Behörighetskrav

Statskunskap B eller motsvarande kunskap från utländskt universitet.

Mål

Course objective and learning outcomes

The aim of this course seminar is to offer a necessarily short survey of some, yet not all, sub-fields of International Relations. By the end of the seminar, students are expected to have a general sense of the field of International Relations, its traditional research focus and some of its main theories and debates. In particular, they should be able to:

1. Identify and compare the focus of several main research areas in International Relations

2. Understand approaches within these areas with regard to their underlying theories, the methodologies they employ and their usefulness for the analysis of particular problems of international politics

3. Analyse a particular problem of international politics with a research focus derived from one or more of these sub-fields in International Relations

4. Present and discuss scholarly work in the field of International Relations with their peers.

Innehåll

Course content

The course identifies and analyses research within four subfields of International Relations, namely Foreign Policy Analysis, Security Studies, the study of International Organisations, as well as Transnational Networks.

Undervisning

Teaching and course organisation

The course is given in English, during the first part of the Spring semester. The course mainly consists of seminars in which we discuss the readings. Additionally, but participation is here voluntarily, there will be some documentaries which are related to the topics (e.g. Cuban Missile Crisis). The students also write a final paper. Should the seminar be overbooked, changes to the teaching organisation will apply.

Examination

Course requirements

1. Seminar presentation and participation (20%).

Should the seminar number allow, every student will introduce one seminar. Presenters should make a written outline (for everyone) which summarises the key points of their introduction and the main questions on which to lead the discussion.

2. Critical summaries of readings (30%)

Every week, students should submit a short position paper (1-2 pages) on which they (1) summarise the main aim and/or contribution of the assigned book to the study of IR, as well as (2) ask 4-5 questions they would like to see raised and answered during the seminar.

3. Final paper (50%)

The final paper is an in-depth discussion of one of the central debates encountered in the readings and/or a substantial critique of one of the books. Topics should be discussed with the course convenor in advance.

Fördjupning i förhållande till examensfordringarna

Role within the general BA education

As all upper undergraduate courses, this seminar contributes to the development of the students' general analytical and technical skills, including (1) the techniques and skills attached to critical analytical reading, as well as the written and oral communication of arguments and ideas, (2) the awareness of the underlying assumptions of different theories, and (3) their operationalisation within an autonomously conducted analysis. Yet, being the only course at a more advanced stage of the BA education it has also some particular roles. On the one hand, it wants simply to give an overview to students who, although not wanting to pursue their studies in International Relations, seek a better understanding of the study of international affairs. But its main purpose is to address the needs of those students who, after their first courses in IR, are preparing a BA thesis in International Relations and/or plan to pursue for a MA in which they wish to specialize in International Relations. For preparing these more advanced tasks, the literature choice includes a substantial theoretical component.

Övriga föreskrifter

Kursen ges endast för utbytesstudenter.