IR6002 - Critical Security

I will be responsible for my own learning guided by the lectures, seminars, and the material provided in the module handbook. To make effective use of contact time with my module tutor I will consistently attend lecture and seminars and cover the weekly reading. In order to understand theories and concepts as well as their application to thematic areas, I will engage with the academic literature and participate in the tasks set by the lecturer, including group work, presentations, and debates. This will prepare me for the final essay assessment.

My academic development will be facilitated through engagement with the academic literature and by talking with my peers and academics about my understanding of the literature. I expect to critically evaluate my pre-conceived notions that I might have in the light of the literature and debates during lectures and seminars. I will read beyond the material provided in the module handbook in order to widen and deepen the scope of my understanding of academic debates.

All modules at Northumbria include a range of reading materials that students are expected to engage with. The reading list for this module can be found at: http://readinglists.northumbria.ac.uk
(Reading List service online guide for academic staff this containing contact details for the Reading List team – http://library.northumbria.ac.uk/readinglists)

Knowledge & Understanding:
1. Differentiate contending notions of security and critically appreciate their usefulness in understanding different phenomena in the realm of security
2. Critically evaluate a range of contemporary security challenges

Intellectual / Professional skills & abilities:
3. Present and confidently defend arguments in debates
4. Critically examine my own arguments and research findings through engagement with the academic literature and policy debates

Personal Values Attributes (Global / Cultural awareness, Ethics, Curiosity) (PVA):
5. Understand and critically reflect on my own activities as a member of a globalizing society

All MLOs will be addressed through a summative essay assessment, as well as formative classroom debates and group work.

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In the beginning of the twenty-first century the world faces a vast array of global challenges, threats and security issues, ranging from international terrorism, to the so called New Wars, humanitarian intervention, and the effects of climate change and mass migration, many of which cannot be addressed by traditional means and ways of conceptualizing security. In this module you will be introduced to the burgeoning field of Critical Security Studies that propagates new ways of understanding security, away from a state-centric, exclusively military lens, towards a more holistic concept that puts the individual human being as the subject of security centre stage. These theoretical approaches will be illustrated by way of a series of selected case studies, covering but not limited to the above topics, as well as a discussion of the key security actors – such as the US and the UK – and global hotspots of the contemporary world such as, for example, the Middle East.