Transcript The Course Materials Repository

Using the Course Materials Repository
(CMR) for Exam Preparation
Instructions
To get to
the CMR,
first select
the link
learning &
teaching on
the righthand side
of the
University
homepage
(highlighted
in yellow on
the example
screen).
Locate the CMR
Instructions
Now select
the link
Course
Materials
Repository
near the top
of the page
(again,
highlighted
in yellow on
the example
screen).
Select the appropriate department
Instructions
Select the
appropriate
departmental
link…
For this
example, the
Department of
Government
has been used.
Find the appropriate course
Instructions
For each
course there
are
numerous
options.
First, select
the link
course
catalogue for
the course
description.
GV902-G-FY
has been
used for this
example.
Course description
GV902-G-FY: THEORIES OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
Year: 2005/2006
Instructions
•
You should see
something like
this, but your
departmental
and course
equivalent…
Course Description
This course describes and critically assesses the competing theories of international relations. Importantly,
this course is neither designed to be an introduction to the contemporary practice of international relations,
nor a current affairs course. Its principle aim is to introduce and familiarize students with the rich variety of
theoretical approaches that will allow students to better understand and explain international relations.
In the first term the course explores the 'great debates' that have historically shaped the discipline of
International Relations. Part I considers the early liberal and realist theories of international relations, while
Part II analyses the methodological questions generated by these earlier approaches and which led to their
Read this
course
description – or
one that is more
modern neo-realist and neo-liberal equivalents. The third part of the course then explores the variety of
relevant to you
for the purpose
of this exercise.
reviews the attempts to theorize poverty and justice in international relations, while the fifth part turns towards
critical and post-positivist theories that have flourished over the past decade and which have sought to
challenge the disciplinary hegemony of realist and liberal approaches.
In the Spring term, the course then turns toward considering partial theories of international relations. Part IV
theories of war and security. The final part of the course considers the new global challenges posed to the
nation-state by environmental concerns and globalisation.
Identify key topics and themes and
theories in the course description
Instructions
Read the course
description again,
more carefully
and slowly…
•
Course Description
This course describes and critically assesses the competing theories of international relations. Importantly,
this course is neither designed to be an introduction to the contemporary practice of international relations,
nor a current affairs course. Its principle aim is to introduce and familiarize students with the rich variety of
theoretical approaches that will allow students to better understand and explain international relations.
In the first term the course explores the 'great debates' that have historically shaped the discipline of
International Relations. Part I considers the early liberal and realist theories of international relations,
During this
second reading,
highlight or make
a note of key and
recurring topics,
themes, and, if
appropriate,
theories.
while Part II analyses the methodological questions generated by these earlier approaches and which
led to their modern neo-realist and neo-liberal equivalents. The third part of the course then explores
the variety of critical and post-positivist theories that have flourished over the past decade and which
have sought to challenge the disciplinary hegemony of realist and liberal approaches.
In the Spring term, the course then turns toward considering partial theories of international relations. Part
IV reviews the attempts to theorize poverty and justice in international relations, while the fifth part turns
towards theories of war and security. The final part of the course considers the new global challenges
posed to the nation-state by environmental concerns and globalisation.
Finding past papers
Instructions
Put the course
description
aside for the
moment, go
back to the
main CMR page
(the course
listing) and
select the link
from the CMR
exam papers
archive for past
exam papers.
Finding past papers, continued
Instructions
Select the
appropriate year
you wish to look
at…
Read the exam papers slowly and carefully
Instructions
SECTION ONE
1.
Go through the
past papers and
highlight or make
a note of the key
and recurring __
1. terms
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Trace and assess the impact of the three so-called ‘Great Debates’ on the development
of IR as a discipline.
What is the place of ‘morality’ in international politics?
What was the main (theoretical) challenge to Realism during the Cold War, and is it still
relevant for analysing IR today?
Critically examine Kenneth Waltz’s theory of international politics.
Define and evaluate the contribution of the ‘English School’ in the development of IR
theory.
Marxism may still be of interest in the study of world politics after the collapse of the
“real, existing socialism”. Do you agree? Explain your reasoning.
2. themes, and
3. theories.
Unless you are
using examples
from your own
course, read the
example to the
right.
(End of Section One)
SECTION TWO
7. Do regimes matter in world politics?
8. Define the “neo-neo synthesis” and its impact on the evolution of IR theorising.
9. Define and evaluate the contribution of ‘Critical IR Theory’ OR ‘Social Constructivism’ to
the Discipline of International Relations?
10. ‘Security is always for someone and for some purpose’. Discuss.
11. What is a ‘just war’ in IR theory and practice?
Identify key terms
Instructions
Now make a list of
all the key and
recurring terms
that appear in each
of the past papers
and combine
them…
Make sure you are
familiar with the
main terms,
looking up
anything that you
do not fully
understand.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Realist claim: power politics
‘Complex interdependence'
‘International system' c/c 'international society'
Social constructivism
Marxist theorists: global inequality and underdevelopment
Post-modern understanding of international ethics
National sovereignty & humanitarian interventionism: irreconcilable?
The three 'Great Debates'
‘Levels of analysis'
‘Outside in' c/c 'inside out' explanations
Neo-liberalism c/c neo-realism ; neo-liberalism = neo-realism???
Critical theorists
Postmodernist
Constructivism
Feminism
Identify key themes
Instructions
Do the same again,
this time making a
list of all the key
and recurring
themes that appear
in the past
papers…
• Collective security: utopian/realistic international
security system?
• Regimes/international institutions: views of neoliberals c/c neo-realists'
• private governance: rise of non-state actors.
• Trans-nationalist approach: difficulty explaining
relevance of non-state actors
Identify key theories and theorists
Instructions
•
Essence of Decision: demolishes the notions that states are either rational
in their behaviour or unitary in their character
Now make a list of
all the theorists
and theories that
appear or are
eluded to in the
past papers…
•
Graham Allison: bureaucratic politics
•
Hedley Bull: international society exists
•
Thomas Kuhn
•
Imre Lakatos
•
Hans Morgenthau: traditional realist
•
Jack Snyder, Myths of Empire: 'The tendency of a great power to
overexpand depends most critically on the timing of its industrialisation'
•
Kenneth Waltz: international anarchy leads to moderation in foreign policy
•
Kenneth Waltz c/c 'offensive realists'
•
Alexander Wendt: 'Anarchy is what states make of it'
Next, refer to the course outline and the aims
and objectives to develop an essay checklist
Instructions
•
Aims of the course
This course aims to introduce students to the study of the relationship between media and cultural and social
Go back to the
course listings
and select the
first option under
each course,
life. In particular the focus of the course will be on the technological transformations that have produced the
Course Materials
Location, which
will give you the
course outline
and the aims and
objectives.
film, music, photography, cinema and the Internet. Throughout the course, the emphasis will be on how
current coexistence of mass media, postmodern media and a digital media culture-including digital and
terrestrial television, the Internet, newspapers, land and mobile telephony, digital and analogue images and
sounds and so on. The course will look at this system of communication through the work of theorists such as
Walter Benjamin, Marshall McLuhan, Jean Baudrillard, Norbert Wiener, Paul Virilio, Brian Massumi, and Gilles
Deleuze and Felix Guattari. These classic perspectives will be supplemented with case studies taken from
technical media constitute not simply representations of the social world but also our very modes of
perception. As such our relationship with the media also involves our relationship with the body, social
understandings of reality and the culture of interpersonal communication.
By the end of the course, students will be expected to be familiar with the main theoretical approaches to the
study of media cultures. They will also be expected to be able to apply these different theoretical frameworks
to specific case studies.
Format: Each session will include an introduction to the subject in question by staff; and a student presentation
Read this new
example…
about the set reading . Some sessions will also include a close engagement with set readings by the major
authors in the field. As part of a general orientation towards the analysis of contemporary media culture, the
course might also include brief screenings or the use printed material as mini-case studies. There will be 10
lectures in total.
Look closely at what you need to show
you have learnt from the course
Instructions
This course aims to introduce students to the study of the relationship between media and
cultural and social life. In particular the focus of the course will be on the technological
transformations that have produced the current coexistence of mass media, post-modern media
It should be
apparent
(implicitly, at the
very least) what
the course aims
to develop in
terms of skill and
knowledge.
and a digital media culture - including digital and terrestrial television, the Internet, newspapers,
land and mobile telephony, digital and analogue images and sounds and so on. The course will
look at this system of communication through the work of theorists such as Walter Benjamin,
Marshall McLuhan, Jean Baudrillard, Norbert Wiener, Paul Virilio, Brian Massumi, and Gilles
Deleuze and Felix Guattari. These classic perspectives will be supplemented with case studies
taken from film, music, photography, cinema and the Internet. Throughout the course, the
emphasis will be on how technical media constitute not simply representations of the social world
but also our very modes of perception. As such our relationship with the media also involves
our relationship with the body, social understandings of reality and the culture of interpersonal
communication.
These need to be
identified and
highlighted.
By the end of the course, students will be expected to be familiar with the main theoretical
approaches to the study of media cultures. They will also be expected to be able to apply these
different theoretical frameworks to specific case studies.
Determine which kind of evidence is apt
Instructions
Identify what types
of evidence are
considered
appropriate and
use the lists as a
basis for gathering
your own
evidence.
• Format: Each session will include an introduction
to the subject in question by staff; and a student
presentation about the set reading. Some
sessions will also include a close engagement
readings by the major
authors in the field. As part of a general
with set
orientation towards the analysis of contemporary
media culture, the course might also include
brief screenings or the use
printed material as mini-case studies.
There will be 10 lectures in total.
Essay checklist
Instructions
Having done that,
make an essay
checklist that
outlines all of the
things you need to
demonstrate in your
exams.
In this essay, is it clear that I have… ?
•
Brought out the relationship between media and cultural and social life?
•
Recognised the significance of technological transformations (post-modern media
and a digital media culture-including digital and terrestrial television, the Internet,
newspapers, land and mobile telephony, digital and analogue images and sounds)?
•
Drawn on the work of theorists (e.g. Walter Benjamin, Marshall McLuhan, Jean
Baudrillard, Norbert Wiener, Paul Virilio, Brian Massumi, Gilles Deleuze, Felix
Guattari)?
•
Illustrated my points through use of case studies (taken from film, music,
photography, cinema and the Internet)?
•
Shown how these constitute our very modes of perception?
•
And that our relationship with the media also involves our relationship with the body,
social understandings of reality and the culture of interpersonal communication?
•
Demonstrated familiarity with the main theoretical approaches to the study of media
cultures and applied these different theoretical frameworks to specific case studies?
•
ALSO ANSWERED THE QUESTION!!!