SPIRE Undergraduate Modules

 Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3

YEAR ONE

PHI-10010 10 Problems of Philosophy  (Download poster)

An introduction to ten of the most enduring problems of Western philosophy; from the problem of free will to the nature of time.

  • Can people change their bodies?
  • What is the meaning of life?
  • Is time real?

 

PHI-10011 How to Think  ()

This module introduces students to the practice of critical thinking, helping them to identify and evaluate an argument, think outside the box and be creative.

  • You hear something you think is not right – how are you to go about determining what’s wrong with it?
  • How can you spot bad arguments and fallacies?
  • How can you construct a good and interesting argument?

 

PHI-10013 Moral Philosophy  ()

Can there be objective moral truth? Is morality like science, or is it more of a question of taste, like preferring Chardonnay to Rioja?

  • What is it that makes an action right?
  • What is it to lead a good life?
  • What is the relationship between morality and religion?

 

PHI-10014 Ancient Philosophy  ()

How did the ancients think of the philosophical problems discussed today? This module will introduce you to the ancient Greek, Indian and Chinese philosophical traditions and show what we can learn from them.

  • What did ancient Greeks think about the mind-body relationship?
  • How did the ancient Indians think logically?
  • Where did the ancient Chinese get their theories of justice from?

 

PIR-10038 Why Politics Matters  ()

Democracy and its failures: violence, ideological divisions. The hardest questions about the political forces that shape the world you live in, tackled (by you).

 

PIR-10039 Debates in American Politics  (Download poster)

US politics is spectacularly divided over a series of controversies. This module gives you the chance to debate guns, death, immigration, terrorism, economics and more.

  • Should US gun control laws be changed?
  • Why doesn’t the US take greater action on climate change?
  • Why does the US still use the death penalty?

 

PIR-10041 Introduction to International Relations  (Download poster)

You will learn how to interpret current events in world politics and understand key theories and institutions. This module provides a basis for more detailed and in depth study of IR.

  • Are states still the main players in world politics?
  • Have nuclear weapons kept the peace?
  • Can globalisation be controlled?

 

PIR-10043 The Changing World  (Download poster)

In writing international history, whose voice counts?  This module examines key events in international history since 1945 such as dropping the atomic bomb, the Korean War, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the end of the Cold War and more…

  • What are the important changes, developments, and turning points in international history since 1945?
  • Why are international relations since 1945 still so bloody and violent?
  • What characterises international relations since the end of the second world war?

 

PIR-10045 Justice, Authority and Power  (Download poster)

This module explores the most important political theories in the modern west. Students will critically evaluate the ideas of liberty and rights.

  • What did freedom mean to modern western thinkers?
  • How did they understand the relationship between freedoms and political authority?
  • What is the ideal form of the state?

 

PIR-10046 British Politics since 1945  (Download poster)

This module examines the political economy of Britain from Atlee to Cameron.  It analyses economic decline, Thatcherism, New Labour and the Coalition.

  • Why did Britain create a Welfare State?
  • What was Thatcherism?
  • Was New Labour ‘new’?

 

PIR-10047 The Politics of Sustainability  (Download poster)

 

PIR-10048 Media in America  ()

What does mass media look like in the United States? What shapes the content of tv, radio, newspapers, the internet and advertising?

  • Is the media biased?
  • How does ownership affect content?
  • Why do Americans ban nudity but revel in violence?

 

PIR-10055 Modern Democracies  ()

  • How do politics and political systems differ from country to country?
  • What factors influence the nature and the quality of democracy?
  • Which type of democracy is ‘best’?

 

PIR-10058 Introduction to Global Political Economy  (Download poster)

Every major political and social event has a political economy dimension. Introduction to GPE looks at global politics by bringing economic/social aspects together with the political.

  • Are Adam Smith and Kart Marx still relevant to understanding the current crisis?

 

PIR 10060 Securing Global Order  ()

This module offers an introduction to security studies through different ideas about what security is.  Students will learn that depending on what theoretical ‘glasses’ we put on, what we mean by ‘global order’ and how to secure it differs.

  • What is security?
  • Whose security matters?
  • What/who is a referent object of security?

YEAR TWO

PHI-20004 Philosophy of Mind  (Download poster)

Learn all the latest theories about the connection between conscious experience and the brain.

  • Is there a difference between mind, brain and soul?
  • Is the human mind a kind of computer programme?
  • Are sensations the same as neural states?

 

PHI-20016 Epistemology and Metaphysics I  (Download poster)

If a tree falls in a forest but nobody hears it, does it make a sound? Study this and other classic problems of 17th and 18th century philosophy.

  • Are you drinking coffee or just dreaming that you are?
  • Do tables exist or just the molecules that make them up?
  • Can there by thought without language?

 

PHI-20017 Philosophy of Religion  (Download poster)

Can religious belief be rationally justified? Learn what great thinkers from St. Anselm to Wittgenstein have said on the matter.

  • Is belief in God a matter of reason or faith?
  • Can God create a stone too heavy for Him to lift?
  • How could a loving God allow evil?

 

PHI-20019 Pursuit of the Good  (Download poster)

The two fundamental moral philosophies of the Western tradition are Aristotle and Kant. Learn their views in detail:  a must for understanding 20th century philosophy.

  • Would you rather be an Aristotelian virtuous character or a Kantian dutiful agent?
  • Can there be a universal foundation for ethics?
  • How are emotion, rationality and morality related?

 

PIR-20061 Peace, Conflict and Security  (Download poster)

This module examines security at multiple levels of analysis. Students will learn about concepts, practices, policies, and institution of security.

  • How has security studies evolved as a field?
  • Who determines the nature of international security
  • What is the role of power, gender, race, state, society and memory in the making of violence?

 

PIR-20062 International Relations of Eurasia  (Download poster)

Eurasia is the world’s axial continent. From wars to natural disasters, everything significant in the world has happened in Eurasia.  This module looks at world politics in the 21st century.

  • Why do all major powers try to control Eurasia?
  • With the oil and gas resources being used up, is the significance of Eurasia declining?
  • Is the current financial/economic crisis a global crisis or just a crisis of the western world?

 

PIR-20064 International Relations of the Environment  (Download poster)

From the great whales to climate change, this module examines a range of global environmental challenges. Without a global government, how can environmental problems be addressed?

  • How do environmental problems get on the global political agenda?
  • What determines whether these problems are addressed cooperatively or generate conflict?
  • What are the prospects for solutions to environmental challenges that are ‘sustainable’- ecologically, economically, politically?

 

PIR-20065 The Practice of Politics  (Download poster)

This is a module for aspiring politicians and public servants.  We explore the tools of the politician’s trade and how to develop a political career.

  • What do great public speakers do and how I can be more like them?
  • Where can  I get good ideas about what to do in my life?
  • How do I turn my dreams into reality?
  • How can I plan my future?

 

PIR-20066 Freedom and Equality  (Download poster)

This module reviews the nature of freedom and equality in a just society. Students will critically examine these concepts by thinking about problems like pornography and homelessness.

  • Should freedom be understood as doing whatever one wants?
  • Is it right to give priority to one person’s right to freedom of expression over another person’s right to be protected from hate speech?
  • How much inequality can a free society tolerate?

 

PIR-20067 Environmental Politics and Policy  (Download poster)

 

PIR-20068 Why Policy Changes  (Download poster)

Policy matters. Why don’t the trains run on time? Why are you paying to take your degree? The answers to these and many other questions come down to decisions about policy. This module explains how governments take decisions.

  • Why do some issues get attention and others not?
  • How do politicians make decisions?
  • How do we know if a policy is working or not?
  • Are political systems just dominated by special interests?

 

PIR 20069 Approaches to Political Analysis   ()

How do you find, evaluation and carry out politics research? This module prepares you to write a great dissertation.

  • How do we do research that is relevant, rigorous, reliable and inspiring?
  • How do you find politics research?
  • What is a research question and why does it matter?
  • What sorts of evidence should be used in politics research?

 

PIR-20071 US Government and Politics  (Download poster)

This module explores who gets what, when and how from American government:  people, power and policy in American politics.

  • Is US government dominated by special interests?
  • How important is money in American politics?
  • Why do Americans hate their government so much?

 

PIR-20072 German Politics and Government  (Download poster)

This module examines how we can account for post-WWII Germany’s achievement in establishing a stable, successful but at times somewhat gridlocked democracy.

  • What has the impact of unification been?
  • What explains Germany’s economic success?
  • How stable is German democracy?

 

PIR-20074 British Politics  (Download poster)

This module examines the institutions of the British state. Topics include Parliament, devolution, political parties, and European integration.

  • Is Parliament still important in British politics?
  • Is the British state in crisis?
  • Is the two-party system under threat?

 

PIR-20075 Balkan Politics and Society  (Download poster)

This module explores a world that is seemingly collapsing around you.

Students will learn how people not unlike themselves have been trying to avoid this for decades and centuries and not succeeding.

  • What is ‘balkanisation’?
  • What is communism and why might it be attractive?
  • Why are some countries invariably described as being ‘in transition’?

 

PIR-20776 Contemporary International Relations Theory  ()

This module will test everything you think you understand about IR. It will change your mind and open up new perspectives. It brings depth to IR.

  • Where do I encounter international politics?
  • What do I think about the world?
  • How do I write and research IR?

 

PIR-20077 Comparative Political Analysis  (Download poster)

In this module you will be introduced to some of the myriad ways in which politics is organised and conducted in  modern political regimes.

  • How can legislatures be organized?
  • What best explains variation in political participation?
  • Are presidential or parliamentary regimes most conducive to effective representation? 

 

PIR-20078 Russian Politics and Society  (Download poster)

This module is about the communist experiment in Russia: what it was, why it flourished in the first half of the twentieth century, why it collapsed and what is the aftermath.

  • What is Marxism-Leninism and why did Russia become the world’s first communist country?
  • What were the communist political and economic systems and why did they ultimately collapse?
  • What is politics in post-communist Russia?

 

PIR-20079 Power to the People  (Download poster)

This module is about understanding the origins of modern western politics. Can ‘ordinary’ people really change the world? Maybe not, if they are held back by oppression. But maybe yes, if they can invent new political ideas and movements.

 

PIR-20080 Sport in America  (Download poster)

Is the culture of sport in America unique? You will compare the textbook accounts to the actual experience to see how they differ.

  • Why do Americans watch sports – football, baseball and basketball – that are not found throughout the rest of the world?
  • Why do US universities own and identify so closely with semi-professional sports teams?
  • Why is sport so integral to education in the US?

 

PIR-20081 The Politics of European Union  (Download poster)

This module introduces students to the operation of the EU as well as debates about its future and impact upon its member states.

  • Why do sovereign and independent states agree – unanimously – to give up or share a portion of their sovereignty to supranational institutions?
  • Does the EU suffer from a legitimacy crisis?
  • How does membership in the EU transform aspects of its member states?

 

PIR-20082 Work Experience in Politics, International Relations and Philosophy  (Download poster)

 

YEAR THREE

PHI-30021 Metaphysics  (Download poster)

Explore the great systems of metaphysics from ancient Greece and China, to German thinkers such as Schopenhauer and Nietzsche, to 20th century American philosophers such as Quine. A journey through 2500 years of thought!

  • Is reality mind-dependent?
  • Can there be a beginning of time?
  • Can human language capture the true nature of reality?

 

PHI-30023 Philosophy of Art  (Download poster)

Can an unmade bed be art? This module helps you answer questions like this by introducing you the ontology, ethics and critical evaluation of art?

  • What is art?
  • Is pornography immoral art?
  • Can aesthetic judgments be objective?

 

PHI-30024 Rorty and the Mirror of Nature  (Download poster)

In his book Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature, maverick philosopher Richard Rorty tried to undermine the Western philosophical tradition by showing there is no objective truth. Study this iconic work in detail.

  • What is the point of academic philosophy?
  • Is ‘the mind’ a philosophical fiction?
  • Is belief in truth like religious belief?

 

PHI-30025 Philosophy Dissertation  (Download poster)

A chance to write an extended essay on a topic of your choice.  Dissertation topics in recent years have included Nietzsche on nihilism, consciousness in great apes, and the philosophy of the novels of Milan Kundera.

 

PHI-30026 Epistemology and Metaphysics II  (Download poster)

Is all knowledge based on experience, or can we know about the universe through reason alone? Learn what Leibniz, Hume and Kant had to say about this and other fascination matters.

  • Is this the best of all possible worlds?
  • Can we know the future on the basis of the past?
  • What was Kant’s “Copernican Revolution”?

 

PHI-30027 Great Philosophers of the 20th Century  (Download poster)

An in-depth study of key 20th century philosophers such as Collingwood, Wittgenstein, Heidegger, Quine and Merleau-Ponty.

  • Are there any presuppositions that are beyond question?
  • Is there a difference between human and natural science?
  • Could there be truth without us (Dasein)?

 

PIR-30072 Feminist Theory  (Download poster)

 

PIR-30095 Urban Politics  (Download poster)

This module studies cities and how they are governed. It considers urban development, poverty and local democracy.

  • Why do cities shrink?
  • What explains poverty in cities?
  • Why do so few people seem to care about local government?

 

PIR-30097 Environment and Sustainability Case Study  (Download poster)

 

PIR-30101 Russia and Europe  (Download poster)

This module explores a relationship that looks promising on paper, but rarely works in practice. Students will learn how academics and politicians are trying to make sense of this relationship and usually getting it wrong.

  • How do Russians see Europe?
  • How is Russia seen in Europe?
  • Is ‘cold peace’ the only sensible alternative to ‘cold war’?

 

PIR-30104The Missing Dimension  ()

Espionage has always played an important part in world politics. Many significant events have an intelligence dimension. However, many politics texts do not mention this.

  • What role did intelligence activities play in the 2003 Iraq War?
  • What can we learn from James Bond films about real life intelligence?
  • Do you believe the 2008 financial crisis was the result of some banking conspiracy?

 

PIR-30108 Proliferation  (Download poster)

This module examines the workings of the global system for constraining the spread of weapons of mass destruction and for asserting humanitarian concerns over the global trade in arms.

  • Are weapons of mass destruction here to stay?
  • What works best with nuclear weapon threshold states? Sticks or carrots?
  • Can human security trump national security?

 

PIR-30112 The Northern Dimension  (Download poster)

Quiet corner? Geostrategic flashpoint? Frontier? Homeland? Sacrifice Zone? Canary in the mine? All of these labels have been used to describe the circumpolar North. Find out which labels fit the reality of the Arctic.

  • How is the Arctic affected by globalisation?
  • Small people, big problems? How do the indigenous peoples of the Arctic promote their interests?
  • Buy-out or blow-out? Can economic development in the Arctic be ecologically sustainable?

 

PIR-30117 The US Presidency  (Download poster)

The most powerful man in the world… or a pitiful giant hemmed in by other players in the US system? This module investigates the power of Obama and his predecessors to lead. Can the presidency really make a difference?

  • Can the presidency dominate Congress?
  • When the president speaks, do the people listen?
  • Can the presidency abuse executive power, ignoring the rest of the US system?

 

PIR-30118 Policing International Order  (Download poster)

This module asks questions about the status quo. How is it secured and through which strategies? It asks about the values and the security of policing.

  • How is international order secure?
  • Are there alternative orders?
  • What are the ethics of security?

 

PIR-30119 The Extreme Right in Western Europe  (Download poster)

  • Why have extreme right parties emerged in recent times?
  • What do they stand for?
  • Who votes for them, and why?
  • Why are some parties more successful than others?
  • Should we be worried about their rise?
  • What can we do to counter their rise?

 

PIR-30122 Eco-Cities  (Download poster)

 

PIR-30126 Human Rights  (Download poster)

This module explores the concept of human rights, asking how we know whether they exist. Students will think about these problems from the points of view of gender and cultural diversity.

  • Should human rights be regarded as universal?
  • Are there ay human rights, and how do we know?
  • Is domestic violence a violation of women’s human rights?

 

PIR-30128 Protest and Social Movements  (Download poster)

Who protests, where and why? How are protests organized and how are they policed? Are student protesters troublemakers? Is protest good for us? For democracy?

 

PIR-30129 Environmental Politics in the USA  (Download poster)

This module explores dirty air, dirty water, waste and endangered species in America and what the government isn’t doing about these problems.

  • Do Americans value the environment?
  • Do economic considerations trump concerns for the environment?
  • How blue are American’s skies?

 

PIR-30130 Dissertation in Politics and International Relations  (Download poster)

Want to study what you want to study? Then why not choose to write a dissertation in Politics or IR? By doing so, you will be able to examine a specific topic, question or issue of your own choosing, in considerable depth. And along the way you will develop a host of transferable skills that will come in handy for life after Keele.

 

PIR-30132 Party Systems and Elections  (Download poster)

This module examines how political parties compete, in particular for the support of an increasingly fickle electorate

  • What motivates party competition?
  • What theory best explains voting behaviour?
  • Which parties most threaten the status quo?

 

PIR-30133 Political Parties  (Download poster)

Like them or loathe them, political parties are essential for modern democracy. This module investigates where they came from, what goals they pursue and how they organize to achieve them.

  • What types of party organisation are there?
  • What motivates citizens to join parties?
  • Where is power located within political parties?

 

PIR-30134 British State and Society in the Cold War  (Download poster)

When British people slept during the cold war did they dream of nuclear bombs?

  • What were Britain’s foreign and security policies during the Cold War and how did they change?
  • What would have happened in Britain if there had been a nuclear war and what were the implications of this?
  • What were the relationships between the cold war and British politics, society and culture?

 

PIR-30135 Regime Change in the Balkans  (Download poster)

 

PIR-30139 Sustainability and Global Justice  (Download poster)

Can we ‘save’ the planet and end social inequality at the same time? Many environmentalists would say no.  Assuming this to be a desirable goal, this module explores the concept of and social movements for environmental justice around the world.

  • Are environmentalists misanthropist at heart?
  • Does social justice necessarily require higher levels of consumption and economic growth?
  • Why do poor people pay a higher price and get blamed for environmental degradation at the same time?

 

PIR-30140 The Left in Modern Politics  (Download poster)

 

PIR-30141 The Modern Middle East  (Download poster)

This module examines key themes in the IR of the Middle East. Students will learn about causes and consequences of modern conflicts in the region.

  • What are the historical foundations of regional geopolitics?
  • Why is the Middle East’s history so conflictual?
  • How did the conflicts in Algeria, Lebanon, Palestine and Iraq evolve?

 

PIR-30142 Modern Russia  (Download poster)

Crime, corruption and chaos followed the collapse of the Soviet Union.  This module explores Russia n politics today and why democracy has proved so elusive in the recent period.

  • Russia under Yeltsin; the rise of the oligarchs and the crisis of reform
  • Putin’s Russia: autocracy and the return of the KGB
  • Democracy in Russia: prospects and challenges.

 

PIR-30143 The Other Middle East  (Download poster)

This module examines the non-Arab dimensions of the middle east. Students will explore the idiosyncrasies of states, minorities, and social movements.

  • Are the three non-Arab states in the middle east characterised by different dynamics than their arable neighbour’s?
  • What are the key challenges for religious and ethnic minorities as well as women in the region?
  • What are the key catalysts  and main obstacles for liberalisation, democratization and good governance?

 PIR-30145 The Falklands War  (Download poster)

  • What does the Falklands War tell us about Britain in the 1970s and 1980s?
  • Why were the 1980s so divisive in British politics, society and culture?
  • Was British military action over the Falklands right?
  • What do ideas and memories of warfare say about national identity?