International relations
Foundations of International Relations (pathway elective)
Module code: 005RE
Level 4
15 credits in spring semester
Teaching method: Workshop
Assessment modes: Essay
On this module, you’ll explore key theories and conceptual frameworks for understanding International Relations (IR). We’ll consider how IR has become a distinct scholarly discipline. We’ll also ask who and what is served by the different lenses scholars use to analyse IR.
You’ll explore questions such as:
- what role have colonialism and race played in shaping modern international order and world politics?
- how are global patterns of inequality and violence linked to the dynamics of global capitalism?
- why did the first departments of IR avoid these questions and focus instead on relations between states?
- what is the significance of international institutions like the UN? To what extent do they help make the world more peaceful and cooperative?
- how do identities and the relations between self and other affect IR? How do gender relations influence this?
- how and why do all these theories matter in the ‘real world’?
Module learning outcomes
- Recognize problems and issues of current world politics
- Understand the effects of globalization
- Use various analytical standard tools of international politics
- Present orally and in written confident analysis of current issues of world politics