| Unit name | Radical Histories: Hate, Trauma and the Limits of the Law |
|---|---|
| Unit code | SPOL30090 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | H/6 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
| Unit director | Dr. Fuchs |
| 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 for Policy Studies |
| Faculty | Faculty of Social Sciences and Law |
Why is this unit important?
This course takes the global spike in hate crimes as a starting point to ask deeper questions about the relationship between hate, trauma, and justice. Drawing on case studies from across the world, you will ask what it means to live through hate crime, what unique trauma hate crimes produce, and how survivors find hope in the aftermath of hateful injuries. You will immerse yourself in the personal testimonies of hate crime survivors and explore the unique challenges and dangers of hate crime policing. You will learn how hate speech on social media has begun to blur the lines between so-called ‘real world’ harms and digital harm. Finally, you will explore what motivates perpetrators of hate crime and how prejudice and hate have shaped global political history.
How does this unit fit into your programme of study?
The unit will delve deeply into one of the key themes at the heart of the Criminology programme: can the legal system bring justice to those who have lived through deep injury or trauma? You will strengthen your disciplinary competency in social harm and criminal justice and explore how different cultural contexts and colonial histories shape understandings of violence, healing and law. The unit will help you build critical reading and writing skills, as well as expertise in critical media analysis. On a theoretical level you will develop your understanding of key concepts in violence and atrocity studies, trauma theory, and sociological concepts of hope and justice.
An overview of content
The course will have three parts: The first part of the course will explore what constitutes hate crime and how hate crimes have been legally regulated. The second part of the course will interrogate what role mainstream, and social media plays in the circulation of hate-related discourses and what types of public harm these debates engender. In the final part of the course, we then turn to the lived experiences of trauma that survivors narrate. We will draw on personal testimonies to explore the idea that hate crimes inflict a uniquely violent kind of traumatic injury.
How will students be different as a result of the unit
At the end of the course, you will understand the profound impact that systemic exclusion and violence have on people’s sense of belonging, identity, and safety. This will allow you to think critically about different types of crime and appreciate how prejudice and bias cause unique forms of trauma. You will be able to apply this knowledge to their own interactions with media and the criminal justice system.
Learning Outcomes
The course will take an interactive, applied and reflective approach to allow students to better appreciate the social complexities of hate crime and hate crime regulation. Teaching will be based around lectures and workshops. During the workshops, you will engage deeply with one media output (e.g. song/reading/social media post) and work in small groups to reflect on its significance in light of the theories discussed in the lectures.
The portfolio is designed to allow you to understand the issue of hate from all perspectives: legal, social and experiential and to equip you with the skills to reflect on, talk about, and apply their insights on controversial policy questions.
The unit will also involve formative activities designed to prepare for the portfolio assessment.
Tasks which help you learn and prepare you for summative tasks (formative):
Individual and group activities, discussion and informal feedback in the seminar on critical reading. Additionally, as part of your formative assessment, a set of group presentations with peer feedback are built into teaching.
Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative):
Portfolio (3000 words, 100%)
This assessment covers all of the intended learning outcomes.
When assessments does not go to plan
Subject to the university regulations for taught programmes, you may be offered an opportunity for reassessment. This will comprise a task of the same format as the original assessment.
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. SPOL30090).
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.
