Registry
Module Specifications
Current Academic Year 2012 - 2013
Please note that this information is subject to change.
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| Description | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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This module will give final year students an opportunity to explore major theoretical and empirical debates in the discipline of International Relations (IR). Much of the scholarship in IR is concerned with the process and practice of institutions or with understanding international events and crises such as wars and acts of terrorism. In the process of accounting for theseempirical processes and events, the intersection of international relations with theory and research can be overlooked. Since the end of the Cold War, methodological issues have returned to centre-stage in IR.This module will explore the role of theory and research approaches in how we read about and understand international relations. Students will become familiar with significant debates in IR about explaining and understanding, ontology and epistemology, agency and structure and levels of analysis. The first part of the course will examine the theoretical research paradigms in International Relations and will apply theories of realism, liberalism and constructivism to international relations issues and events. The second part of the course will consider the positivist and post-positivist divide in IR scholarship and will compare and evaluate examples of both types of research. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Learning Outcomes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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1. Define the philosophical foundations of a number of major International Relations theories 2. Apply a philosophy of social science perspective to the categorisation of International Relations theories 3. Apply theories to understand and explain issues in International Relations 4. Question the philosophical consistency of academic research in International Relations 5. Evaluate the merits of positivist and postpositivist research approaches to issues in International Relations 6. Plan an independent piece of research on a question relevant to International Politics 7. Identify her/his own theoretical and methodological preferences | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Realism and neorealism. Liberalism and neoliberalism. (Neo)realist research paradigm. (Neo)liberal research paradigm. Conventional Social Constructivism. Critical Social Constructivism. Social Constructivist research paradigms. Explaining and Understanding. Ontology and Epistemology. Levels of Analysis. Agency and Structure. Positivist/Post-positivist ways of doing research. Positivism: grand theory, causal models, Security Studies. Post-positivism: poststructuralism, discourse theory and deconstruction, Critical Security Studies. Apositivist case-study using Irish neutrality. Apositivist case-study using European Integration. Apost-positivist case-study using Irish neutrality. Apost-positivist case-study using European Integration. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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