Undergraduate Module Descriptor

POL1025: Classical Political Thought

This module descriptor refers to the 2017/8 academic year.

This module aims to:

introduce you to the practice and tradition of political theorising in the West from the Greeks to the early Christian period through the study of selected texts by major thinkers;
introduce you to a tradition of textual interpretation and commentary connected with this tradition and some of the major interpretations offered;
equip you to critically assess such interpretations against the texts yourselves; and
understand the significance and contributions of the major cultural components of that tradition, namely classical antiquity and early Christianity.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)
This module's assessment will evaluate your achievement of the ILOs listed here – you will see reference to these ILO numbers in the details of the assessment for this module.
On successfully completing the programme you will be able to:
Module-Specific Skills	1. demonstrate understanding of the major political theories of the Western tradition between Socrates and Augustine; 2. demonstrate the ability to understand, summarise and interpret complex and abstract arguments in politics; 3. summarise and precis a political theory;
Discipline-Specific Skills	4. identify and discuss the major concepts deployed in a theory and their argumentative articulation; 5. engage in both sympathetic interpretation and reasoned criticism of such theories, and to evaluate different interpretations in the light of appropriate evidence;
Personal and Key Skills	6. evaluate ideas, arguments and texts; and 7. develop and assess communication and peer evaluation skills.