Courses / Module

Goal: To provide students with an inter-disciplinary introduction to the study of war, global security and terrorism
This module will introduce students to different concepts, theories and methodologies employed to foster an understanding of the causes and conduct of conflict, insecurity, war and terrorism. In particular, students will engage with social science approaches associated with International Relations and with Security Studies and Strategic Studies. They will also learn about historical approaches to the study of war and of those concepts and theories that are grounded in a historical approach and will learn about the principles and practice of Conflict Termination.

By the end of the module students will have developed their ability to:
• critically analyse alternative discourses on the causes and conduct of war, terrorism and other international crises;
• demonstrate awareness of the key issues affecting global security today;
• engage with different disciplines and methodologies in order to examine contemporary security and international relations;
• identify key aspects of specific wars and conflicts to illustrate developments in relevant theory and practice;
• demonstrate independent judgement based on appropriate evidence;
• contribute to a problem oriented discussion, independently and in group work.

The module will be taught through 2 x weekly lectures and tutorials which are held every second week. The lectures will introduce and discuss key concepts, theories and literature etc while the tutorials will enable small group discussion of these, and of related material. Tutorials will revolve around the discussion of a text, document or documentary and students will compile a portfolio of short reports (500 words) on each of these.