Module Specifications.
Current Academic Year 2024 - 2025
All Module information is indicative, and this portal is an interim interface pending the full upgrade of Coursebuilder and subsequent integration to the new DCU Student Information System (DCU Key).
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Date posted: September 2024
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Description This course introduces students to the field of international relations theory. We will examine in some detail the main theoretical approaches in international politics and analyse how they may be helpful in explaining the most relevant issues affecting global politics today. The course is divided into two sections: Part One examines the dominant perspectives in International Relations Theory from the initiation of the discipline to the present, while Part Two looks at more recent developments that offer critiques of the mainstream approaches. Throughout the course, readings, lectures, presentations, and discussion will be directed at understanding the link between theory and practice, with a view to highlighting and understanding the complexities of contemporary global politics. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Learning Outcomes 1. Identify the main international relations theories 2. Explain the differences between the various theoretical traditions in International Relations 3. Apply the theories to real world cases 4. Analyse international events using the appropriate theoretical lense 5. Combine commensurate theories in order to formulate new approaches to international events | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 |
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Indicative Content and Learning Activities
Students will focus on the following topics and/or attend to the followingIntroduction and ReviewThis section will introduce the students to the academic discipline of international relations and review the theories covered during the courseEarly theories of IR: Thucydides, Hobbes & MachiavelliThis lecture and seminar will examine the intellectual antecedents to contemporary international relations theory and explore the use and misuse of historical thinkers within the disciplineThe Emergence of IR as an academic disciplineThis lecture examines the emergence of IR as a distinct academic discipine. Students will be introduced to the theory of liberalismNon-Western approaches to International RelationsThis section re-examines the field of International Relations from non-Western perspectives and looks the intersection of race, colonialism and power that shape the modern world.Add women & stir? – Feminism and IRGender has increasingly pushed to the fore as a relevant category for understaning IR. This lecture looks at the feminist contribution and examines the future of a more gender conscious IRCarr, Morgenthau & the Birth of RealismThis lecture introduces modern Realism as an approach to IR through examining the works of Hans Morgenthau and EH CarrScience v Tradition: Behaviouralism v the English SchoolThis lecture looks at the 2nd debate. This will be placed in the context of debates within the Philosophy of the Social Sciences and the implications of these debates for researchers in IRStructure and Systems: Neo Realism and Neo-LiberalismThis lecture explores the main differences between the two main theories IR in the contemporary mainstream of the disciplinePost-positivism – Critique or Crisis?This lecture looks at alternative approaches to IR theory that challenge positivist social scienceConstructivism – A via media?This lecture examines attempts by Constructivist scholars to build a bridge between the contemporary mainstream and the more radical approaches of Post-postivist scholarsCritical TheoryDoes IR theory have duty to speak truth to power? This lecture explores this question by way of examining the contribution of the Frankfurt School and Gramsci to IR theory | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Indicative Reading List
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Other Resources None | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||