Unit information: Post-Modern Political Theories in 2011/12

Unit name	Post-Modern Political Theories
Unit code	POLI31367
Credit points	20
Level of study	H/6
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12)
Unit director	Professor. Carver
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	None
Co-requisites	None
School/department	School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies
Faculty	Faculty of Social Sciences and Law

Description including Unit Aims

This unit distinguishes between postmodernity and postmodernism, taking the latter to be a 'way of looking at the world'. This will be explained and explored in informal lectures, focused reading, class discussion and questions, student presentations, and engagement with current politics. Students will be expected to apply insights developed in the unit to areas of special interest such as party politics, gender politics, international relations, political economy, and public policy. This will require self-directed reading and news-following.

Aims:

1. To familiarise students with the philosophical ideas ascribed to postmodernism
2. To help students to apply these insights to the analysis of political issues
3. To help students develop an awareness of postmodern concerns with power
4. To familiarise students with the political importance of visual media
5. To enable students to read politics from films and to read politics into films

Intended Learning Outcomes

1. Thorough knowledge of postmodernism as a 'way of looking at the world'
2. Ability to deploy postmodern conceptions of 'reading', 'boundaries', appearance, representation, metaphor and power
3. Ability to use the postmodern linkage between genre and knowledge
4. Ability to communicate political ideas through visual framing and illustration

Teaching Information

Option 1 – A 1hr lecture and 2 hour seminar

Option 2 – A 3 hr seminar

Assessment Information

Summative assessment:

• Book review (40%)

• Issue analysis (60%)