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Curricular information is subject to change
The purpose of the module is to explore some of the key problems and solutions that scholars have proposed to address the ‘global turn in the humanities’. By the end of the module students should understand:
1. The question of methodological nationalism: i.e. the belief in the naturalness of the nation-state as a unit of analysis. The objective of a global methodology should be to question that presumed naturalness, to ask how it came to appear as such and to unmask the inherent violence of nation state formation by refusing to give it respectable academic cover.
2. The question of Eurocentricity: i.e. the tendency to deploy the category of Europe as category of analysis but which persistently fails to historicize it as emergent subject in its own right.
3. And lastly the question of anthropocentricity: i.e. the tendency to assume a privileged place for the Anthropocene as an agent of historical change. If anything the global pandemic we are facing has brought home the hubris of that position and ought to have endowed us with a newfound appreciation for how and why it is that borders became necessary means of social and political organisation.
In addition, students will be equipped with a number of key skills which include:
- Independent research
- Essay planning
- Understanding of what makes a good argument and how best to convey it
This core module takes the history of borders—symbols of the intersection of the local and the global, the ideal and the material— as its structuring principle: and explores over ten weeks five different disciplinary approaches to their study:
- Anthropology
- Gender Studies
- Geography
- History
- Political Theory
Student Effort Type | Hours |
---|---|
Seminar (or Webinar) | 18 |
Specified Learning Activities | 45 |
Autonomous Student Learning | 45 |
Total | 108 |
Not applicable to this module.
Description | Timing | Component Scale | % of Final Grade | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Essay: This is a final piece of writing (approx 2000-2500 words) which will be based on the midterm essay plan, and upon the feedback received on that piece of writing. | Week 12 | n/a | Graded | Yes | 60 |
Assignment: This will be an essay plan, feedback upon which will be given approximately half way through the semester and thereafter used to write the final essay | Week 6 | n/a | Graded | No | 30 |
Continuous Assessment: This component will assess the participation and attendance of students in this module and will be ongoing throughout the semester. | Throughout the Trimester | n/a | Graded | No | 10 |
Resit In | Terminal Exam |
---|---|
Spring | No |
• Feedback individually to students, on an activity or draft prior to summative assessment
• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment
No feedback will be given on the continuous assessment component. Feedback on the midterm essay plan will be communicated to students individually approx two weeks after the submission with plenty of opportunity to ask questions and to incorporate said feedback in the final essay. Final essay feedback will be available upon request after the grades have been formally released.