This course introduces students to a selection of the major theoretical approaches to international relations as well as some of the key issues in contemporary world politics. The aims are to foster familiarity with international relations as an academic discipline, build students' knowledge of debates within the field and to foster an understanding of how the assumptions we make, and the intellectual positions we take, inform our understanding of particular issues. After surveying some of the major approaches to the study of IR in the second section of the course we go on to investigate the development of the modern system of states via consideration of the concept of sovereignty and the relationship between this and the idea of the nation and of the right to national self-determination. In the final section of the course we consider some major issues in contemporary world politics. These include the role of human rights norms in the international system, the future of the sovereign state and conceptions of community in an era of globalization and, finally, consideration of the implications of American power for contemporary world order.

On satisfying the requirements for the course students will be familiar with the main theories of, and debates in, the discipline of international relations. They will also understand the development of the international system of states and major points of contention in contemporary world politics. By the end of the course students will also have developed the skills to critically analyze competing accounts of world politics, whether this is in the area of theories of international relations. Competing accounts of state building and nationalism or contested views of human rights in world politics.

10,000- 12,000 Words of Assessment which includes: short essay 10%; seminar paper 20%; essay 40%; and exam, 30%.

12 hours per week: two for seminar attendance, and ten for reading and writing. Please note this is a general guide, averaged over the semester and the final hours ultimately depend on the individual's ability in reading and writing.

Reading required before the course begins.

Students need access to a computer with Microsoft Word and access to the internet.

Delivery Mode:

On campus, seminar-style.