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Module Specifications.

Current Academic Year 2024 - 2025

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Date posted: September 2024

No Banner module data is available

Module Title
Module Code (ITS)
Faculty School
Module Co-ordinatorSemester 1: Shelley Deane
Semester 2: Shelley Deane
Autumn: Shelley Deane
Module TeachersShelley Deane
NFQ level 9 Credit Rating
Pre-requisite Not Available
Co-requisite Not Available
Compatibles Not Available
Incompatibles Not Available
Coursework Only
Choose an essay of 3500 words from the assigned list
Description

This module seeks to provide an in-depth examination of a key security issue/interrelated set of key security issues relating to contemporary politics and international affairs and will depend heavily on the lecturer’s research interests and expertise. Learning Objectives: • To attain a deep understanding of an emerging/a closely-knit set of emerging security issues • To contextualise contemporary and emerging security issues with reference to ‘classic’ notions of security • To understand and analyse how emerging security issues may develop in the future • To become familiar with the range of disciplines that feed into the topic(s) at hand and the associated literature

Learning Outcomes

1. To attain a deep understanding of an emerging/a closely-knit set of emerging security issues
2. To contextualise contemporary and emerging security issues with reference to ‘classic’ notions of security
3. To understand and analyse how emerging security issues may develop in the future
4. To become familiar with the range of disciplines that feed into the topic(s) at hand and the associated literature
5. To engage in deep research on a self-identified topic, and to produce an essay and presentation to display sufficient comprehension



Workload Full-time hours per semester
Type Hours Description
Lecture11No Description
Seminars11No Description
Independent Study228No Description
Total Workload: 250

All module information is indicative and subject to change. For further information,students are advised to refer to the University's Marks and Standards and Programme Specific Regulations at: http://www.dcu.ie/registry/examinations/index.shtml

Indicative Content and Learning Activities

Course Overview
This year's module will focus on the use of data to understand, analyse, prevent and respond to violent conflict and insecurity. We will explore different datasets for monitoring violent conflict and insecurity; carry out analysis of trends over time, space, and modalities of violence; explore data visualisation techniques; and examine the relationship between violent conflict and insecurity, and issues such as gender, governance and inequality through the lens of data. The module will build students' data literacy and their ability to understand, analyse and critically assess the evidence base of key theories and policies in international security.

Indicative Course Outline
Please note, individual topics are subject to change.

PART I:
Week 1: Introduction to Conflict Analysis and Conflict Data; Week 2: Monitoring Insecurity and Crisis: An Overview of Data and Approaches; Week 3: Different Sources of Conflict Data; Week 4: Measuring Events, Fatalities, Opinions and Proxies; Week 5: An Introduction to Datasets; Week 6: Quantitative Data Analysis – The Basics.

Part II:
Week 7: Reading Week; Week 8: Timelines of Conflict: Legacies, Trends and Forecasting; Week 9: Geographies of Violence: From Local to Transnational; Week 10: Data Visualisation; Week 11: Ethics of Quantitative Data; Week 12: Review Class.

Assessment Breakdown
Continuous Assessment% Examination Weight%
Course Work Breakdown
TypeDescription% of totalAssessment Date
PresentationStudent presentation15%n/a
AssignmentData exercise15%n/a
AssignmentEssay proposal15%n/a
EssayEssay on approved topic of student's choice55%n/a
Indicative Reading List

    Other Resources

    None

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