LPINT6242 Security Studies Course Descriptor

Course Overview

This course will introduce students to the study of security and stability as concepts across International Relations, Comparative Politics, and Political Thought. The students will apply different Politics and International Relations theories to issues relating to the security of states, individuals, the international system, and beyond. This course will identify security as a concept that goes beyond the mere balance of power within the international arena. Students will assess to what extent security should or should not be understood as a broad concept that relates not only to armed forces and armed conflicts (i.e. how countries use war to achieve security) but also to issues such as minority rights, terrorism, migration, poverty, climate change, disease, organised crime, and other contemporary international social problems. Besides analysing fundamental issues that pertain to security in International Relations, this course will also examine what security means at an individual level, how the issue is resolved, and how concepts such as the “national interest” shape modern democracies. In short, security will be understood not solely as a concern about states, but also as a core value and an individual right.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:

Knowledge and Understanding

Subject Specific Skills

Transferable and Employability Skills

Teaching and Learning

This course has a dedicated Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) page with a syllabus and range of additional resources (e.g. readings, question prompts, tasks, assignment briefs, discussion boards) to orientate and engage students in their studies.

The scheduled teaching and learning activities for this course are:

Lectures and/or seminars

40 scheduled hours – typically including induction, consolidation or revision, and assessment activity hours.

• Version 1:all sessions in the same sized group

OR

• Version 2: most of the sessions in larger groups; some of the sessions in smaller groups

Faculty hold regular ‘office hours’, which are opportunities for students to drop in or sign up to explore ideas, raise questions, or seek targeted guidance or feedback, individually or in small groups. 

Students are to attend and participate in all the scheduled teaching and learning activities for this course and to manage their directed learning and independent study.

Indicative total learning hours for this course: 150 hours

Assessment

Both formative and summative assessments are used as part of this course, with purely formative opportunities typically embedded within interactive teaching sessions, office hours, and/or the VLE.

Summative Assessments

Students will apply different International Relations theories and concepts to the analysis of a variety of international issues (e.g. war, poverty, migration, terrorism, organised crime, and climate change) from a security perspective:  

Further information about the assessments can be found in the Course Syllabus.

Feedback

Students will receive formative and summative feedback in a variety of ways, written (e.g. marked up on assignments, through email or the VLE) or oral (e.g. as part of interactive teaching sessions or in office hours).

Indicative Reading

Note: Comprehensive and current reading lists are produced annually in the Course Syllabus or other documentation provided to students; the indicative reading list provided below is for a general guide and part of the approval/modification process only.

• Hough, P. (2018) Understanding Global Security. 4th Edition.
• Kolodziej, E.A. (2005) Security and International Relations, London: Cambridge University Press.
• Lutz, J. M., and B. J. Lutz (2004). Global terrorism. London: Psychology Press.

Indicative Topics

Note: Comprehensive and current topics for courses are produced annually in the Course Syllabus or other documentation provided to students; the indicative topics provided below are used as a general guide and part of the approval/modification process only.

• Defining security in Politics and International Relations
• The state as a security arrangement: theories of the state
• Issues in international security: war, terrorism, environment
• Human Security