Using the Course Materials Repository (CMR) for Exam Preparation

Instructions

To get to

the CMR,

first select

the link

learning &

teaching on

the right-

hand side of

the

University

homepage

(highlighted

in yellow on

the example

screen).

Locate the CMR

Instructions

Now select

the link

Course

Materials

Repository

near the top

of the page

(again,

highlighted

in yellow on

the example

screen).

Select the appropriate department

Instructions

Select the

appropriate

departmental

link…

For this

example, the

Department of

Government

has been used.

Find the appropriate course

Instructions

For each

course there

are

numerous

options.

First, select

the link

course

catalogue for

the course

description.

GV902-G-FY

has been

used for this

example.

Course descriptionGV902-G-FY: THEORIES OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

Year: 2005/2006 • Course Description

This course describes and critically assesses the competing theories of international relations. Importantly,

this course is neither designed to be an introduction to the contemporary practice of international relations,

nor a current affairs course. Its principle aim is to introduce and familiarize students with the rich variety of

theoretical approaches that will allow students to better understand and explain international relations.

In the first term the course explores the 'great debates' that have historically shaped the discipline of

International Relations. Part I considers the early liberal and realist theories of international relations, while

Part II analyses the methodological questions generated by these earlier approaches and which led to their

modern neo-realist and neo-liberal equivalents. The third part of the course then explores the variety of

critical and post-positivist theories that have flourished over the past decade and which have sought to

challenge the disciplinary hegemony of realist and liberal approaches.

In the Spring term, the course then turns toward considering partial theories of international relations. Part IV

reviews the attempts to theorize poverty and justice in international relations, while the fifth part turns towards

theories of war and security. The final part of the course considers the new global challenges posed to the

nation-state by environmental concerns and globalisation.

Instructions

You should see

something like

this, but your

departmental

and course

equivalent…

Read this

course

description – or

one that is more

relevant to you

for the purpose

of this exercise.

Identify key topics and themes and theories in the course description

• Course Description

This course describes and critically assesses the competing theories of international relations. Importantly,

this course is neither designed to be an introduction to the contemporary practice of international relations,

nor a current affairs course. Its principle aim is to introduce and familiarize students with the rich variety of

theoretical approaches that will allow students to better understand and explain international relations.

In the first term the course explores the 'great debates' that have historically shaped the discipline of

International Relations. Part I considers the early liberal and realist theories of international relations,

while Part II analyses the methodological questions generated by these earlier approaches and which

led to their modern neo-realist and neo-liberal equivalents. The third part of the course then explores

the variety of critical and post-positivist theories that have flourished over the past decade and which

have sought to challenge the disciplinary hegemony of realist and liberal approaches.

In the Spring term, the course then turns toward considering partial theories of international relations. Part

IV reviews the attempts to theorize poverty and justice in international relations, while the fifth part turns

towards theories of war and security. The final part of the course considers the new global challenges

posed to the nation-state by environmental concerns and globalisation.

Instructions

Read the course

description again,

more carefully

and slowly…

During this

second reading,

highlight or make

a note of key and

recurring topics,

themes, and, if

appropriate,

theories.

Finding past papers

Instructions

Put the course

description

aside for the

moment, go

back to the

main CMR page

(the course

listing) and

select the link

from the CMR

exam papers

archive for past

exam papers.

Finding past papers, continued

Instructions

Select the

appropriate year

you wish to look

at…

Read the exam papers slowly and carefully

SECTION ONE

1. Trace and assess the impact of the three so-called ‘Great Debates’ on the development of IR as a discipline.

2. What is the place of ‘morality’ in international politics?3. What was the main (theoretical) challenge to Realism during the Cold War, and is it still

relevant for analysing IR today?4. Critically examine Kenneth Waltz’s theory of international politics. 5. Define and evaluate the contribution of the ‘English School’ in the development of IR

theory. 6. Marxism may still be of interest in the study of world politics after the collapse of the

“real, existing socialism”. Do you agree? Explain your reasoning.

(End of Section One)

SECTION TWO7. Do regimes matter in world politics?8. Define the “neo-neo synthesis” and its impact on the evolution of IR theorising.9. Define and evaluate the contribution of ‘Critical IR Theory’ OR ‘Social Constructivism’ to

the Discipline of International Relations?10. ‘Security is always for someone and for some purpose’. Discuss.11. What is a ‘just war’ in IR theory and practice?

Instructions

Go through the

past papers and

highlight or make

a note of the key

and recurring __

1. terms

2. themes, and

3. theories.

Unless you are

using examples

from your own

course, read the

example to the

right.

Identify key terms

• Realist claim: power politics• ‘Complex interdependence'• ‘International system' c/c 'international society'• Social constructivism• Marxist theorists: global inequality and underdevelopment• Post-modern understanding of international ethics• National sovereignty & humanitarian interventionism: irreconcilable?• The three 'Great Debates'• ‘Levels of analysis'• ‘Outside in' c/c 'inside out' explanations• Neo-liberalism c/c neo-realism ; neo-liberalism = neo-realism???• Critical theorists• Postmodernist• Constructivism• Feminism

Instructions

Now make a list of

all the key and

recurring terms

that appear in each

of the past papers

and combine

them…

Make sure you are

familiar with the

main terms,

looking up

anything that you

do not fully

understand.

Identify key themes

• Collective security: utopian/realistic international

security system?

• Regimes/international institutions: views of neo-

liberals c/c neo-realists'

• private governance: rise of non-state actors.

• Trans-nationalist approach: difficulty explaining

relevance of non-state actors

Instructions

Do the same again,

this time making a

list of all the key

and recurring

themes that appear

in the past

papers…

Identify key theories and theorists

• Essence of Decision: demolishes the notions that states are either rational

in their behaviour or unitary in their character

• Graham Allison: bureaucratic politics

• Hedley Bull: international society exists

• Thomas Kuhn

• Imre Lakatos

• Hans Morgenthau: traditional realist

• Jack Snyder, Myths of Empire: 'The tendency of a great power to

overexpand depends most critically on the timing of its industrialisation'

• Kenneth Waltz: international anarchy leads to moderation in foreign policy

• Kenneth Waltz c/c 'offensive realists'

• Alexander Wendt: 'Anarchy is what states make of it'

Instructions

Now make a list of

all the theorists

and theories that

appear or are

eluded to in the

past papers…

Next, refer to the course outline and the aims and objectives to develop an essay checklist

• Aims of the course

This course aims to introduce students to the study of the relationship between media and cultural and social life.

In particular the focus of the course will be on the technological transformations that have produced the current

coexistence of mass media, postmodern media and a digital media culture-including digital and terrestrial

television, the Internet, newspapers, land and mobile telephony, digital and analogue images and sounds and so

on. The course will look at this system of communication through the work of theorists such as Walter Benjamin,

Marshall McLuhan, Jean Baudrillard, Norbert Wiener, Paul Virilio, Brian Massumi, and Gilles Deleuze and Felix

Guattari. These classic perspectives will be supplemented with case studies taken from film, music,

photography, cinema and the Internet. Throughout the course, the emphasis will be on how technical media

constitute not simply representations of the social world but also our very modes of perception. As such our

relationship with the media also involves our relationship with the body, social understandings of reality and the

culture of interpersonal communication.

By the end of the course, students will be expected to be familiar with the main theoretical approaches to the

study of media cultures. They will also be expected to be able to apply these different theoretical frameworks to

specific case studies.

Format: Each session will include an introduction to the subject in question by staff; and a student presentation

about the set reading . Some sessions will also include a close engagement with set readings by the major

authors in the field. As part of a general orientation towards the analysis of contemporary media culture, the

course might also include brief screenings or the use printed material as mini-case studies. There will be 10

lectures in total.

Instructions

Go back to the

course listings

and select the

first option under

each course,

Course Materials

Location, which

will give you the

course outline

and the aims and

objectives.

Read this new

example…

Look closely at what you need to show you have learnt from the course

This course aims to introduce students to the study of the relationship between media and

cultural and social life. In particular the focus of the course will be on the technological

transformations that have produced the current coexistence of mass media, post-modern media

and a digital media culture - including digital and terrestrial television, the Internet, newspapers,

land and mobile telephony, digital and analogue images and sounds and so on. The course will

look at this system of communication through the work of theorists such as Walter Benjamin,

Marshall McLuhan, Jean Baudrillard, Norbert Wiener, Paul Virilio, Brian Massumi, and Gilles

Deleuze and Felix Guattari. These classic perspectives will be supplemented with case studies

taken from film, music, photography, cinema and the Internet. Throughout the course, the

emphasis will be on how technical media constitute not simply representations of the social world

but also our very modes of perception. As such our relationship with the media also involves

our relationship with the body, social understandings of reality and the culture of interpersonal

communication.

By the end of the course, students will be expected to be familiar with the main theoretical

approaches to the study of media cultures. They will also be expected to be able to apply these

different theoretical frameworks to specific case studies.

Instructions

It should be

apparent

(implicitly, at the

very least) what

the course aims

to develop in

terms of skill and

knowledge.

These need to be

identified and

highlighted.

Determine which kind of evidence is apt

• Format: Each session will include an introduction to the subject in question by staff; and a student presentation about the set reading. Some sessions will also include a close engagement

with set readings by the major authors in the field. As part of a general orientation towards the analysis of contemporary

media culture, the course might also include brief screenings or the use printed material as mini-case studies. There will be 10 lectures in total.

Instructions

Identify what types

of evidence are

considered

appropriate and

use the lists as a

basis for gathering

your own

evidence.

Essay checklistIn this essay, is it clear that I have… ?

• Brought out the relationship between media and cultural and social life?

• Recognised the significance of technological transformations (post-modern media

and a digital media culture-including digital and terrestrial television, the Internet,

newspapers, land and mobile telephony, digital and analogue images and sounds)?

• Drawn on the work of theorists (e.g. Walter Benjamin, Marshall McLuhan, Jean

Baudrillard, Norbert Wiener, Paul Virilio, Brian Massumi, Gilles Deleuze, Felix

Guattari)?

• Illustrated my points through use of case studies (taken from film, music,

photography, cinema and the Internet)?

• Shown how these constitute our very modes of perception?

• And that our relationship with the media also involves our relationship with the body,

social understandings of reality and the culture of interpersonal communication?

• Demonstrated familiarity with the main theoretical approaches to the study of media

cultures and applied these different theoretical frameworks to specific case studies?

• ALSO ANSWERED THE QUESTION!!!

Instructions

Having done that,

make an essay

checklist that

outlines all of the

things you need to

demonstrate in your

exams.