All of the reading lists for courses taught by this Department are available to download from registration week of each new academic year (from on campus or via VPN access only). In the case of half unit courses running in the Spring Term only, these will be made available in January.

Download the zip file containing all of the FIRST YEAR course reading lists (available NOW - on campus/VPN only).

Download the zip file containing all of the SECOND YEAR course reading lists (available NOW - campus/VPN only).

Download the zip file containing all of the THIRD YEAR course reading lists (available NOW - campus/VPN only).

Moodle resources, including Forums, Chat, Wiki, Readings, Links, Video, PowerPoint and so on are available via Moodle from late September onward (Moodle is not available for all courses and not all types of resource are available for every course). Click on the course title to go to the PIR section of Moodle. Login required: use your RHUL network ID. To see what Moodle looks like, see this screenshot.

First Year Courses 2011-12:

(In order of course code number. Click on title for a description)

• PR1400: Introduction to Politics and Government
• PR1500: Introduction to International Relations
• PR1520: Classic and Contemporary Readings in Politics and International Relations
• PR1600: Introduction to Research Methods in Politics and International Relations
  

Second Year Courses 2011-12:

(In order of course code number. Click on title for a description)

• ES2001: European Integration Since 1945
• PR2420: Comparative European Politics and Institutions
• PR2440: International Relations Theory
• PR2450: Introduction to Global Studies
• PR2480: Democracy in Britain
• PR2490: Contemporary Political Theory
• PR2500: International Political Economy
• PR2510: The Politics of Migration and Ethnicity
• PR2520: Empire and Decolonization
• PR2560: Modern Political Thought

Third Year Courses 2011-12:

(In order of course code number. Click on title for description)

• ES3001: Issues in Contemporary Europe
• PR3000: Dissertation
• PR3150: Political Sociology (half-unit)
• PR3520: The Politics of the Internet and the Information Society (half-unit)
• PR3530: The Politics of Modern Germany
• PR3540: Radical Political Theory
• PR3550: The British in India: A Social and Political History
• PR3560: The Politics of Toleration (half-unit)
• PR3570: Social Justice: From Theory to Practice (half-unit)
• PR3600: Contemporary Middle East Politics
• PR3630: Issues in Democratic Theory
• PR3660: Advanced Readings in Global Studies (half-unit)
• PR3670: Comparative Foreign Policy (half-unit)
• PR3690: The Making of Modern South Asia
• PR3710: Advanced Seminar in British Politics
• PR3720: Advanced Seminar in British Politics (The British Prime Ministership (half-unit)
• PR3730: Advanced Seminar in British Politics (Labour in Opposition) (half-unit)
• PR3740: Transnational Security Studies
• PR3750: Resistance to Global Governance
• PR3760: The Politics of Africa
• PR3901: Conflict and Law in the International System
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First Year Course Descriptions 2011-12

(In order of course code number)

• PR1400: Introduction to Politics and Government
  Course Description – This course examines the structure and process of government, the relationship between government and politics and key political concepts. Focusing mainly on the politics of the United Kingdom and the United States, it is divided into three broad sections: the fundamentals; the institutions and mechanisms of government; and government, politics and the citizen.
• Course Leader – Dr Nick Allen
  Course Delivery – Weekly lectures and seminars
  Assessment – End of year examination (75%) and assessed coursework (25%)
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• PR1500: Introduction to International Relations
  Course Description – This course will introduce students to key aspects of the study of international relations, focusing primarily on international history from the early 20th century and an introduction to the main theoretical paradigms of the discipline.
• Course Leaders – Dr Stephanie Carvin and Dr Julia Gallagher
  Course Delivery – Weekly lectures and seminars
  Assessment – End of year examination (75%) and assessed coursework (25%)
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• PR1520: Classic and Contemporary Readings in Politics and International Relations
  Course Description – This course introduces the ideas and writings of a range of key thinkers associated with the development of political philosophy and international relations theory.
• Course Leaders – Dr Dr Nathan Widder and Dr Julia Gallagher
  Course Delivery – Weekly lectures and seminars
  Assessment – End of year examination (75%) and assessed coursework (25%)
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• PR1600: Introduction to Research Methods in Politics and International Relations
  Course Description – This course introduces students to the academic study of Politics and International Relations.  It provides an introduction to a range of approaches and methods commonly used in the study of Politics and IR, and equips you with the skills to successfully study and analyse a wide range of political phenomena.  The course considers how we acquire knowledge about political ideas, institutions and practices, and how we can carry out and understand empirical research, using both qualitative and quantitative approaches.  It provides an essential tool kit to help us answer questions about what happens in politics and IR and how we can explain or describe different political phenomena.
• Course Leaders – Dr Oliver Heath, Dr. James Sloam, Dr. Ben O’Loughlin, Dr. Yasjmin Khan
  Course Delivery – Weekly lectures and seminars
  Assessment – End of year examination (50%) and assessed coursework (50%)
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Second Year Course Descriptions 2011-12

(In order of course code number)

• ES2001: European Integration Since 1945
• Course Description – Term 1 begins with an introduction to the notion of anarchy and how it has been used to explain key developments in European International Relations since 1945.  This will be illustrated via a study of writings on the origins of the Cold War, the division of Germany and Europe and the operation of nuclear deterrence in Europe prior to 1989.  The course will then begin to explore some of the role of ideological competition in the Cold War and how more recent explanations of the Cold War stress the power of ideas.  The end of the Cold War and the unification of Germany are topics which lead into a consideration of how contemporary explanations of the Cold War have fared with the release of new sources of evidence.  Term 2 concentrates on a different but parallel set of events in European International Relations since 1945.  In term 2, students will examine the patterns of cooperation that emerged in Western Europe around the integration of the European Community/Union.  Students will consider theories of integration and how well they explain the historical and institutional development of the European Union.  Students will learn about the EU Commission, Parliament, Court and Treaties and the Council of Ministers and the European Council.  The unification of the European continent will also be examined through the EU’s process of enlargement and the Common Foreign and Security Policy and Justice and Home Affairs.
  Course Leader – Dr Alister Miskimmon and Dr Giacomo Benedetto
  Course Delivery – Weekly lectures and seminars
  Assessment – End of year examination (50%) and assessed coursework (50%)
• Note: this course is a prerequisite for studying the third year course: ES3001 Issues in Contemporary Europe
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• PR2420: Comparative European Politics and Institutions
• Course Description – This course examines major themes and issues in the comparative study of political institutions. Its main focus is on Western Europe, but with other countries and regions also referred to as appropriate. The introductory lectures explain the nature and aims of the course and outline the methods and problems of cross–national comparison; later lectures examine the institutional structures and political dynamics of liberal democracies.
  Course Leader – Dr Giacomo Benedetto
  Course Delivery – Weekly lectures and seminars
• Assessment – End of year examination (50%) and assessed coursework (40%) Seminar presentations and performance (10%)
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• PR2440: International Relations Theory
  Course Description – This course explores the key theoretical debates in IR. These develop a variety of ways of thinking about IR, drawing on questions about the nature of power, identity and ethics in politics and what happens to these in the international realm. To what extent do domestic analogies work internationally? Can there be universal ethics, and what are the implications of the answer to this question for ideas of international cooperation or organisation? How does a sense of alternative or other political communities affect state identity? The course is divided into three parts. Part one explores some of the key concepts that form the building blocks of IR theory. Part two deals with the main theoretical approaches, ranging from mainstream theory to critical approaches. Part three introduces five key debates in international politics and explores how the theoretical approaches covered help us to understand them.
  Course Leader - Dr Julia Gallagher
  Course Delivery – Weekly lectures and seminars
• Assessment- End of year examination (50%) and assessed coursework (50%)
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• PR2450: Introduction to Global Studies
  Course Description – This course aims to provide an overview of key perspectives in the study of globalization; to outline the processes contributing to globalization in the contemporary world; to introduce the range of questions, issues and debates which shape this area of academic inquiry; to outline ways in which the study of globalization has shaped the social scientific imagination in recent years; and to provide an intellectually stimulating course which will prepare students for a critical engagement with contemporary debates on globalization.
  Course Leader - Professor Chris Rumford
  Course Delivery – Weekly lectures and seminars
• Assessment- End of year examination (50%) and assessed coursework (50%)
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• PR2480: Democracy in Britain
• Course Description – How democratic is Britain? The course explores this in light of the main themes in contemporary British politics.  It is designed to familiarise students with the ways in which British government has evolved, and how it continues to operate.  The main theme of the course is democratic theory and practice, and the emphasis will be on the relationship between theory and evidence. While students will gain knowledge of the ‘nuts and bolts’ of the system, they will also gain useful insights into why it operates in the way it does, and some of the implications for democratic politics.
  Course Leader – Professor Andrew Chadwick
  Course Delivery – Weekly lectures and seminars
• Assessment– End of year examination (75%) and assessed coursework (25%)

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PR2490: Contemporary Political Theory 
• Course Description – Underlying policy debate in contemporary states are political ideas and theories about how we should organise the state, how much people should participate in politics, whether we should redistribute wealth and whether the liberal democratic capitalist state is patriarchal, exploitative or environmentally unsustainable.  In addition, within contemporary political thought and practice more generally, issues about the nature of identity, power and political and ethical pluralism, have increasingly come to the fore.  The aim of Contemporary Political Theory is to examine these key concepts and thinkers who have developed them in political theory today.  Specifically, it examines themes of justice (including exploitation and environmental, gender and global justice); democracy, community, citizenship; human rights; freedom and toleration; identity and difference; and writers including Rawls, Sandel, MacIntyre, Okin, Nietzsche, Todorov, Foucault, Marx and Mill.   The course aims to show how abstract ideas have practical relevance, and conversely how current debates in politics are illuminated by thinking about them theoretically.
  Course Leaders – Dr Jonathan Seglow and Dr Michael Bacon
  Course Delivery – Weekly lectures and seminars
• Assessment – End of year examination (75%) and assessed coursework (25%)
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PR2500: International Political Economy
• Course Description – This course examines the relationship between states and markets, power and wealth, in International Political Economy (IPE). It introduces students to the key concepts and theoretical debates in IPE. It tackles issues such as the globalisation of trade, finance, and production, the continued problems of development and democratic governance in the world economy, and emerging questions surrounding global flows, networks and spaces. Students are taken through the history of regimes, crises, and competing theories of political economy from the nineteenth century to the present day. Throughout the course the emphasis is on how political institutions operate in international politics to regulate the creation of wealth, and who benefits from these arrangements.
  Course Leader – Dr Ben O'Loughlin
  Course Delivery – Weekly lectures and seminars
• Assessment – End of year examination (50%) and assessed coursework (50%)
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• PR2510: The Politics of Migration and Ethnicity
• Course Description – This courses examines the chief patterns of post–war British immigration, immigration legislation, and the character and fortunes of New Commonwelath settlers. It examines how social and political scientists have addressed issues of migration and ethnicity and considers the analytical classification of minority communities, current debates over British Muslims, and the rise of religious citizenship.
  Course Leader – Dr John Mattausch
  Course Delivery – Weekly lectures and seminars
• Assessment – End of year examination (70%) and assessed coursework (30%)
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• PR2520: Empire and Decolonization
• Course Description – The course aims to introduce students to some of the key themes in understanding empire and decolonization, and the consequences of this for world politics. It encourages comparative thought across geographical locations and time zones and should lead students to apply theoretical analysis to case–studies drawn primarily from former Asian and African parts of the British empire. It is hoped that this course will stimulate reflection on the implications of both formal and informal empire for contemporary economics and political institutions. Students will be encouraged to appreciate the impact of empire and decolonization on both colonised and coloniser societies through development, migration and the creation of autonomous nation–states. The explicit aim will be to provide new insights and to provoke debate about the ways in which international political power relationships have evolved.
  Course Leader – Dr Antara Datta
  Course Delivery – Weekly lectures and seminars
• Assessment – Assessed coursework (60%) and two–hour exam (40%)
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• PR2560: Modern Political Thought
• Course Description – This course will introduce students to major political thinkers from the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, and specifically the works of Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Kant, Mill, Marx and Nietzsche.  Their ideas continue to underpin contemporary debates about the nature of freedom, human rights, value pluralism, popular sovereignty, state legitimacy, and the modern condition.  The course aims to introduce students to the themes, argumentative strategies, and critical interpretations of these thinkers, and to help them develop the skills to critically assess these interpretations against the texts themselves. It also aims to show how study of these thinkers illuminates contemporary debates even where these debates no longer make reference to them.
  Course Leader – Dr Michael Bacon, Dr Nathan Widder
  Course Delivery – Weekly lectures and seminars
• Assessment – End of year examination (50%) and assessed coursework (50%)
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Third Year Course Descriptions 2011-12

(In order of course code number)

• ES3001: Issues in Contemporary Europe
• Course Description – This course concentrates on those issues dominating the European agenda and the attitudes of the major players in the European Union towards increasing integration. Among the topics for consideration are economic and monetary union, enlargement, institutional reform and common foreign and security policy. Students will be encouraged to analyse why the European Union was such an ineffectual actor in the Bosnian crisis and what sorts of riles it can play in European security issues such as Macedonia. The Union’s relations with other European institutions such as NATO will also be considered, as will the role of the United States and Russia in European affairs.
  Course Leaders – Dr Alister Miskimmon and Dr Giacomo Benedetto
  Course Delivery – There will be one lecture and one tutorial per week. Both are compulsory.
  Prerequisite – ES2001A European Integration Since 1945
• Assessment – End of year examination (50%) and assessed coursework (50%)
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• PR3000: Dissertation
• Course Description – In the third year of your degree course you are required to write a Dissertation of between 7,000–10,000 words in length. This Dissertation is equivalent to one full Course Unit. It is an opportunity for you to examine, in greater depth, an area of interest to you. Each student will have a member of staff to act as a supervisor. The role of the supervisor is to help and guide you with your Dissertation. A series of Dissertation workshops is held during the first five weeks of the Autumn term, attendance at which is compulsory.
  Course Leader – Dr Oliver Heath and Dr Julia Gallagher
• Course Delivery – Dissertation workshops and individual supervision.
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• PR3150: Political Sociology (half-unit)
• Course Description – This course aims to provide an overview of current debates in political sociology.  It raises questions about the ability of the social sciences to account for and interpret contemporary political and social transformation, and aims to understand the changing relationships between state, society and the individual in a globalizing world.
  Course Leader – Professor Dr Andrew Chadwick
  Course Delivery – Weekly lectures and seminars
  Assessment – End of year examination (50%) and assessed coursework (50%)
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• PR3520: The Politics of the Internet and the Information Society (half-unit)
• Course Description – This course provides a detailed examination of the use and impact of the Internet and other information and communication technologies in global, state, party and civil societal structures.  It focuses on a number of important contemporary debates about the role and influence of network technologies on the values, processes and outcomes of: global governance institutions; public bureaucracies; representative institutions including political parties and legislatures; pressure groups and social movements.  It also examines persistent and controversial policy problems thrown up by ‘information age’ ICTs, specifically: the digital divide; privacy and surveillance; intellectual property issues; and the power of the new media sector in domestic and global economies.
  Course Leader – Professor Dr Andrew Chadwick
  Course Delivery – Weekly lectures and seminars
  Assessment – End of year examination (50%) and assessed coursework (50%)
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• PR3530: The Politics of Modern Germany
• Course Description – The course will begin by examining the post–war development of the two Germanys under the conditions of the Cold War. It will then deal with the re–unification process marked by the fall of the Berlin Wall, and look at its impact upon the Federal Republic. In the second term, the course will turn to contemporary issues in German politics, investigating the main domestic and international challenges facing the German model since unification. Finally, it will study the prospects for change under the ‘Grand Coalition’ (headed by Angela Merkel, the first woman and first easterner to hold the post) elected in 2005.
  Course Leaders – Dr Alister Miskimmon and Dr James Sloam
  Course Delivery – 2 hour weekly seminars
• Assessment – End of year examination (50%), assessed coursework (40%) and tutorial assessment (10%)
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• PR3540: Radical Political Theory
• Course Description – This course aims to introduce students to key questions and arguments concerning the relationship between identity, power, meaning and knowledge, through examination of major thinkers from Hegel to contemporary Continental philosophers. It should lead students to appreciate critiques of modern Western societies and their values, which not only underpin recent “postmodernist” or “post–structuralist” thought but also form crucial theoretical elements in debates about gender, multiculturalism, nationalism, post–colonialism, new social movements, etc., across the social sciences. It aims to develop in students the ability to critically reflect about the nature and scope of politics and ethics through engagement with texts that have sought to provide insights and new ways of thinking about these realms.
  Course Leader – Dr Nathan Widder
  Course Delivery – Weekly lectures and seminarsAssessment – End of year examination (40%) and assessed coursework (60%)
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• PR3550: The British in India: A Social and Political History
• Course Description – This course examines the processes which led to Britishers and Indians becoming citizens of modern nation states via a shared history involving merchant capitalism and imperialism, on three continents. It examines the changing economic, political and cultural associations of Britishers and Indians using the case study of British–Gujarati relations. It considers key academic explanations for this historical development. By the end of the course, students should: be familiar with British–Gujarati history and its chief dynamics; Have a grounded understanding of the interplay of economic and socio–political formations, identity and cultural conflict; understand the dynamics and character of past and present–day Indian migratory movements.
  Course Leader – Dr John Mattausch
  Course Delivery – Weekly lectures and seminars
• Assessment – End of year examination (70%) and assessed coursework (30%)
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• PR3560: The Politics of Toleration (half-unit)
• Course Description – Toleration is about not interfering with other people’s freedom when you believe what they are doing is wrong.  In contemporary societies marked by different cultures, religions, ideologies and ideas, toleration is an indispensable virtue for citizens.  This course explores the political theory of toleration, examining the key ideas associated with it.  Topics covered include Introduction: toleration as a political and philosophical problem; J.S. Mill’s On Liberty; toleration, autonomy and moral relativism; freedom of expression (art, offence, and censorship); freedom of association and illiberal minorities; freedom of religious conscience; the ‘recognition’ of ethnic, cultural and religious minorities; the justification of paternalism; international toleration (human rights and cultural relativism; and intervention in tyrannical societies).
  Course Leader – Dr Jonathan Seglow
  Course Delivery – Weekly lectures and seminars
  Assessment – End of year examination (50%) and assessed coursework (50%)
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• PR3570: Social Justice: From Theory to Practice (half-unit)
• Course Description – The idea of social justice concerns the fair distribution in society of benefits (like income, wealth, health, education and jobs) and burdens (like tax, pollution, illness and hunger).  Political theorists debate how these should be distributed, using ideas such as equality, meritocracy, desert, need and utility.  This course explores these debates.  The first half considers the fundamental ideas of social justice; the second half is more applied.  Topics covered include: Introduction: the idea of social justice; luck egalitarianism; basic capability equality; the libertarian critique of social justice; social justice and democracy; basic income; climate change and obligations to future generations; reparations for historic injustices; world poverty and global justice; the ethics of immigration controls.
  Course Leader – Dr Jonathan Seglow
  Course Delivery – Weekly lectures and seminars
  Assessment – End of year examination (50%) and assessed coursework (50%)
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• PR3600: Contemporary Middle East Politics
• Course Description – The course surveys political systems, movements, conflicts and trends in the contemporary Middle East. It explores the international and regional context of current problems and conditions, including the process of state formation, variations in regime consolidation and state–society relations, regional rivalries and conflicts, the Islamist challenge, the political economy of development, and democracy and civil society. The course begins in Autumn term with a consideration of comparative analysis and cultural interpretation, and a general survey of the region’s religious and ethnic–cultural diversity. It then reviews (1) the political and historical background of the contemporary Middle Eastern states system (the birth and spread of Islam, the Ottoman Empire, and the construction of the states system that succeeded it), (2) and region–wide political, socio–economic, and ideological developments after 1945. In Spring term the course focuses on the Arab–Israeli wars and other regional conflicts, the Islamist challenge, and the prospects for democracy and development in the region.
  Course Leader – Professor Sandra Halperin
  Course Delivery – Weekly lectures and seminars
• Assessment – End of year examination (50%) and assessed coursework (50%)
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• PR3630: Issues in Democratic Theory
• Course Description – This course introduces students to theoretical issues concerning democratic government. Modern political thought is characterised by an uneasy relationship with democracy. Whilst the values of freedom and equality are widely related – and often thought naturally to entail – democratic government, many political theorists have identified various problems that democracy poses to individual freedom. The course will examine both the theoretical underpinnings of democracy and the issues and controversies arising from it. Topics include: forms of democracy; the relationship between democracy and other values such as freedom and equality; the role of participation; multiculturalism and group rights; and global democracy.
  Course Leader – Dr Michael Bacon
  Course Delivery – Weekly lectures and seminars
• Assessment – End of year examination (65%) and assessed coursework (35%)
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• PR3660: Advanced Readings in Global Studies (half-unit)
• Course Description – The course aims to provide an opportunity for students to study in detail key issues in global studies and key approaches to the study of globalization; to evaluate critically contending perspectives on globalization; to prepare students for a critical engagement with contemporary debates on the meaning and dynamics of globalization; and, to introduce students to cutting–edge thinking in Global Studies.
  Course Leader – Professor Chris Rumford
  Course Delivery – Weekly lectures and seminars
• Assessment – End of year examination (50%) and assessed coursework (50%)
  
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• PR3670: Comparative Foreign Policy (half-unit)
• Course Description – Students will study the core concepts associated with foreign policy analysis (eg national interest, policy making processes, negotiation, etc) as well as the foreign policies of key selected states with a clear empirical emphasis on the post–1945 period.  Particular states selected are likely to include the UK, Germany, Soviet Union/Russia, and the US in addition to intergovernmental organisations (including the EU and NATO).  The course will also examine the effectiveness of foreign policy instruments such as trade, diplomacy and military force.
  Course Leader – Dr James Sloam
  Course Delivery – Weekly lectures and seminars
• Assessment – End of year examination (50%) and assessed coursework (40%) tutorial assessment (10%)
  
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• PR3690: The Making of Modern South Asia
• Course Description – This course covers the ‘making’ of modern South Asia in the post–independence period. It will seek to develop an understanding of this period through a lively historical narrative with the use of multi–media presentations including photographs, slides, music and voice recordings. We will spend the first ten weeks focusing on the major events and developments in South Asia between 1947 and 2007. We will also investigate changes in the democratic process, the forms and transformation of parties and party systems and the growth, success and failure of representative institutions of government. Using various case studies we will also analyse the way in which social and political changes affect electoral behaviour and democratic institutions. The second part of the course covers broader comparative themes which will build upon the empirical knowledge acquired during the first ten weeks. We will compare and contrast how the nation and the state develop in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, and the internal and external challenges to this state. In this second segment we will also uncover the fissures embedded within ideas of nation and state in South Asia, and examine how various South Asian states have met the challenges posed by these fissiparous tendencies. Finally, we will study how these states interact with each other and the possibilities for co–operation and conflict that arise from these interactions. In all, this course will challenge the idea of South Asia being a world of ‘timeless tradition’ and demonstrate the dynamic nature of the political, social and economic changes taking place in the region.
  Course Leader – Dr Antara Datta
  Course Delivery – Weekly seminars
• Assessment – Coursework (60%) and two–hour exam (40%)
  
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• PR3710: Advanced Readings in British Politics
• Course Description – This course offers final-year students an opportunity to explore in depth topics that (i) relate directly to the course convenor’s current research interests and/or (ii) are of current significance in contemporary British politics. For obvious reasons, the specific course content is liable to change periodically, if not annually. Topics to be covered in 2011-12 include the British prime ministership (autumn term) and the Labour party in opposition (spring term). Apart from providing students with an in-depth knowledge and understanding of these aspects of British politics, the course is designed to introduce students to a more focused range of scholarly research and debate and to develop students’ own awareness of the political-science research process. For example, and where appropriate, students will be expected to consider how studies in other countries could be applied to the study of British politics. Students taking the course will also be expected to locate the detailed knowledge they acquire within a broader understanding of the British political system.
  Course Leader – Dr Nick Allen
  Delivery – Weekly seminars
• Assessment – Coursework (50%) and end of year exam (50%)
  
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• PR3720: Advanced Readings in British Politics (The British Prime Ministership) (half-unit)
• Course Description – Please see description for PR3710 above.  This half-unit will cover topics on the British prime ministership.
  Course Leader – Dr Nick Allen
  Delivery – Weekly seminars
• Assessment – Coursework (50%) and end of year exam (50%)
  
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• PR3730: Advanced Readings in British Politics (Labour in Opposition) (half-unit)
• Course Description – Please see description for PR3710 above.  This half-unit will cover topics on the Labour party in opposition.
  Course Leader – Dr Nick Allen
  Delivery – Weekly seminars
• Assessment – Coursework (50%) and end of year exam (50%)
  
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• PR3740: Transnational Security Studies
• Course Description – The aim of this course is to trace the security studies discipline from its traditional approaches through its evolution to include ever more transnational dynamics. It outlines how scholars have traditionally understood security before progressing to examine how the study of security has developed. Each week of the course is designed to introduce students to important aspects of security studies to give them the theoretical and conceptual awareness to apply to issues of security today. While the first half of the course will introduce the students to both traditional and alternative theories, concepts, and methods of security studies, the second half will engage with security institutions, as well as the application of theory to contemporary transnational security issues. The course will begin to unpack some of the theoretical, normative, and practical issues related to the topic of transnational security with reference to, and analysis of, contemporary security debates and policy issues.
  Course Leader – Doerthe Rosenow
  Delivery – Weekly seminars
• Assessment – Coursework (60%) and end of year exam (40%)
  
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• PR3750: Resistance to Global Governance
• Course Description – Since the famous 'Battle of Seattle' that attacked the World Trade Organisation trade negotiations in 1999, political resistance against what is perceived as neoliberal regime of global governance has been on the rise. The aim of this course is, first of all, to introduce students to the concept of global governance, its institutional basis, and its criticism. Secondly, the focus of the course will be on an engagement with the theoretical foundations, locations, aims, and modes/techniques of resistance against it. From Marx to Foucault, and from professional non-governmental organisations over the Alter-Globalisation Movement to more radical voices of dissidence, the course will make students familiar with sources and varieties of political action and contestation.
  Course Leader – Doerthe Rosenow
  Delivery – Weekly seminars
• Assessment – Coursework (60%) and end of year exam (40%)
  
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• PR3760: The Politics of Africa
• Course Description – The course provides an introduction to the key themes of African politics, both within the continent and in its international relations. There are three parts. The first gives an overview of colonial and post-colonial politics across the continent, and an introduction to the key theoretical approaches to the study of African politics. The second explores the themes of tradition and modernity within domestic politics and the politics of conflict. The third focuses on external intervention in Africa, exploring the ways in which liberal actors have constructed and intervened in Africa.
  Course Leader – Dr Julia Gallagher
  Delivery – Weekly seminars
• Assessment – Coursework (60%) and end of year exam (40%)
  
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• PR3901: Conflict and Law in the International System
• Course Description – This course introduces students to the nature and role of international law within the international system through the study in particular of that part of international law relating to the use of force and the conduct of military operations.  The first term will concentrate on developing an understanding of the nature of international law, its sources and such issues as jurisdiction, state responsibility, etc.  We will also deal with such issues as human rights law, the law of the sea and the law relating to the environment, before moving on to a consideration of the law relating to the use of force.  This will cover the role of the UN and the importance of the UN Charter, self defence, theories of Just War, UN enforcement operations, UN peacekeeping, the international law relating to the Global War Against Terrorism, the interventions in Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq.  We will also examine the main principles underpinning the law of armed conflict (or international humanitarian law) and such issues as the rules governing the treatment of prisoners of war and the extremely contentious issue of the Guantanamo detainees….and much more besides!
  Course Leader – Dr Stephanie Carvin
  Course Delivery – The course is delivered by weekly two hour seminars.
• Assessment – Coursework (60%) and end of year exam (40%)
  
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Note: while we make every effort to ensure that courses run, due to staff commitments, sabbatical leave and timetabling constraints, the Department reserves the right to withdraw and replace them, sometimes at short notice.