IR318      Half Unit
Visual International Politics

This information is for the 2019/20 session.

Teacher responsible

Prof William Callahan CBG.9.05

Availability

This course is available on the BSc in International Relations, BSc in International Relations and Chinese, BSc in International Relations and History and BSc in Politics and International Relations. This course is available with permission as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit and to General Course students.

Course content

We live in a visual age. Images play an increasingly important role in shaping international political events and our understanding of them. The objective of this course is to examine how visual sources - maps, photographs, film, television, new media - influence international political phenomena, our perception of them, and public responses to them. The course has conceptual,  empirical, and practical objectives. At a conceptual level students will acquire knowledge of key theoretical and methodological debates necessary to study visual international politics. At an empirical level, students will gain a better understanding of several concrete instances where images helped to shape international political phenomena, from wars to humanitarian crises, from global social movements to alternative world orders. At a practical level, students will learn how to make a short documentary film.

Teaching

9 hours of lectures, 3 hours of lectures and 20 hours of classes in the MT.

Students on this course will have a reading week in Week 6, in line with departmental policy. 

Formative coursework

Students will be expected to produce 1 essay and 1 project in the MT.

MT week 7: 750-word essay project proposal

MT week 8: Rough edit of film  - approx. 3 minutes duration

Indicative reading

Assessment

Project (50%) in the MT.
Essay (50%, 2500 words) in the LT.

The project will be a ten minute documentary film, which will be made by groups of 2 or 3 students.

Key facts

Department: International Relations

Total students 2018/19: 15

Average class size 2018/19: 15

Capped 2018/19: No

Value: Half Unit

Guidelines for interpreting course guide information

Personal development skills

Student performance results

(2016/17 - 2018/19 combined)

Classification % of students
First 49.2
2:1 47.5
2:2 0
Third 0
Fail 3.4