PIR-40126 - War, Memory and Popular Culture

Coordinator: Linda Ahall Room: N/A Tel: +44 1782 7 33217

Lecture Time: See Timetable...

Level: Level 7

Credits: 15

Study Hours: 150

School Office:

Programme/Approved Electives for 2020/21

None

Available as a Free Standing Elective

Co-requisites

None

Prerequisites

none

Barred Combinations

none

Description for 2020/21

This module examines key issues in the study of war and memory. It examines reasons why states go to war, and considers interpretations as to how violence is perpetrated and why and how militaries train service personnel to kill. Using key historical examples, it examines how wars have been commemorated and represented in popular culture, how remembrance and commemoration work to foreground some experiences and silence others, how national identity relates to war and how ideas and practices of war are shaped by gender. All in all, this module offers critical interpretations of what war means and why it matters; and how understandings of war should be central to understandings of international relations today.

Aims

To introduce students to a range of advanced critical texts on conflict
To engage in a political analysis of the problem of war through advanced readings and other relevant media.
To develop an advanced knowledge of critical international relations theory

Intended Learning Outcomes

apply a sophisticated knowledge of relevant theoretical approaches to the analysis of issues in the field of peace and conflict; will be achieved by assessments: 1,2
evaluate the relative merits of the various critical perspectives on the study of international relations; will be achieved by assessments: 1,2
orally communicate complex ideas effectively and facilitate informed discussion and debates; will be achieved by assessments: 1
conduct independent research, including the development of hypotheses in an original and innovative manner; will be achieved by assessments: 1,2
communicate complex ideas effectively in written form. will be achieved by assessments: 2

Study hours

24 hours attendance at seminars
40 hours preparation for seminars
10 hours preparation of individual oral presentation
76 hours researching and writing final essay

School Rules

None

Description of Module Assessment

1: Oral Presentation weighted 30%
Oral presentation in which the students leads the class in an analysis of a theorist's contribution to the study of war.
Each student will lead a 2-hour seminar session reading group exercise, providing the group with a synopsis of the text, critiquing and contextualising the main themes and ideas, evaluating its contribution to the body of knowledge on war and framing an analytic discussion around its contents. Students will be expected to prepare and distribute typed handouts that summarize key findings.

2: Essay weighted 70%
A 4000 word essay that engages with the themes that have emerged during reading and seminar work.
A 4000 word essay to be submitted at the end of the module in which the student explores in depth particular themes and/or authors that have emerged during the module. Essay titles will be agreed in consultation with the module leader.

PIR-40126 - Module Specification School of Social, Political and Global Studies Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

PIR-40126 - Module Specification
School of Social, Political and Global Studies
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences