Undergraduate Course: Political Thinkers (PLIT08011)
Course Outline
| School | School of Social and Political Science |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 8 (Year 1 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course has a strict quota. [See quota details below the course description]
The course aims to introduce students to some historical writers whose thoughts on politics - international or domestic - have become recognised by theorists as canonical in the western tradition, or whose work is becomingly increasingly recognised within a broader, non-Eurocentric canon.
Lectures are structured around the varying answers to the question What is Politics? given exemplary form by the specified thinkers. Their responses are examined through the themes/problems/tensions associated with their work. So, each lecture answers the question through the themes/contrasts etc raised or addressed by the thinker(s) in question.
The content of the course is innovative in two respects: first, it conceives of political thought as a unified discipline encompassing thinking pertinent to both politics and international relations; second, along with the standard thinkers traditionally examined in such courses it introduces a number of female or non-western thinkers.
QUOTA DETAILS AND INSTRUCTIONS: Student Support Officers or Personal Tutors automatically enrol students of the following four categories:
1. First year students admitted to a Politics or International Relations degree (Single or Joint)
2. Visiting Students (pre-registered) holding an offer of a place in the course from the College Office;
3. First year students whose main subject is in the School of Social and Political Science (SSPS)
4. First year students whose main subject has a joint degree with Politics (e.g. Economics, History etc.)
SSO and PTs cannot enrol students of the following categories:
- First year students taking the BA (HSS);
- Other first year students taking Honours degrees in the College of Humanities and Social Science (e.g. English Literature, Linguistics; Psychology; Business Studies);
- Second year students in SSPS
Students will be placed on a waiting list, please contact the course secretary.
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| Course description |
Not entered
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2014/15, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 450 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 22,
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 11,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
163 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
50 %,
Coursework
50 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
The course will be assessed by one 2000-word essay which constitutes a formative feedback event and one two-hour examination, each contributing 50% of the overall course mark. |
| Feedback |
Not entered |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
The course has two main aims. The first is to develop students ability to think rigorously and critically about the fundamental questions of politics, broadly conceived: about different conceptions of the proper scope of politics itself, the nature of political institutions and processes, and about the principles and ideals that have featured in political thinking in the past and which we might employ in our evaluations and judgements about politics today. The second aim is to introduce students to the main propositional frameworks and claims made by the most influential thinkers of the past, whose thinking continues to inform current thought and practice in politics and in international relations, as well as to broaden understanding by examining some past thinkers whose merits are now becoming recognised within the tradition.
Learning outcomes:
By the end of this course, students will have had the opportunity to
Engage critically and reflectively with a range of theoretical debates
Develop their ability to assess a variety of perspectives and theoretical arguments
Familiarise themselves with some of the key claims made by historically influential thinkers and commentators
Equip themselves with the skills and knowledge required for the interpretation and analysis of theoretical texts
Acquire the background understanding of the development of key concepts that will enable them to contextualise their later learning in succeeding studies in politics and international relations.
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Reading List
Political Thinkers, eds David Boucher & Paul Kelly, Oxford University Press
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Additional Class Delivery Information |
Lectures: 18
Tutorials: 9 |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Lynn Dobson
Tel: (0131 6)51 1285
Email: L.Dobson@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Amy Wilson
Tel: (0131 6)50 8253
Email: Amy.Wilson@ed.ac.uk |
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