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Elective: Waging War – Cultural Approaches

Vak
2016-2017

Admission requirements

This course is only available for second year students in the BA International Studies.
The number of participants is limited to 25.

Description

War has been pervasive throughout human history, yet it has not always been waged in the same way. This elective will span history, politics, and culture to introduce students to cultural approaches to military strategy and the waging of war. The basis is the idea of strategic culture and attendant concepts of national ways in war or ways of warfare. These ideas will then be applied to two or three week long case studies on Britain, the United States, Russia, and China. In these weeks, we will study important theorists and authors who wrote about these national ways of war, the historical and geopolitical roots of these ideas, whether or not history actually reflects these cultural stereotypes, and whether or not they have any contemporary relevance.

Course objectives

The elective courses for International Studies are designed to teach students how to deal with state-of-the-art literature and research questions. They are chosen to enhance the students’ learning experience by building on the interdisciplinary perspectives they have developed so far, and to introduce them to the art of academic research. They are characterised by an international or comparative approach.
Academic skills that are trained include:
Oral presentation skills:
1. to explain clear and substantiated research results;
2. to provide an answer to questions concerning (a subject) in the field covered by the course a. in the form of a clear and well-structured oral presentation; b. in agreement with the appropriate disciplinary criteria; c. using up-to-date presentation techniques; d. aimed at a specific audience;
3. to actively participate in a discussion following the presentation.

Collaboration skills:
1. to be socio-communicative in collaborative situations;
2. to provide and receive constructive criticism, and incorporate justified criticism by revising one’s own position;
3. adhere to agreed schedules and priorities.

Basic research skills, including heuristic skills:
1. to collect and select academic literature using traditional and digital methods and techniques;
2. to analyze and assess this literature with regard to quality and reliability;
3. to formulate on this basis a sound research question;
4. to design under supervision a research plan of limited scope, and implement it using the methods and techniques that are appropriate within the discipline involved;
5. to formulate a substantiated conclusion.

Written presentation skills:
1. to explain clear and substantiated research results;
2. to provide an answer to questions concerning (a subject) in the field covered by the course a. in the form of a clear and well-structured oral presentation; b. in agreement with the appropriate disciplinary criteria; c. using relevant illustration or multimedia techniques; d. aimed at a specific audience.

Timetable

The timetable is available on the BA International Studies website

Mode of instruction

Seminar and supervised research.

Course Load

Total course load for the course: 10 EC x 28 hours= 280 hours, broken down by:

  • Hours spent on attending lectures and seminars: 24 hours

  • Time for studying the compulsory literature: 80 hours

  • Completion of short assignments: 46 hours

  • Researching and writing final paper: 130 hours

Assessment method

  • Class participation: 10%

  • Presentation: 20%

  • Literature review: 20%

  • Final Paper (5000 words): 50%

To complete the final mark, please take notice of the following: the final mark for the course is established by determining the weighted average
To pass the course, the weighted average has to be 5.5 at least.

Blackboard

Blackboard will be used. For tutorial groups: please enroll in blackboard after your enrolment in uSis
Students are requested to register on Blackboard for this course.

Reading list

To be announced

Registration

Enrolment through uSis is mandatory.
General information about uSis is available in English and Dutch

Contact

Dr. L. Milevski

Remarks

Not applicable