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On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:
Demonstrate a knowledge and appreciation of a range of cultural works in various media that focus on a specified topic in Politics and International Relations.
Critically understand key debates concerning the specified political topic (e.g. civil disobedience).
Evaluate cultural representations of key political themes in the light of complex ethical debates.
Work as part of a team on a shared task, allocating roles, conductive collaborative research and meeting deadlines to pre-agreed standards and requirements.
This module engages with issues of political behaviour: cultural representations of politics and international relations, evaluating the ways in which competing viewpoints on the motives and causes of political power reflect wider social divisions, particularly in the light of class, gender, and the media.
The module is organised around a specific theme (illustrative topics include: the relation of the state to the individual; the relation of governments to multi-national corporations; political corruption, activism and civil disobedience, &c). Students first explore ways in which the chosen issue has been framed and analysed within the discipline of politics and international relations and then these academic analyses are related to the representation of the topic in various cultural forms: films, novels, biographies, documentaries (&c).
The module explores the way the chosen theme is constructed, presented, questioned and problematised in these works. The focus will be on the issues and themes, rather than the technical nature of the medium or the generic or formal aspects of the presentation - in other words, the criticism is geared towards issues and problems, rather than cultural forms.
Alternative methods of delivery are through consideration of a specific writer or director, or through consideration of the relation of politics to the cultural industries. In the first case, the module will then focus on the reception and critical analysis of his/her work and that way he/she deploys political topics and themes to reflect upon the nature and value of politics. The second case might be chosen to respond to a topical instance of, for example, political censorship; state control over, or dispute with, culture or media industries (such as the British government and the BBC); or a significant political play, novel, film, or documentary.
Learning and teaching methods will be structured around student-led project work, supported by workshop activities, such as directed reading and writing, seminar debates, student-led presentations, and guidance and support for the critical skills and presentation techniques or tools to be employed. Feedback on student work and feed-forward guidance will be central to this module.
Seminars/workshops
Hours: 32
Intended Group Size: 50
Guided independent study
Hours: 168
Further details relating to assessment
Assessment 1 - The report: will develop out of initial seminar presentations of a pre-specified complex ethical issue in politics (e.g. civil disobedience). This ethical topic will be related to selected readings from key academic studies on that topic. In workshop sessions these studies will be related to ways in which cultural representations of that topic might take positions on that topic or open out wider questions and problems. The report is a structured study of one of the given texts/films in the light of this preparatory work.
Assessment 2 - The group presentation: will involve developing the awareness of the chosen theme and reflecting on diverse ways in which it might be presented in a range of cultural works. The group presentation should take a clear stance on the topic, justified and supported by relevant argument and analysis.
Module Coordinator - Nathan Uglow
Level - 6
Credit Value - 20
Pre-Requisites - NONE
Semester(s) Offered -
