Undergraduate Course: Contemporary Issues in International Relations (PLIT10105)
Course Outline
| School | School of Social and Political Science |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | Contemporary Issues in IR takes a recent topic, one emerging in the news or in the literature, and provides students with the tools to situate it within the larger academic literature, political context and methods of analysis. |
| Course description |
The substantive content of the course will change each year depending on topical issues and will be taught by experts on the issue itself or on particular approaches/methods from amongst permanent and postdoctoral staff. For example, in the aftermath of the uprisings across the Arab World, the course could focus on democratic transitions, bringing in different theoretical perspectives, from liberalism to postcolonialism, and different issues, from religion to gender. To give another example, around big international conferences, such as Rio +20 on sustainable development, the course could consider global environmental politics, both how it is approached by liberalism, realism, institutionalism, critical theory etc and how we analyse environmental negotiations. In each case, there would be a consideration of how the issue looks from different political perspectives and approaches, in order to ask questions around where power lies in global politics, and with what implications.
In each case, students will learn substantive information about the topic itself but perhaps more importantly they will acquire the generic skills to analyse any phenomenon: how to place it within a larger context, where to look for information about context, the types of variables to consider when analysing the phenomenon (social, economic, cultural, political), how to identify wider theories and concepts to analyse the phenomenon and how to acquire evidence that would support one theoretical interpretation over another.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | Visiting students should have at least 4 Politics/International Relations courses at grade B or above (or be predicted to obtain this). We will only consider University/College level courses.
** as numbers are limited, visiting students should contact the Visiting Student Section for admission to this course **
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Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Students will be able to demonstrate comprehensive understanding of contemporary debates on the chosen event, from both a theoretical and empirical perspective
- Students will have specialist in-depth knowledge of specific areas and issues in relation to the chosen event
- Students will be able to critically engage with key explanatory theories, concepts, institutions and issues in the study of the chosen event
- Students will be able to deploy and justify the use of case studies to deepen our understanding of international relations
- Students will be able to engage in critical thinking, reflection and debate for academic and non-academic consumption.
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Critical thinking and analysis
Team work
Effective written and verbal communication
Effective research and analytical skills
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| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Ailsa Henderson
Tel: (0131 6)51 1618
Email: |
Course secretary | |
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