Module Catalogue 2023/24

Pre Requisite Comment

Students must have taken one of the three pre-requisite modules at stage 2.

Co Requisite Comment

None

Aims

Building on themes introduced in GEO247 Political Geography, this course aims to give students an advanced understanding of geopolitical traditions, concepts, and contemporary practices. In doing so, students will be equipped with the skills to critically analyse the creation, communication, and reproduction of geopolitical ideas. It introduces students to the ideas of key geopolitical thinkers as well as a number of contemporary geopolitical practices and case studies, drawn from the lecturers’ own research interests.

Outline Of Syllabus

GEO3102 Geopolitics runs as a short, semester-long module, allowing a deep-dive into geopolitical issues and concepts through regular (bi-weekly) sessions. The structure can be divided into two sections:

Section 1 – Geopolitical concepts
In this section of the module, students will engage with a range of geopolitical thinkers and concepts. This will be taught through a number of lectures focused on the history and evolution of geopolitics as a set of connected ideas, the issues and challenges associated with these ideas, and specific concepts that have emerged within geopolitical scholarship over the last 20 years.

Section 2 – Geopolitical practices
In this section of the module, students will engage with a series of research-led lectures that focus on how geopolitical practices are visible in the world today. These may include issues such as the US-UK special relationship, war and violence in the Middle East, and the projection of state power in maritime and aerial spaces.

Intended Knowledge Outcomes

By the end of the module students will:

1. Be able to understand the tenets and background of geopolitics and be able to critically evaluate the position of the sub-discipline in relation to broader geographical and political enquiry.
2. Be able to critically evaluate the relationship between geopolitical ideas and the practice of international politics.
3. Be able to apply geopolitical ideas to understand a broad range of geopolitical case studies.
4. Be able to critically evaluate the production of geopolitical knowledge, including the various means by which this knowledge is communicated and reproduced.
5. Be able to critically evaluate the interrelations between formal, practical and popular geopolitical ideas and practices.

Intended Skill Outcomes

By the end of the module students will have developed:

1. The ability to summarise, assess, explain, and critically evaluate different geopolitical theories and arguments.
2. The ability to interpret, evaluate, and critically reflect on geopolitical events in the news by applying relevant theories and approaches.
3. The ability to formulate, present, defend, and revise reasoned arguments, assessed through written work and presentations.

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

This module is split into two sections. The first section aims to provide an advanced engagement with key geopolitical concepts. This will include analysis of the history of geopolitical scholarship, and introduce cutting-edge contemporary developments in geopolitical thinking. The second section of the module refocuses to provide a series of lectures from members of the teaching team, in which they will draw on their own geopolitical research to illustrate how geopolitical concepts can be utilised to investigate and analyse the world today.

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

This module provides students with two different types of assessment. First, students will choose one essay question from a list provided by the module's teaching team. These will focus on the theories and approaches to geopolitics introduced in section 1 of the module. The essay assesses students’ knowledge and understanding of geopolitical concepts and their application, and tests their ability to summarise, assess, explain and evaluate different theories and arguments. In section 2 of the module, students will be introduced to case studies that apply geopolitical approaches to real world examples. The second assessment will require students to produce an oral presentation linking current geopolitical research to a contemporary real world example. The presentation aims to assess students’ ability to make connections between academic literature and contemporary events, by selecting a relevant geopolitical case study from within and/or beyond the module and using geopolitical approaches to analysis to summarise, assess, explain, and critically reflect on the coverage it has received in the media.

General Notes

N/A