Undergraduate Module Descriptor

POL2057: Security Studies

This module descriptor refers to the 2023/4 academic year.

Overview

NQF Level	5
Credits	15	ECTS Value	7.5
Term(s) and duration	This module ran during term 2 (11 weeks)
Academic staff	Dr Kevork Oskanian (Convenor)
Pre-requisites	None
Co-requisites	None
Available via distance learning	No

This module will introduce you to the study of war and the use of force in world politics, as well as contemporary threats and challenges to state and people security. It explores how International Relations (IR) schools of thought inform the study of security, violent conflicts (including war, crimes against humanity such as genocide and war crimes, terrorism, ethnic conflict, and intervention), as well as the pursuit of peace and justice in the aftermath of mass violence. The module examines scholarly debates in the setting of contemporary cases of political violence and security threats, and assesses efforts to achieve security, peace and a modicum of justice in the aftermath of various conflicts. This module pays particular attention to permutations of threats and the formulations of related security rationales and what they, in turn, suggest for the nature of in/securities involved. Overall, the module offers students the opportunity to reflect meaningfully on the correlations between security, peace and justice. In doing so, it provides a sound basis for more detailed studies at Level 3 and in other undergraduate and postgraduate research.

Module created	01/10/2010	Last revised	01/02/2022