Prospectus

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Introducing Crisis and Security Management

Course
2014-2015

Description

Security ranks high in both the public conscience and political and administrative policies. Acts of terrorism have frightened the public, the fear for crime is high and man or nature made disasters make their way into the headlines. In this course students will get acquainted with shifts in definitions, concepts and meaning of crisis & security, the main theoretical and empirical insights in security and the function of security as a governing technique. Further, attention is called for shifts in the management or governance of crisis & security. Security nowadays is no longer the prerogative of the state, but is also provided by private actors, citizens, civil society and international security actors. Empirical studies into actual security issues will be presented to familiarize students with methodological challenges in studying the governance of crisis & security. A simulation game and/or final seminar will be organized to this end.

The course also serves as an essential footing that explores the broad field of crisis and security governance that is studied in depth in other CSM courses. It also functions as the theoretical and conceptual foundation for two successive courses: Research Design, in which students are provided with an understanding of the basic principles of research design in the social sciences, and public administration in particular; and the Master Thesis, in which students will combine the previously gained insights in the conceptual and theoretical dimensions of crisis and security governance and the methodological insights introduced during the course Research Design in their own thesis project.

Learning objectives

The main goals of the course are:

  • To provide students with conceptual and theoretical insights in crisis and security issues

  • To provide students with conceptual and theoretical notions concerning the governance of crisis and security

  • To present and critique various empirical approaches in studying crisis and security governance

  • To prepare students for the consecutive course on Research Design

  • To prepare students for the writing of their master thesis

Timetable (tentative)

Timetable

Methods of instruction

The sessions are dedicated to lectures and discussion and a simulation game. This course is compulsory.

Study load

  • total study load: 140 hrs., of which: – contact hours: 21 – self-study hours: 119

Method of assessment

Written exam with essay questions (divided in parts) and contribution to simulation game and/or final seminar.
(1) Three times CSM Today (10% of total grade)
(2) Five times Rolling Exam Questions (25% of total grade)
(3) Preparation (15%) and evaluation (15%) of the Serious Game (=30% of total grade)
(4) Final Exam (35% of total grade)

The resit will take the form of a written exam with essay questions

Blackboard

Yes. BB will be accessible two weeks before the start of the course

Other course materials/literature

To be announced

Registration

Registration for every course and exam in USIS is mandatory. For courses, registration is possible from four weeks up to three days before the start of the course.
For exams, registration is possible from four weeks up to ten days before the date of the examination.

Contact

Edwin Bakker en Jelle van Buuren
csm@cdh.leidenuniv.nl