| Unit name | Nations and Nationalism |
|---|---|
| Unit code | SOCI30082 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | H/6 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
| Unit director | Professor. Fox |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you may not take alongside this one |
None |
| School/department | School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies |
| Faculty | Faculty of Social Sciences and Law |
Why is this unit important?
Nationalism is the most dominant political form in the world today. We live in a world of nation-states where wars are fought in their name and leaders are elected to defend them, where we venerate nations in holiday commemorations and celebrate them on world cup football pitches, where nations motivate our collective pursuits and justify our individual sacrifices. The aim of this unit is to understand the past and present of nationalism and, on that basis, to consider its future. We will explore the historical origins of nationalism and follow it as it shapeshifts in different contexts and at different times in response to ever-evolving global challenges. Throughout it all, we will gain a better understanding of how nationalism reinvents itself to preserve its hegemony in the world.
How does this unit fit into your programme of study?
This is a third-year specialist option that draws directly on the tutor’s research expertise to critically and thoroughly interrogate nationalism from multiple theoretical and epistemological perspectives. It connects to insights from the first and second year of the degree programme related to questions of social identity, ethnicity, race, citizenship, and belonging and draws on diverse theoretical approaches from across the programme. The unit asks students to tap into the knowledge they have acquired in the first two years of their degree programme to develop their own critical insights into nations and nationalism.
An overview of content
The unit will draw on different theoretical perspectives and epistemological approaches to gain a better understanding of nations and nationalism. The unit begins by establishing an analytical framework for the study of nationalism that stresses its historic specificity and social construction. Next, macro-analytical perspectives to the study of nationalism are consulted in considering the role of politics, culture, and the economy in nation-making. The final part of the unit shifts attention to micro-analytical perspectives to explore the popular resonance of nationalism and how people are agents of nationalism. These three parts of the unit are designed to critically evaluate how nations modern social constructs in a joined-up fashion.
How will students, personally, be different as a result of the unit?
Students of Nations & Nationalism will acquire general knowledge on the inner workings and outward effects of nationalism. This knowledge comes with specific insights into different cases and types of nationalism and theoretical perspectives on and epistemological approaches to nationalism. The unit also requires students to draw on, apply, and develop theoretical approaches to the study of nationalism that align with and help cultivate their wider theoretical interests in the discipline. This will give students the confidence to develop their own unique approach to nationalism.
Learning Outcomes
Learning in this unit is structured around the following integrated activities repeated each week.
The Readings – An Introduction
Each week begins with the tutor’s narrated powerpoint presentation introducing the week’s readings. This is intended to aid the students in their selection of relevant readings each week (see below) and to act as a reference resource when students prepare their formative and summative assessments.
The Readings – Resource List Link
Accompanying the introduction is a link to the Resource List for each week. Students are asked to make their own judgements about what to read each week, taking into account the tutor’s overview of the readings and their own interests in the topic. Students are also required to read outside the Resource List by bringing in theoretical perspectives from other parts of their degree programme, engaging with case studies relevant to their interests, and/or undertaking Google Scholar keyword searches for sources relevant to the topic. Students are strongly encouraged to identify and cultivate their own theoretical interests early on in the unit to facilitate their preparation for both formative and summative assessments. There is no core set of readings. Students must familiarise themselves with each week’s topic and be prepared to contribute to that week’s seminar discussions.
Doing Nationalism Tasks
Each week students are required to complete a short ‘Doing Nationalism’ Task to engage directly with the week's topic. Each task combines a half hour of research (data collection) with a 250 word critical analysis of that research in dialogue with a selection of the week’s readings. The tasks are designed to help students connect theories and concepts of nationalism to the real world of nationalism. They also form the basis of both formative and summative assessment.
Seminar 1: Doing Nationalism
The first 50 minute seminar of the week focuses on the findings and analyses from the Doing Nationalism tasks. Each week one or more students will be selected to introduce the discussion by talking through their task in 5 minutes or less. (Each student will introduce their task in seminar 1 only once per term.) The aim of these seminars is to collectively synthesise diverse observations and insights from the tasks into a coherent approach to the week’s topic.
Lecture
Between the two seminars students should watch the week’s lecture. The lectures are designed to pick up on insights and learning from the tasks and the first seminar and develop and consolidate them into a coherent framework for further discussion and critical engagement.
Seminar 2: Understanding Nationalism
The second seminar each week critically interrogates learning from the lecture, the tasks, and the readings from diverse scholarly perspectives. Each week one or more students will be selected to introduce the discussion by engaging with the topic from a theoretical perspective of their choosing in 5 minutes or less. (Each student will introduce the discussion in seminar 2 only once per term.) Students contribute their own theoretically informed insights to help question, challenge, and further their understanding of the week’s topic.
The overall progression of each week begins with 1) introduction and discovery (the readings and the tasks) and 2) making sense of the week’s topic (seminar 1) to consolidating these early insights into a coherent framework for understanding (the lecture) to critical interrogation of that framework from diverse scholarly perspectives (seminar 2). Each of these steps correspond to the components of both formative and summative assessment.
Tasks which help you learn and prepare you for summative tasks (formative):
250 word analyses submitted weekly during weeks 2-6. These tasks are not assessed but they are the foundation for both formative and summative assessment. Students will be set a simple task that asks them to connect the real world of nationalism with theories of nationalism.
1,000 word extended task essay. Students select one task from weeks 2-6 to develop more fully and critically in a formative essay. This analysis can draw on sources from the resource list and it should also incorporate at least one source and/or theoretical perspective from OUTSIDE the unit.
Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative):
2,500 word combined-task essay (100%) - ILO 1, 2, 3. In this essay, students select a task from weeks 2-6 (different from the one they focused on in the formative assessment) and combine it with a second task selected from weeks 7-11 to produce a theoretically informed analysis of the relationship between the two task topics and its relevance for nationalism. This essay must also draw on at least one theoretical perspective from OUTSIDE the unit. This can include, if desired, the theoretical perspective used in the formative assessment (but the analysis using that perspective must be original).
When assessment does not go to plan
In exceptional circumstances, reassessment may be offered as determined by the exam board. You will normally complete reassessment in the same formats as those outlined above.
If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.
If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. SOCI30082).
How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours
of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks,
independent learning and assessment activity.
See the University Workload statement relating to this unit for more information.
Assessment
The assessment methods listed in this unit specification are designed to enable students to demonstrate the named learning outcomes (LOs). Where a disability prevents a student from undertaking a specific method of assessment, schools will make reasonable adjustments to support a student to demonstrate the LO by an alternative method or with additional resources.
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit.
The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
