Undergraduate Course: Contemporary Issues in Political Science (PLIT10104)
Course Outline
| School | School of Social and Political Science |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 4 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | Contemporary Issues in Political Science takes a recent topic one emerging in the news or in the academic literature, and provides students with the tools to situate it within the larger academic literature, the political context and methods of analysis. |
| Course description |
The substantive content of this course changes 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. 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 (whether social, economic, cultural, or political) to consider when analysing the phenomenon, how to identify wider theories and concepts to analyse the phenomenon and how to acquire evidence that would support one theoretical interpretation over another.
2022-23 Topic - Media and Politics
This course explores the complex, and rapidly changing relationship between different kinds of media and different kinds of political activity around the world. As such, it focuses upon the complex relationship between mainstream and social media, formal and informal politics. Students will be introduced to many of the 'classic' concerns discussed in political communication, including information flow, censorship and surveillance; the role of the media within deliberation, voting and policy-making processes; as well as the ways in which media shapes relations between states, including during military conflict.
However, this course goes beyond traditional 'political communication' as it does not analyse communicative acts such as political speeches, rallies and advertising campaigns. Instead, we incorporate research from informatics, journalism studies, and media and communications scholarship to address the emergence of new sorts of media actors and more fluid, informal kinds of mediated politics. We also interrogate the use of media itself, tradition and social, using a forensic, political lens: considering the effects of the political economy of different media outlets and vice versa. We look at the structuring of media labour and the emergence of new kinds of media-saturated (or mediatised) politics, including the practices of non-governmental organisations, terrorist groups, and 'trolls'.
The first half of the course focuses more on the relationship between different kinds of media and politics; the second builds on this by considering the intersection of media, politics and international relations. It therefore provides advanced UG students with the critical foundation they need to understand the many different roles played by the media within today's complex political environment, and the ways in which the media may behave as political actors themselves.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | This course is only available to honours students on a Politics or International Relations (including joint honours) degree programme. |
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 Office directly for admission to this course ** |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Explain key theories and concepts
- Compare and evaluate the merits of different critical approaches
- Plan and organise independent research
- Develop specialist in-depth knowledge of specific areas and issues
- Analyse contemporary case studies, using both theoretical and empirical perspectives.
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Critical thinking and analysis
Teamwork
Effective written and verbal communication
Effective research and analytical skills
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| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Kate Wright
Tel: (0131 6)51 1480
Email: |
Course secretary | Mr Ethan Alexander
Tel: (0131 6)50 4001
Email: |
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