophers who have been most influential in modern thought about ethics.
Skills
An understanding of the nature of practical reasoning. Learning to discuss rationally and dispassionately moral views which one may find personally abhorrent.
An examination of the Politics of Ireland (North and South) since 1920.
Learning Outcomes
To provide an understanding of the political systems of both parts of Ireland and to understand Northern Ireland as an example of a deeply divided society.
Skills
The ability to think analytically, communicate ideas with peers, reproduce ideas in an exam setting, and construct cogent essays.
This module will introduce students to the analysis of civil wars and the fields of conflict analysis and peace studies. The aim of this module is to introduce students to theoretical and empirical problems in the study of the outbreak, development and resolution of armed civil conflicts. It explores the conflict cycle, the complexity of violent conflict, dynamics of political violence, the effects of certain situations on conflict dynamics, different types of actors in civil war, the outcomes of civil war, peace processes, and techniques such as mediation. It explores the main concepts (such as “conflict”, “civil war”, “peace”, etc.), some theories (such as the causes of civil war, the dynamics, and consequences), and some issues and debates (such as when and how to mediate conflicts) in peace and conflict studies. It also covers theoretical and methodological issues in peace and conflict studies, such as issues in classification and measurement.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module, students will:
-Understand basic approaches to the causes, development and resolution of conflicts
- Be able to identify and critically evaluate central concepts, issues, debates, and obstacles in civil wars, conflict resolution and peace
- Be able to explain, critically evaluate, and discuss central questions and theories on causes, development and resolution of conflicts
- Conduct independent research by independently finding, gathering, and evaluating information and texts on armed conflicts and peace
- Be able to recognise and differentiate between descriptive, explanative and normative studies
- Be able to distinguish between and locate primary and secondary sources of information
- Be able to identify different approaches to conceptualization and measurement of key variables as they relate to Peace and Conflict Studies
- Communicate ideas to others in a clear and concise manner, both orally and in written form
- Pursue intellectual questions in a rigorous and academic manner, employing analytical skills and critical thinking.
Skills
This module will assist in developing students’ skills in a number of important areas. These include:
Intellectual skills
- Managing & Prioritizing Knowledge: identify relevant and subject-specific knowledge, sources and data; manage such information in an independent manner
- Analytical Thinking: identify, understand, interpret and evaluate relevant subject-specific arguments made by others; construct independent arguments
- Critical & Independent Thinking: ability to think critically and construct one’s own position in relation to existing and ongoing debates in the field
Professional and career development skills
- Communication Skills: ability to communicate clearly with others, both orally and in writing
- Teamwork: ability to work with others in a team, negotiate conflicts and recognize different ways of learning
- Diversity: ability to acknowledge and be sensitive to the range of cultural differences present in the learning environment
- Self-Reflexivity: ability to reflect on one’s own progress and identify and act upon ones own development needs with respect to life-long learning and career development
- Time Management: ability to negotiate diverse and competing pressures; cope with stress; and achieve a work / life balance
Technical and practical skills
- Information Technology: demonstrate the knowledge and ability to use contemporary and relevant ICT
Organizational skills
- Efficient and effective work practice: demonstrate ability to work efficiently to deadlines
- Clear organisation of information: show efficiency in the organisation of large amounts of complex information and the ability to identify, describe and analyse the key features of the information
- Organisation and communication: demonstrate ability to use evidence to develop logical and clear arguments; show aptitude for the effective use of information in a direct and appropriate way
- Enterprising thinking: Demonstrate ability to think and argue in novel and enterprising ways, to display originality of thought and argument and the ability to clearly support arguments in innovative ways
This module introduces students to key texts and arguments in the early modern period of philosophy. As well as examining texts by philosophers such as Descartes, Locke, Leibniz, Berkeley, and Hume, the module also enables students to explore texts written by less commonly taught philosophers, and to examine critical engagements with early modern texts. An indicative list of topics to be covered includes: empiricism and rationalism, ideas and language, scepticism, induction, causation, free will, and capacity for reason.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion, students will have an understanding of some of the key ideas and arguments in four of the most influential works in the history of western philosophy.
Skills
Skills in literacy, communication, organisation and presentation of extended arguments, development of critical powers, sensitivity to the significance of historically and culturally remote materials
This module explores some of the major issues in contemporary applied ethics. The precise themes discussed may vary from year to year, but examples of topics which may be discussed include: the badness of death, the wrongness of killing, abortion, euthanasia, population ethics, genetic engineering, climate ethics, and intergenerational justice.
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this module, students should have an understanding of some of the main arguments in contemporary applied ethics and their relation to normative theories, such as consequentialism, deontology, and virtue ethics. They should also an appreciation of the bearing of such issues on current legal and social practice.
Skills
This module nurtures skills such as the careful reading of texts, the ability to explain and summarize the views of others, the ability to think dispassionately about issues on which one may already have preconceptions, the ability to develop (both orally and on paper) arguments of one's own, the willingness to engage in discussion with others in a tolerant and constructive manner.
This Module offers students the opportunity to undertake a work placement for a total of 3 days per week for 12 weeks (36 days total) in a host organisation. Students will undertake a project relating to the work they are undertaking for the host organisation.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module, students will have significantly developed their administrative knowledge and capacity; acquired a clear understanding of the work, organisation and operation of the host institution; produced a body of work that is both academically sound and, ideally, of practical utility for the host institution; and developed and acquired a range of skills including working within a team setting and complying with the norms and ethical standards of a professional working environment. Students will also have learned to locate their applied experience with academic interests and concerns.
Skills
This module will assist in developing students’ skills in a number of important areas. These include: Intellectual skills * Managing & Prioritizing Knowledge * Analytical Thinking * Critical & Independent Thinking Professional and career development skills * Communication Skills * Teamwork * Diversity * Self-Reflexivity * Time Management Technical and practical skills * Information Technology * Regulations and standards
This module focuses on two themes: party system change and the contemporary challenges that affect political parties. Why and how do new parties emerge? Why do old parties survive crises and new party challenges? Who joins political parties and how can we explain the decline in party membership? How can parties and their representatives be more representative of society at large? Should parties be funded through our taxes or private money These are some of the questions that will be addressed in this module.
The module is comparative in nature, with a focus on European and North American countries, but discussions of other cases are welcome.
Assessment is designed to hone the students’ presentation, writing, critical and knowledge-transfer skills: students make a presentation that is partly assessed through student peer evaluation, write a country report, and write a policy paper in which they advise a political party on addressing a contemporary challenge (representation of women and minorities, party finance, or membership).
Past students on this module have enjoyed the presentations and the advantages of peer assessment (making the presentation to the whole class, more focus on content and making a good presentation, and getting to exercise their critical skills through marking), as well as the relaxed style of the seminars and the ability to write a policy paper instead of an academic essay.
Learning Outcomes
- ability to critically discuss the functions and roles played by political parties in modern representative democracies
- ability to identify the challenges political parties currently face
- increased ability to use comparative qualitative and quantitative data to support arguments
Skills
I- oral presentation skills through a presentation and seminar activities
- written communication skills and knowledge-transfer skills through writing a case-study report and a policy paper, including ability to write for a non-academic audience
- critical skills through seminar discussions, writing a book review and a policy paper, and assessing their peers’ presentations.
This module is built around a problem-aware approach to the study of the Middle East and Politics affecting the region. It looks at the enduring issues and problems associated with perspectives on statebuilding and sectarian divisions in societies across the region and poses critical questions around issues that pertain to state-society relations. Discussion of the role of religious, language, ethnic and gender identities play up in societal and political conflicts in the region, alongside issues of political economy and security in the region are also approached to illuminate the relationships in societies and politics of the region, but also refracted in interstate competition in the Middle East. The module identifies factors that characterise the region as a unique geopolitical playground yet highlights parallels in the Middle East to other parts of the world where the role of state in delivering good governance is taken for granted.
Learning Outcomes
• Place issues of governance in the middle east in the context of domestic societal expectations and legal obligations to ensure political stability;
• Contrast the differential interactions between state and society in individual countries of the region and appreciate lessons to be learnt from managing diverse expectation of populations over time;
• Ascertain that diversity of populations in the region and within individual countries may enhance stability and peace under specific circumstances
• Understand and be able to reflect critically on the impact accommodation and support for societal initiatives can have on the likelihood of conflict in the region and within individual countries
• Understand and be able to critically engage with claims regarding the differences and similarities between politics of the Middle East as a region, as opposed to other regions of the world.
• Communicate clearly and concisely, both orally and in written form on issues relating to political situation in individual countries and the region as a whole.
• Pursue intellectual questions in an academic manner, using analytical skills and critical thinking to develop transferrable skills
Skills
Intellectual skills
• Managing & Prioritizing Knowledge: identify relevant and subject-specific knowledge, sources and data; manage such information in an independent manner
• Critical & Independent Thinking: ability to think critically and construct one’s own position in relation to existing and ongoing debates in the field
Professional and career development skills
• Communication Skills: ability to communicate clearly with others, both orally and in writing
• Teamwork: ability to work with others in a team, negotiate conflicts and recognize different ways of learning
• Self-Reflexivity: ability to reflect on one’s own progress and identify and act upon ones own development needs with respect to life-long learning and career development
• Time Management: ability to negotiate diverse and competing pressures; cope with stress; and achieve a work / life balance
Technical and practical skills
• Information Technology: demonstrate the knowledge and ability to use contemporary and relevant ICT
Organizational skills
• Efficient and effective work practice: demonstrate ability to work efficiently to deadlines
• Clear organisation of information: show efficiency in the organisation of large amounts of complex information and the ability to identify, describe and analyse the key features of the information
• Organisation and communication: demonstrate ability to use evidence to develop logical and clear argument; show aptitude for the effective use of information in a direct and appropriate way
This module provides a framework for understanding contemporary critical theory by exploring some key thinkers in the minor canon (e.g. Spinoza, Hume, and Nietzsche) before turning to exploration of contemporary debates and positions such as the critical theory of the Frankfurt School, poststructuralism, and radical liberalism.
Learning Outcomes
On successfully completing this module, students should have an appreciation of the central role that theoretical concepts play in understanding and critiquing social and political life. In particular, students will appreciate the contested nature of concepts such as reason, autonomy, progress, power, the body, the Other, and modernity, and be able to use these concepts in a critical and interrogatory way in political analysis. Students will also appreciate the contested and ambivalent nature of the Enlightenment legacy to contemporary social and political theory. Seminar discussions will develop oral presentation skills, and sharpen students' ability to debate succinctly some theoretically informed critical perspectives. On completion of the module, students should understand the critical potential of social and political theory in offering both critiques of and alternatives to the political legacy of the Enlightenment.
Skills
The ability to think conceptually and to construct cogent essays. Communication of complex ideas in a clear and concise form, both orally and in writing. Pursue intellectual and political questions in a rigorous manner, employing analytical skills and critical thinking.
The dissertation is a research project that the student develops, designs and implements. There is a Dissertation Synopsis of approximately 1,000 words and the end product is a substantial piece of written work of 12,000 words on a topic that has been agreed between the student and his/her supervisor.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the dissertation, students will be able to: (a) develop a sustained argument, test a hypothesis, and/or write an original narrative; (b) carry out research including finding appropriate sources of information for the topic in question; (c) review appropriate theories for the topic.
Skills
Students participate in a workshop at the start of the dissertation, which focuses on how to formulate a dissertation question, how to conduct research for the dissertation, and how to organise and write the dissertation. Students engage in further consultation and skills development with their individual dissertation supervisor. A further workshop is held at the start of the second semester. Students work closely with their supervisor throughout the research, drafting and writing of their dissertation. The skills required for ongoing research and writing of a dissertation are acquired and monitored through liason with the supervisor.
This module examines how politics conceived as relations between governments and with and between various socio-economic interests and groups shapes the global economy and the power relations it represents. Various issues addressed in the module include: how to think about power and authority in the global economy; contrasting national models of capitalism; the United States as a global economic hegemon in the post 9/11 era; the political economy of the rise of BRIC; the Doha Round of trade talks; Credit Crunch (causes, implications and responses); the geo-politics of currency rivalry; the global governance of oil; and a new global economic order to replace the old order?
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module, students will:
• Understand the main theoretical and analytical approaches to the study of IPE;
• have knowledge of key issue areas in the study of IPE, including finance, trade, rising powers, development, sustainability and environment;
• appreciate different approaches to the understanding of IPE and political economy;
• understand global and heterodox approaches to political economy and consider the relation between concepts, political economy practices and everyday lives;
• be able to apply key concepts and analytical frames from the IPE literature in examinations of these key issue areas;
• pursue intellectual questions in a rigorous and academic manner, employing analytical skills and critical thinking;
• communicate ideas to others in a clear and concise manner, both orally and in written form.
Skills
This module will assist in developing students’ skills in a number of important areas. These include:
Intellectual skills
• Managing & Prioritising Knowledge: identify relevant and subject-specific knowledge, sources and data; manage such information in an independent manner
• Analytical Thinking: identify, understand, interpret and evaluate relevant subject-specific arguments made by others; construct independent arguments
• Critical & Independent Thinking: ability to think critically and construct one’s own position in relation to existing and ongoing debates in the field
Professional and career development skills
• Communication Skills: ability to communicate clearly with others, both orally and in writing
• Time Management: ability to negotiate diverse and competing pressures; cope with stress; and achieve a work / life balance
Technical and practical skills
• Information Technology: demonstrate the knowledge and ability to use contemporary and relevant ICT
Organisational skills
• Efficient and effective work practice: demonstrate ability to work efficiently to deadlines
• Clear organisation of information: show efficiency in the organisation of large amounts of complex information and the ability to identify, describe and analyse the key features of the information
• Organisation and communication: demonstrate ability to use evidence to develop logical and clear argument; show aptitude for the effective use of information in a direct and appropriate way
• Enterprising thinking: Demonstrate ability to think and argue in novel and enterprising ways, to display originality of thought and argument and the ability to clearly support arguments in innovative ways
and concise, written and oral form;
Students will be able to think analytically, critically and logically about a range of important contemporary social issues.
Students will have the capacity to identify many of the key causes, strategies and motivations of contemporary global economic trends and developments.
This module will examine the different ways that war and conflict are produced and represented across both historical and contemporary visual culture. It will examine specific examples of how war and conflict are represented in visual art (e.g. photography, photojournalism, museums and memorials), but also how visual technologies enable conflicts and reconcile citizens to permanent war (e.g. Surveillance, drone warfare). It will draw on interdisciplinary research in Visual Culture, International Relations, Cultural Studies and War Studies, and ask students to reflect on their own assumptions about, and engagements with, how war and visuality intersect.
Learning Outcomes
Students should be able to explain the complex relationship between war and representation, and understand relevant interdisciplinary debates that inform how we interpret and create meaning out of images of war and conflict. Students should be able to explain the political importance of war representations through theoretical concepts such as consensus-building, ideology and discourse, and develop these concepts through more specific issue areas (e.g. nationalism, gender, patriotism, race, the sublime). Students should be able to reflect on their own engagements with visual representations of war, and identify different political positions from which to interpret images.
Skills
Students will be given the opportunity to communicate their ideas in a clear and concise manner, both orally and in written work. Tutorial sessions will allow them to develop their oral communication skills whilst working in teams and completing set tasks. The written assignments will enhance student skills such as time management, prioritizing knowledge, managing information, and producing analytical, critical and creative arguments. Because the students will be asked to address their own interpretations of visual images, the module also enhances the general skills of self-reflexivity.
This module addresses aesthetics and the philosophy of art from a historical perspective. It begins by examining the invention of the discipline of aesthetics and of the notion of ‘taste’ in the eighteenth-century. It then focuses on Edmund Burke’s and Immanuel Kant’s treatment of the key aesthetic categories of beauty and the sublime. The module follows the development of aesthetic themes in post-Kantian thinking by examining Friedrich Schiller’s notion of aesthetic education, and G. W. F. Hegel’s history of art, with its claim that that history had essentially come to its end. After examining Martin Heidegger’s 20th-century attempt to think beyond Hegel’s pronouncements concerning the ‘death of art’, the module will examine some contemporary discussions in the philosophy of photography and cinema.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the module students will:
• understand key concepts in aesthetics
• be able to apply aesthetic concepts to their own experience of fine art
• be able to grasp how works of fine art can be situatied in the history of art
• be able to reflect on the purposes of fine art
Skills
Intellectual skills
• Managing & Prioritizing Knowledge: to identify relevant and subject-specific knowledge, sources and data; to manage such information in an independent manner;
• Analytical Thinking: to identify, understand, interpret and evaluate relevant subject-specific arguments made by others; to construct independent arguments;
• Critical & Independent Thinking: to think critically and construct one’s own position in relation to existing and ongoing debates in the field
Professional and career development skills
• Communication Skills: to communicate clearly with others, both orally and in writing;
• Diversity: to acknowledge and be sensitive to the range of cultural differences present in the learning environment;
• Self-Reflexivity: to reflect on one’s own progress and identify and act upon one’s own development needs with respect to life-long learning and career development;
• Time Management: to negotiate diverse and competing pressures; to cope with stress; and to achieve a work / life balance.
Technical and practical skills
• Information Technology: to demonstrate the knowledge and ability to use contemporary and relevant ICT.
Organizational skills
• Efficient and effective work practice: to demonstrate ability to work efficiently to deadlines;
• Clear organisation of information: to show efficiency in the organisation of large amounts of complex information and the ability to identify, describe and analyse the key features of the information;
• Organisation and communication: to use evidence to develop logical and clear arguments; to show aptitude for the effective use of information in a direct and appropriate way;
• Enterprising thinking: to think and argue in novel and enterprising ways, display originality of thought and argument.
This module engages critically with major issues in the philosophy of technology and environmental philosophy through analysis of historical and contemporary texts and arguments. The module may include discussion of the following questions: Ought we to enhance ourselves and future generations? What is artificial intelligence, and how does it affect knowledge? How should we be responding to the climate crisis? How should humans understand their relationship with nature? In what ways does climate justice intersect with refugee justice? How can we best address epistemic issues involved in understanding climate change? The module incorporates attention to epistemological and metaphysical issues as well as to ethical and political issues, and will encourage students to appreciate the interconnections between these. The precise issues covered in the module may vary from year to year, but are likely to include philosophy of enhancement, artificial intelligence, algorithm bias, digital privacy and surveillance, land and urban philosophy, animal philosophy, the global climate crisis, climate justice and refugee justice.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the module, students will be able to: * Demonstrate critical analysis of key debates in the philosophy of technology and in environmental philosophy; * Apply relevant philosophical theories and case information in discussing and responding to contemporary practical technological and environmental issues; * Demonstrate critical understanding of diverse accounts of technology and environment within philosophy and society.
Skills
Intellectual skills • Managing & Prioritizing Knowledge: identify relevant and subject-specific knowledge, sources and data; manage such information in an independent manner. • Analytical Thinking: identify, understand, interpret and evaluate relevant subject-specific arguments made by others; construct independent arguments. • Critical & Independent Thinking: ability to think critically and construct one’s own position in relation to existing and ongoing debates in the field. Professional and career development skills • Communication Skills: ability to communicate clearly with others, both orally and in writing. • Teamwork: ability to work with others in a team, negotiate conflicts and recognize different ways of learning. • Diversity: ability to acknowledge and be sensitive to the range of cultural differences present in the learning environment. • Self-Reflexivity: ability to reflect on one’s own progress and identify and act upon one’s own development needs with respect to life-long learning and career development. • Time Management: ability to negotiate diverse and competing pressures; cope with stress; and achieve a work / life balance. Organizational skills • Efficient and effective work practice: demonstrate ability to work efficiently to deadlines. • Clear organisation of information: show efficiency in the organisation of large amounts of complex information and the ability to identify, describe and analyse the key features of the information. • Organisation and communication: demonstrate ability to use evidence to develop logical and clear arguments; show aptitude for the effective use of information in a direct and appropriate way. • Enterprising thinking: Demonstrate ability to think and argue in novel and enterprising ways, to display originality of thought and argument and the ability to clearly support arguments in innovative ways.
This Module offers students the opportunity to undertake a work placement for a total of 1.5 days per week for 12 weeks (18 days total) in a host organisation and complete a project relating to the work undertaken for the organisation.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module, students will have significantly developed their administrative knowledge and capacity; acquired a clear understanding of the work, organisation and operation of the host institution; produced a body of work that is both academically sound and, ideally, of practical utility for the host institution; and developed and acquired a range of skills including working within a team setting and complying with the norms and ethical standards of a professional working environment. Students will also have learned to locate their applied experience with academic interests and concerns.
Skills
This module will assist in developing students’ skills in a number of important areas. These include: Intellectual skills * Managing & Prioritizing Knowledge * Analytical Thinking * Critical & Independent Thinking Professional and career development skills * Communication Skills * Teamwork * Diversity * Self-Reflexivity * Time Management Technical and practical skills * Information Technology * Regulations and standards Organizational skills * Efficient and effective work practice * Clear organisation of information * Organisation and communication * Enterprising thinking
The politics of asylum and migration are undergoing profound changes. States are closing down many routes for asylum seekers, turning attention to security and border control concerns. Bilateral and multi-lateral relations are imbued with concerns about controlling the movement of people as states work with and respond not only to each other, but to non-governmental and international organizations. These dynamics are imbued with global power relations, with changing notions of security and with age-old questions of sovereignty, citizenship, and belonging. The dominant policy direction favours solutions that emphasize either preventative protection or repatriation, both practices of containment and conflict resolution and management. We are witnessing a decline in the traditional category of refugees, but a rise in the number of internally displaced persons. Economic deprivation and poverty continues to pair with conflict to drive migration that muddies the waters between “forced” and “voluntary” categories. Increasing incidents of human smuggling and human trafficking, and a failure in many circles to effectively distinguish between the two, are demanding new policy innovations that are linking international criminal law to diplomatic relations – and migrants are caught in the middle. Finally, emerging categories such as “environmental refugees” are challenging the current refugee regime, which remains rooted in the 1951 Convention.
This module will examine these changes in the fields of refugee and migration studies, asking questions that assess not only shifting policy and practices but also the impacts these shifts have on the lived lives of migrants themselves. We will engage these questions and the issues they raise through thoughtful and critical dialogue. We will focus on the politics of migration and citizenship as dynamic practices rather than pre-determined institutions, and ask what roles the various structures and frameworks of contemporary International Relations play in these politics. Importantly, we will also ask what role individuals play, and examine the politics of voice and agency in both shaping, contesting and resisting state practices. To tackle these issues, we will engage with both policy and theoretical literatures and illustrate conceptual and philosophical arguments through extensive use of specific case studies from different regions of the world. We will emphasize contemporary and emerging issues, but also look at the historical contexts and questions that shape the politics of migration and citizenship as they exist today.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this module, students will be able to:
• Demonstrate an awareness and understanding of key literature on migration, refugee and citizenship studies
• Frame and explain global policy directions and changes in the field of migration, and the role of security and economic discourses in shaping government practices and decisions
• Explain the dynamics and shifting relations of power and resistance between states, individuals and advocacy groups in shaping migration and citizenship politics
• Engage with and assess philosophical and theoretical developments in the field, and relate them to national and international law and policies and the experiences of migrants ‘on the ground’
• Communicate their ideas on a particular case in a coherent, clear and concise manner, both orally and in written form.
Skills
This module will assist in developing students’ skills in a number of important areas. These include:
Intellectual skills
• Managing & Prioritizing Knowledge: identify relevant and subject-specific knowledge, sources and data; manage such information in an independent manner
• Knowledge Development: ability to develop a strong research program that is ongoing over time and has several products
• Analytical Thinking: identify, understand, interpret and evaluate relevant subject-specific arguments made by others; construct independent arguments
• Critical & Independent Thinking: ability to think critically and construct one’s own position in relation to existing and ongoing debates in the field
Professional and career development skills
• Communication Skills: ability to communicate clearly with others, both orally and in writing
• Policy Analysis: ability to read and understand policy and legal documents and critically assess their foundations and consequences
• Presentational and Advocacy Skills: ability to present your ideas and arguments before a group of peers and respond to questions in a convincing fashion
• Teamwork: ability to work with others in a team, negotiate conflicts and recognize different ways of learning
• Time Management: ability to negotiate diverse and competing pressures and cope with stress
Organizational skills
• Preparatory Skills: always being well prepared for tutorials (e.g. required reading) and presentations.
• Time Management: effective use of study time, meeting coursework deadlines
• Independent Research: making good use of the library and the materials available
This module examines problems in contemporary normative political philosophy. Topics may vary from year to year, but will typically include questions about the interpretation of values such as freedom, equality, and welfare, principles of distributive justice, equal respect and social recognition, pluralism, toleration, and democracy.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module, students will:
-be in a position to think critically about the normative aspects of social and political life,
-understand and be able to construct normative arguments about moral and political problems
Skills
The aim of the module is to provide students with the necessary analytical and interpretive tools to understand complex arguments. It will provide students with an opportunity to develop communication skills (listening, oral and written), and equip students with basic intellectual skills (particularly critical thinking and analysis). Students will also learn to present their own thoughts and arguments in a logical and coherent manner and to make points in a clear and succinct manner. Students will learn to identify particular tasks and what is required to complete them.
Radical Hope:Inspiring Present-day Sustainability Transformations through an Examination of Our Past
Overview
• Indicative module content
• Listening Carefully (Carsten Wergin)↓
• Looking at the ordinary – a tender practice of forging relationships (Tania Katzschner) ↓
• Radical Hope in Turbulent Times: sources of inspiration from politics to poetry (John Barry)
• The Rise of Optimism in the Conservation Movement (Elin Kelsey) ↓
• Expecting the Unexpected—The Role of Art in the Dissemination of Radical Hope (Patrick J. Reed) ↓
• The Art of Protest: Radical Hope Envisioned and Embodied (Amy Hay) ↓
• Recurring Earthquakes and the Rebirth of Hope (Sophia Kalantzakos) ↓
• Infrastructures of Hope (Erika Bsumek) ↓
• Air Pollution: Issues and Solutions (Hal Crimmel) ↓
• Thrifty Science (Simon Werrett) ↓
• Planting seeds of hope: Environmental Education for the Present & future (Kieko Matteson) ↓
• Environmental Security: The Courage to Fear and the Courage to Hope ( Allan W. Shearer) ↓
• Look Down for Hope – Phytoremediation in an Italian Steel Town (Monica Seger) ↓
• Living In Good Relation with the Environment: A Syllabus of Radical Hope (Alina Scott) ↓
• On Love and Property (Kara Thompson) ↓
• Design, Hybridity and Just Transitions (Damian White) ↓
• The Answer is Blowing in the Wind: Grassroots Technological Networks of Wind Energy (Kostas Latoufis; Aristotle Tympas ) ↓
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this course, you should be able to demonstrate:
• An understanding of the different dimensions of hope and its variants and opposites in the context of climate breakdown, environmental crisis
An ability to integrate different disciplinary perspectives on hopeful responses to the global ecological crisis;
• Understanding of the uses and resources from history and other countries;
• The ability to analyse and evaluate different disciplinary, historical and geographical examples and debates around radial hope and the Anthropocene;
• Develop ability to think critically, reason logically, and evaluate evidence in multidisciplinary context
• Understand main differences and similarities between political, ethical, economic, creative and historical methods of studying the Anthropocene
Skills
Ability to work with other people;
Ability to work across and integrate different disciplinary perspectives on the same issue;
Managing & Prioritizing Knowledge: identify relevant and subject-specific knowledge, sources and data; manage such information in an independent manner
Analytical Thinking: identify, understand, interpret and evaluate relevant subject-specific arguments made by others; construct independent arguments *
Critical & Independent Thinking: ability to think critically and in creative and innovative ways and construct one’s own position in relation to existing and ongoing debates in the fields of study
Communication Skills: ability to communicate clearly with others, both orally and in writing Teamwork: ability to work with others in a team, negotiate conflicts and recognize different ways of learning
Diversity: ability to acknowledge and be sensitive to the range of cultural differences present in the learning environment
Self-Reflexivity: ability to reflect on one’s own progress and identify and act upon ones own development needs with respect to life-long learning and career development
Time Management: ability to negotiate diverse and competing pressures; cope with stress; and achieve a work / life balance Technical and practical skills
Information Technology: demonstrate the knowledge and ability to use contemporary and relevant ICT Organizational skills
Efficient and effective work practice: demonstrate ability to work efficiently to deadlines
Clear organisation of information: show efficiency in the organisation of large amounts of complex information and the ability to identify, describe and analyse the key features of the information
Organisation and communication: demonstrate ability to use evidence to develop logical and clear arguments; show aptitude for the effective use of information in a direct and appropriate way
Enterprising thinking: Demonstrate ability to think and argue in novel and enterprising ways, to display originality of thought and argument and the ability to clearly support arguments in innovative ways
Understanding the nature and sources of the world’s pre-eminent superpower is indispensable in analysing global security arrangements and the liberal international system. Using international relations theoretical perspectives and approaches in security studies, this module introduces students to a number of themes and debates concerning the central role of the United States in the international system and the contemporary global order. More specifically, it critically engages students with US foreign policy during the Cold War, US grand strategy, the purposes of US global military presence and its influence in the contemporary liberal global order, the “Pax Americana”, and other pertinent issues, placing these in historical context from the Cold War up until the current challenge of the rise of China. The course uses various historical cases to elucidate central dynamics in US foreign policy, from US involvement in Latin America during the Cold War to US counter-terrorism strategies in the War on Terror. In this sense, the course is designed to provide substantive content regarding US foreign policy and its dynamics as well as critically evaluate the role of US power in the international system.
The study of public administration and policy has witnessed resurgence in political and other social sciences in recent years, as scientists in these fields seek to better understand a) how political preferences are translated into action, or otherwise, and b) the role played by contemporary bureaucratic systems and international organisations in shaping public policy. The recent financial, economic and political crises across the OECD have also renewed popular interest in key aspects of governing, including the regulation of markets, the organisation and role of the public service, the interplay between institutions and policy choices, and the politics of reform – all of which require analysis that moves beyond the political sphere. This Module, addresses these and other questions by drawing on a new generation of scholarship with which the Convenor is closely involved. In combining theoretical learning with real-world practice, it will provide students with high-quality competence in respect of the dominant theories and schools of thought concerning the organisation and management of contemporary government.
The Module provides students with the opportunity to develop a more detailed understanding of modern governing by exploring the interplay between politics and public administration in the process of policy making. For the last three decades, the disciplines of public administration and policy-making have been predominantly taught in business schools (under such titles as public sector management) but without recourse to concepts or theories which political science usefully offers and which are now in much demand. This Module thus presents an excellent opportunity for graduate students to gain proficiency in public administration and policy, and to develop detailed knowledge of modern governing in and beyond the political arena.
• The role of public administration in public policy
• Comparing systems of policy making and administration
• Autonomy and control in public administration and policy
• The policy process in theory and practice
• Regulatory governance
• The role of politico-administrative culture
• Public policy development and network forms of governing
• Public policy and administration at the sub-national level
• The role of international organisations in national public policy and pdministration
• The politics of administrative reform
In all cases, students will be exposed to theoretical approaches to these issues with a view to mastering them, and also expected to apply their learning to real-world practice of policy-making in a political environment. The Module will also involve engagement with statistical datasets and publications produced by international organisations such as the OECD, IMF and EU which have become of increasing importance in understand the motivations of national governments. The Module will be presented by means of 11 seminars, including some with invited practitioners, and assessed by means of written assignments and reflective learning logs.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module students will have acquired:
1. Critical knowledge and awareness of contemporary theories in public administration and policy making and their relevance to current problems faced by Western governments
2. Enhanced understanding of political-administrative relationships and their role in shaping contemporary policy making
3. In-depth knowledge of a number of key processes in contemporary government, including policy implementation, regulation, reform and evaluation
4. Competence in some of the key international and national debates concerning the future role, organisation and cost of public administration systems
5. Excellent knowledge of varieties in public administration systems and cultures, at national and local levels
6. The ability to sustain critical assessment of policy proposals and administrative organisation
7. Communicate ideas about the work and reform of systems of political governance
Skills
As per the University’s requirements, this module will assist in developing students’ skills in a wide variety of areas. These include:
Intellectual skills
• Managing, Understanding & Prioritizing Knowledge: identify relevant and subject-specific knowledge, sources and data; manage and use such information in an independent manner
• Analytical Thinking: identify, understand, interpret and evaluate relevant subject-specific arguments made by others; construct independent arguments in the context of theoretically informed knowledge
• Critical & Independent Thinking: ability to think critically and construct one’s own position in relation to existing and ongoing debates in the field
Professional and career development skills
• Communication Skills: ability to communicate clearly with others, both orally and in writing
• Teamwork: ability to work with others in a team, negotiate conflicts and recognize different ways of learning
• Diversity: ability to acknowledge and be sensitive to the range of cultural differences present in the learning environment
• Self-Reflexivity: ability to reflect on one’s own progress and identify and act upon ones own development needs with respect to life-long learning and career development
• Time Management: ability to negotiate diverse and competing pressures; cope with stress; and achieve a work / life balance
Technical and practical skills
• Information Technology: demonstrate the knowledge and ability to use contemporary and relevant ICT to source data and produce coherent information
• Data management: ability to source timely and relevant information from international organisations and databases
Organizational skills
• Efficient and effective work practice: demonstrate ability to work efficiently to deadlines
• Clear organisation of information: show efficiency in the organisation of large amounts of complex information and the ability to identify, describe and analyse the key features of the information
• Organisation and communication: demonstrate ability to use evidence to develop logical and clear argument; show aptitude for the effective use of information in a direct and appropriate way
• Enterprising thinking: Demonstrate ability to think and argue in novel and enterprising ways, to display originality of thought and argument and the ability to clearly support arguments in innovative ways
This module introduces students to the principles and practice of philosophy for children. At the beginning of the module, students undertake an intensive two-day training course where they consider what makes a good philosophical stimulus, how to structure a philosophy for children enquiry, and how to use their philosophical expertise to develop suitable learning resources for children. On successful completion of this training course, they will be assigned a placement in a local primary school where they will be expected to facilitate 8x1hour philosophical enquiries. As part of the module, they will also be expected to attend a number of seminars where they will consider the philosophical underpinnings of the Socratic method of enquiry that is at the heart of philosophy for children and compare it with other styles of doing philosophy.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the course, students,
--should have an understanding of the principles and practice of philosophy for children;
--should have a critical awareness of different conceptions of philosophical enquiry;
--should be able to facilitate an effective one-hour philosophy for children enquiry with primary-age children.
Skills
This module will develop intellectual skills, including analytical thinking, managing and developing subject-specific knowledge, and critical and independent thinking.
It will also promote professional and career development skills, notably communication skills, teamwork, sensitivity to diversity issues, and time management.
In addition, it will develop organizational skills, such as the ability to meet deadlines, the ability to facilitate discussion amongst a group of people, the ability to lead discussion, the ability to innovate and think creatively within a workplace setting.
This module introduces students to the centrality of gender and sexuality in shaping political dynamics at the local, national and global level. It approaches the topic from three perspectives - feminist political thought; strategies for political mobilization and change; and the relevance of gender in international affairs. The module aims to offer an introduction to the contribution of feminist intersectional scholarship in challenging understandings of politics and international relations as gender-neutral and draws attention to the, often neglected, experiences, agency and political claims of gender minorities. It considers key contemporary issues such as intersectionality and feminist politics, sexuality and reproductive justice; social movements and anti-gender politics; war, peace and security; climate change and the politics of global crises.
Lectures will chart the development of feminism in its diverse ideological strands and ‘waves’.
Students will have the opportunity to discuss theoretical perspectives and empirical examples as entry points to the gendered complexities of global politics.
Learning Outcomes
To provide a political perspective on gender; to clarify the diversity of feminist thought; to analyse and explain the causes of women's inequality in the public and private realms; and to provide an understanding of the inequalities confronting women.
Skills
The ability to comprehend the politics of sex and gender in an historical and theoretical framework; to develop a political perspective on gender; to debate positions; to engage in small group activity; to improve oral presentation and essay-writing skills.
An examination of the range of concepts related to the notion of identity in modern and contemporary Europe. The module offers an interdisciplinary survey of the construction of identity in localities, regions, and states of Western Europe, with a particular emphasis on the role of identity in cultural integration and diversity
Learning Outcomes
To introduce students to the notion of identity and the various factors (linguistic, ethnic, national, social, historical) which have contributed to the identity of western Europeans.
Skills
Development of critical and analytical skills. Emphasis on comparative methodology and the ability to synthesise knowledge in both written and oral form in a cross-national (European) context.
National and Ethnic Minorities in European Politics
Overview
Often trapped between the competing logics of nation and state, minority groups in Europe have played an important role in the twentieth century's bloodiest tragedies and have been targeted in many conflicts. However, contemporary Europe offers a substantial institutional approach to put minority issues on an entirely novel footing. This course looks at the role of minority groups in Europe addressing their competing claims over political representation, economic resources and cultural rights that persist throughout the Union. The course will examine minority issues from a comparative perspective to shed light on challenges that face specifically postcommunist European societies and will address issues pertaining to recognition of minority rights in the ‘older’ EU member states.
We start with the analyses of the origins of minority rights, the establishment of the European minority rights regime, and the relationship between national minorities and majorities in contemporary Europe. The module will engage with issues on European minority rights agenda moving beyond the perspective of nation-state, and will focus upon the impact of both, social processes domestically and geopolitical considerations regionally to enhance understanding of complicated relationship between the human rights and non-discrimination agendas globally. It engages literature on postcommunist Europeanisation, minority rights regime and accommodation of rights of migrants during the complex path of building European institutions. Taking its starting point in theoretical debates of post-cold War minority protection in Europe, the module is focused empirically on European cases, East and West, where tensions between groups have been identified and examined in terms of ethnic and/or national identities. By contrasting the issue relevant for national minorities throughout Europe the course will allow greater understanding of consequences going in hand with the recognition of national minority rights for European societies with growing numbers of old and new minority communities.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module, students will be able to:
• Place minority situations in a broader context of domestic and European politics
• Contrast the differential impact European integration had on minority groups in different waves of enlargement
• Ascertain importance of national minorities as guarantors of geopolitical stability
• Understand and be able to discriminate the impact of new and old minorities have on likelihood of ethnic conflict in contemporary Europe
• Communicate clearly and concisely, both orally and in written form contemporary situation in Europe
• Rigorously pursue intellectual questions in an academic manner, using analytical skills and critical thinking.
Skills
This module will assist in developing students’ skills in a number of important areas. These include:
Intellectual skills
• Analytical Thinking: identify, understand, interpret and evaluate relevant subject-specific arguments made by others; construct independent arguments
• Critical & Independent Thinking: ability to think critically and construct one’s own position in relation to existing and ongoing debates in the field
Professional and career development skills
• Communication Skills: ability to communicate clearly with others, both orally and in writing
• Teamwork: ability to work with others in a team, negotiate conflicts and recognize different ways of learning
• Self-Reflexivity: ability to reflect on one’s own progress and identify and act upon ones own development needs with respect to life-long learning and career development
Organizational skills
• Clear organisation of information: show efficiency in the organisation of large amounts of complex information and the ability to identify, describe and analyse the key features of the information
• Organisation and communication: demonstrate ability to use evidence to develop logical and clear argument; show aptitude for the effective use of information in a direct and appropriate way
This module examines the role of natural resources in modern societies through the specific lens of energy resources – from hydrocarbons to renewables – and how they have shaped international politics, economics and societies. Specific topics include: the transition from coal to oil and the emerging role of the multinational energy corporations in international politics; the link between natural resources and development in the Global South; the nature and consequences of the ‘resource curse’; the geo-strategic implications of contestation over energy resources; a range of case studies, which may include the following: the politics of energy and resource nationalism; the politics of post-colonial petro-states; the global impact of the US shale revolution; energy and authoritarianism in the Global South; the future of fossil fuels and the capitalist world order; and the nature of the embryonic energy transition towards a low carbon global economy.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this module, students will be able to identify key developments in the modern era of resource politics, and how domestic and international contestation over natural resources such as oil, gas, minerals and land have shaped global economic and political developments. Students will also be able to relate a range of topics and developments in global resource politics to other aspects of international politics and economics, including the emergence of the post-colonial world and the rising powers of the Global South, socio-economic development, international conflict and environmental sustainability.
Skills
This module will assist in developing students’ skills in a number of important areas. These include:
Intellectual skills
• Managing & Prioritizing Knowledge: identify relevant and subject-specific knowledge, sources and data; manage such information in an independent manner
• Analytical Thinking: identify, understand, interpret and evaluate relevant subject-specific arguments made by others; construct independent arguments
• Critical & Independent Thinking: ability to think critically and construct one’s own position in relation to existing and ongoing debates in the field
Professional and career development skills
• Communication Skills: ability to communicate clearly with others, both orally and in writing
• Self-Reflexivity: ability to reflect on one’s own progress and identify and act upon one’s own development needs with respect to life-long learning and career development
Organizational skills
• Efficient and effective work practice: demonstrate ability to work efficiently to deadlines
• Clear organisation of information: show efficiency in the organisation of large amounts of complex information and the ability to identify, describe and analyse the key features of the information
• Organisation and communication: demonstrate ability to use evidence to develop logical and clear arguments; show aptitude for the effective use of information in a direct and appropriate way
• Enterprising thinking: Demonstrate ability to think and argue in novel and enterprising ways, to display originality of thought and argument and the ability to clearly support arguments in innovative ways
Security politics has long been associated with the development, use and regulation of new technologies, from the ‘nuclear revolution’ to contemporary practices of cyber-security and surveillance. This module focusses on the inter-relationships of technology and security, and seeks to develop advanced understanding of the complexities of the “technopolitics” of security. This includes both novel technologies and the mundane materialities of security (fences, walls, guns). It introduces students to the role and political significance of science and technology from different theoretical perspectives, from political realism to the contemporary ‘material turn’ in critical security studies. It seeks to engage students in contemporary political debates and practices that entangle science and technology and security politics which may include issues such as cyber-security, UAVs/Drones, disarmament, nuclear terrorism, critical infrastructure protection, technologies of killing, biotechnology, biometrics, surveillance, border control, food security, health and medical technologies, and technologies of (military) bodies, among others. The module incorporates both theoretical perspectives (including IR/Security theory, and wider philosophy of technology and Science, Technology and Society approaches) and in depth empirical material.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of the module students will:
- Demonstrate an awareness and understanding of different theoretical understandings of science and technology in security politics and practice.
- Be able to discuss in depth the politics of several key security technologies.
- Critically engage in debates on key developments in the politics of security that relate to emerging technologies and technologically mediated forms of security practice.
- Be able to reflect upon the ethical and political implications of technological developments and practices in relation to security.
- Pursue independent, creative and critical thinking through both written work and group discussions.
Skills
Intellectual skills
• Managing & Prioritizing Knowledge: identify relevant and subject-specific knowledge, sources and data; manage such information in an independent manner
• Analytical Thinking: identify, understand, interpret and evaluate relevant subject-specific arguments made by others; construct independent arguments
• Critical & Independent Thinking: ability to think critically and construct one’s own position in relation to existing and ongoing debates in the field
Professional and career development skills
• Communication Skills: ability to communicate clearly with others, both orally and in writing
• Teamwork: ability to work with others in a team, negotiate conflicts and recognize different ways of learning
• Diversity: ability to acknowledge and be sensitive to the range of cultural differences present in the learning environment
• Self-Reflexivity: ability to reflect on one’s own progress and identify and act upon ones own development needs with respect to life-long learning and career development
• Time Management: ability to negotiate diverse and competing pressures; cope with stress; and achieve a work / life balance
Organizational skills
• Efficient and effective work practice: demonstrate ability to work efficiently to deadlines
• Clear organisation of information: show efficiency in the organisation of large amounts of complex information and the ability to identify, describe and analyse the key features of the information
• Organisation and communication: demonstrate ability to use evidence to develop logical and clear arguments; show aptitude for the effective use of information in a direct and appropriate way
• Enterprising thinking: Demonstrate ability to think and argue in novel and enterprising ways, to display originality of thought and argument and the ability to clearly support arguments in innovative ways
Earth, Energy, Ethics and Economy: The Politics of Unsustainability
Overview
The continuing problematic relationship between key dynamics of modern economic and social systems and the non-human world is one of the most pressing issues of the 21st century and will continue shape the political agenda both nationally and globally. This module will examine some of the key debates of the politics of sustainable development, including: green ethical and political theory; the role of the environment and nature in political theorising; the economic and policy alternatives to unsustainable development and the normative underpinnings of a sustainable society.
Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of this module students will: Have a firm understanding of the key ethical, political and economic dimensions of green theory Be able to identify and understand the varieties of schools of thinking with green theory. Have a firm understanding of sustainable development; Be able to relate green theory to the politics of sustainable development; Be able to relate green political theory to other schools of thought within contemporary political theory; Be able to articulate and defend their own understandings of both green political theory and sustainable development; Be able to relate the empirical and scientific arguments and debates about sustainable development to normative theorising about sustainable development; Be able to defend and explain interdisciplinary methodological approaches to the study of sustainable development
Skills
Knowledge of the main issues, thinkers, schools of thought and debates within green political and ethical theory; knowledge of the political, economic and ethical dimensions of debates about sustainable development; ability for independent research and study; critical, analytical and independent thinking; presenting informed arguments in class; critical independent and reasoned judgement and assessment and appreciation of the arguments of others; awareness and appreciation of the complexities and nuances of different normative positions; relating the issues, thinkers and schools of thought covered in this module to other modules that students have done in Politics or other pathways.
Political Parties and Elections in Northern Ireland
Overview
This module analyses political parties and elections in Northern Ireland. The module is motivated by the following simple question: What drives citizens’ party choice in Northern Ireland elections. The module situates the Northern Ireland case in the context of the international literature on political and electoral institutions. Specifically, given the consociational institutional context of Northern Ireland, what expectations should we have of how citizens choose parties at election time? The module assesses the relative importance of ‘conflict’ and ‘non conflict issues’ in determining voting behaviour.
The following is an indicative description of the seminars
1. Introduction
2. The Institutional Context: Consocationalism
3. Social Bases of Voting: Religion versus other effects
4. Ideological Bases of Voting: Ethno-national ideology versus other ideological effects (economic left-right, liberal-conservative, pro-EU anti EU)
5. Psychological identification: Positive Affective attachment versus negative identification
6. Group representation: Tribune versus Catch-All effects
7. Holding parties responsible for governing performance
8. Parties from the South and the East: What would happen if...?
9. Implications for other deeply divided places and consociational contexts
Note that there will be an element of quantitative statistical analysis in this module. Students should be prepared for this.
Learning Outcomes
Understanding of the nature of party competition and electoral choice in Northern Ireland
Skills
Intellectual skills
Understanding theoretical interpretations of political choice and understanding how theories are empiricallly tested
Professional and career development skills
Participation in seminars and knowledge of methodological matters
The student will investigate and write a dissertation of 8-10,000 words on a suitable philosophical topic agreed between the student, the co-ordinator and a designated supervisor.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the dissertation, studetns will be able to:
a) Develop a sustained argument, test a hypothesis, and/or write a reasoned philosophical analysis;
b) Carry out research including finding appropriate sources for the topic in question;
c) review appropriate approaches for the topic.
Skills
Students participate in a wokshop prior to registering for the dissertation, which focuses on how to formulate a dissertation question, how to research the dissertation, and how to organise and write the dissertation. A further workshop is held at the start of the second semester. Students work closely with an individual supervisor throughout the research, drafting and writing of their dissertation. The skills requires for ongoing research and writing of a dissertation are acquired and monitored through liason with her or his supervisor.
A maximum of one BTEC/OCR Single Award or AQA Extended Certificate will be accepted as part of an applicant's portfolio of qualifications with a Distinction* being equated to grade A at A-Level and a Distinction being equated to a grade B at A-level.
Irish leaving certificate requirements
H3H3H3H3H3H3/H2H3H3H3H3
Access/Foundation Course
Successful completion of Access Course with an average of 70%.
International Baccalaureate Diploma
33 points overall, including 6,5,5 at Higher Level.
BTEC Level 3 Extended/National Extended Diploma
QCF BTEC Extended Diploma (180 credits at Level 3) with overall grades of D*DD
RQF BTEC National Extended Diploma (1080 GLH at Level 3) with overall grades of D*DD
Graduate
A minimum of a 2:2 Honours Degree
Note
All applicants must have GCSE English Language grade C/4 or an equivalent qualification acceptable to the University.
There are no specific Level 3 subject requirements to study Philosophy and Politics.
How we choose our students
Applications are dealt with centrally by the Admissions and Access Service rather than by individual University Schools. Once your on-line form has been processed by UCAS and forwarded to Queen's, an acknowledgement is normally sent within two weeks of its receipt at the University.
Selection is on the basis of the information provided on your UCAS form. Decisions are made on an ongoing basis and will be notified to you via UCAS.
For entry last year, applicants for this degree offering A-Level/ BTEC Level 3 qualifications must have had, or been able to achieve, a minimum of 5 GCSE passes at grade C/4 or better (to include English Language). The Selector will check that any specific entry requirements in terms of GCSE and/or A-level subjects can be fulfilled.
Offers are normally made on the basis of 3 A-levels. Two subjects at A-level plus two at AS would also be considered. The offer for repeat applicants is set in terms of 3 A-levels and may be one grade higher than that asked from first time applicants. Grades may be held from the previous year.
Applicants offering two A-levels and one BTEC Subsidiary Diploma/National Extended Certificate (or equivalent qualification), or one A-level and a BTEC Diploma/National Diploma (or equivalent qualification) will also be considered. Offers will be made in terms of the overall BTEC grade(s) awarded. Please note that a maximum of one BTEC Subsidiary Diploma/National Extended Certificate (or equivalent) will be counted as part of an applicant’s portfolio of qualifications. The normal GCSE profile will be expected.
For applicants offering Irish Leaving Certificate, please note that performance at Irish Junior Certificate is taken into account. Applicants must have a minimum of 5 IJC grades C/ Merit. The Selector also checks that any specific entry requirements in terms of Leaving Certificate subjects can be satisfied.
For applicants offering a HNC, the current requirements are successful completion of the HNC with 2 Distinctions and remainder Merits.
For those offering a Higher National Diploma, to be eligible for an offer, at least half of the units completed in the first year of the HND must be at Merit level and remainder Passes. Applicants must successfully complete the HND with 2 Distinctions and remainder Merits in all units assessed in the final year. Any consideration would be for stage 1 entry only. Some flexibility may be allowed in terms of GCSE profile.
The information provided in the personal statement section and the academic reference together with predicted grades are noted but, in the case of BA degrees, these are not the final deciding factors in whether or not a conditional offer can be made. However, they may be reconsidered in a tie break situation in August.
A-level General Studies and A-level Critical Thinking would not normally be considered as part of a three A-level offer and, although they may be excluded where an applicant is taking 4 A-level subjects, the grade achieved could be taken into account if necessary in August/September.
Applicants are not normally asked to attend for interview, though there are some exceptions and specific information is provided with the relevant subject areas.
If you are made an offer then you may be invited to a Faculty/School Open Day, which is usually held in the second semester. This will allow you the opportunity to visit the University and to find out more about the degree programme of your choice and the facilities on offer. It also gives you a flavour of the academic and social life at Queen's.
If you cannot find the information you need here, please contact the University Admissions Service (admissions@qub.ac.uk), giving full details of your qualifications and educational background.
International Students
Our country/region pages include information on entry requirements, tuition fees, scholarships, student profiles, upcoming events and contacts for your country/region. Use the dropdown list below for specific information for your country/region.
English Language Requirements
An IELTS score of 6.5 with a minimum of 5.5 in each test component or an equivalent acceptable qualification, details of which are available at: http://go.qub.ac.uk/EnglishLanguageReqs
If you need to improve your English language skills before you enter this degree programme, INTO Queen's University Belfast offers a range of English language courses. These intensive and flexible courses are designed to improve your English ability for admission to this degree.
Academic English: an intensive English language and study skills course for successful university study at degree level
Pre-sessional English: a short intensive academic English course for students starting a degree programme at Queen's University Belfast and who need to improve their English.
International Students - Foundation and International Year One Programmes
INTO Queen's offers a range of academic and English language programmes to help prepare international students for undergraduate study at Queen's University. You will learn from experienced teachers in a dedicated international study centre on campus, and will have full access to the University's world-class facilities.
These programmes are designed for international students who do not meet the required academic and English language requirements for direct entry.
A degree in Politics and Philosophy provides a stimulating programme of study and intellectual training useful in many walks of life and future career paths. Graduates are equipped with the necessary attributes for graduate employment or postgraduate education and training, and are able to make a difference in whatever future career they choose.
Employment Links
The School has an active Employers’ Forum that is used to forge links with national and international employers. Graduates go on to an unlimited range of occupations in the public and private sectors - career destinations of our students have included the BBC, the Diplomatic Service, the NHS, International House, Civil Service and major banks.
Degree Plus/Future Ready Award for extra-curricular skills
In addition to your degree programme, at Queen's you can have the opportunity to gain wider life, academic and employability skills. For example, placements, voluntary work, clubs, societies, sports and lots more. So not only do you graduate with a degree recognised from a world leading university, you'll have practical national and international experience plus a wider exposure to life overall. We call this Degree Plus/Future Ready Award. It's what makes studying at Queen's University Belfast special.
1EU citizens in the EU Settlement Scheme, with settled status, will be charged the NI or GB tuition fee based on where they are ordinarily resident. Students who are ROI nationals resident in GB will be charged the GB fee.
2 EU students who are ROI nationals resident in ROI are eligible for NI tuition fees.
3 EU Other students (excludes Republic of Ireland nationals living in GB, NI or ROI) are charged tuition fees in line with international fees.
The tuition fees quoted above for NI and ROI are the 2024/25 fees and will be updated when the new fees are known. In addition, all tuition fees will be subject to an annual inflationary increase in each year of the course. Fees quoted relate to a single year of study unless explicitly stated otherwise.
Tuition fee rates are calculated based on a student’s tuition fee status and generally increase annually by inflation. How tuition fees are determined is set out in the Student Finance Framework.
Additional course costs
In Year 2 students can apply for a number of optional exchanges with institutions in the USA. The cost will vary depending on the institution and length of exchange and can range from £500 - £6,000.
Students who undertake a period of study or work abroad, are responsible for funding travel, accommodation and subsistence costs. These costs vary depending on the location and duration of the placement.
A limited amount of funding may be available to contribute towards these additional costs, if the placement takes place through a government student mobility scheme.
All Students
Depending on the programme of study, there may be extra costs which are not covered by tuition fees, which students will need to consider when planning their studies.
Students can borrow books and access online learning resources from any Queen's library. If students wish to purchase recommended texts, rather than borrow them from the University Library, prices per text can range from £30 to £100. Students should also budget between £30 to £75 per year for photocopying, memory sticks and printing charges.
Students undertaking a period of work placement or study abroad, as either a compulsory or optional part of their programme, should be aware that they will have to fund additional travel and living costs.
If a programme includes a major project or dissertation, there may be costs associated with transport, accommodation and/or materials. The amount will depend on the project chosen. There may also be additional costs for printing and binding.
Students may wish to consider purchasing an electronic device; costs will vary depending on the specification of the model chosen.
There are also additional charges for graduation ceremonies, examination resits and library fines.
How do I fund my study?
There are different tuition fee and student financial support arrangements for students from Northern Ireland, those from England, Scotland and Wales (Great Britain), and those from the rest of the European Union.
Application for admission to full-time undergraduate and sandwich courses at the University should normally be made through the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS). Full information can be obtained from the UCAS website at: www.ucas.com/students.
When to Apply
UCAS will start processing applications for entry in autumn 2025 from early September 2024.
The advisory closing date for the receipt of applications for entry in 2025 is still to be confirmed by UCAS but is normally in late January (18:00). This is the 'equal consideration' deadline for this course.
Applications from UK and EU (Republic of Ireland) students after this date are, in practice, considered by Queen’s for entry to this course throughout the remainder of the application cycle (30 June 2025) subject to the availability of places. If you apply for 2025 entry after this deadline, you will automatically be entered into Clearing.
Applications from International and EU (Other) students are normally considered by Queen's for entry to this course until 30 June 2025. If you apply for 2025 entry after this deadline, you will automatically be entered into Clearing.
Applicants are encouraged to apply as early as is consistent with having made a careful and considered choice of institutions and courses.
The Institution code name for Queen's is QBELF and the institution code is Q75.
Additional Information for International (non-EU) Students
Applying through UCAS
Most students make their applications through UCAS (Universities and Colleges Admissions Service) for full-time undergraduate degree programmes at Queen's. The UCAS application deadline for international students is 30 June 2025.
Applying direct
The Direct Entry Application form is to be used by international applicants who wish to apply directly, and only, to Queen's or who have been asked to provide information in advance of submitting a formal UCAS application. Find out more.
Applying through agents and partners
The University’s in-country representatives can assist you to submit a UCAS application or a direct application. Please consult the Agent List to find an agent in your country who will help you with your application to Queen’s University.
