History and International Relations (Placement Year) BA Hons - 2020 Entry

Course Structure

Lancaster University offers a range of programmes, some of which follow a structured study programme, and others which offer the chance for you to devise a more flexible programme to complement your main specialism. We divide academic study into two sections - Part 1 (Year 1) and Part 2 (Year 2, 3 and sometimes 4). For most programmes Part 1 requires you to study 120 credits spread over at least three modules which, depending upon your programme, will be drawn from one, two or three different academic subjects. A higher degree of specialisation then develops in subsequent years. For more information about our teaching methods at Lancaster please visit our Teaching and Learning section.

The following courses do not offer modules outside of the subject area due to the structured nature of the programmes: Law, Physics, Engineering, Medicine, Sports and Exercise Science, Biochemistry, Biology, Biomedicine and Biomedical Science.

Information contained on the website with respect to modules is correct at the time of publication, and the University will make every reasonable effort to offer modules as advertised. In some cases changes may be necessary and may result in some combinations being unavailable, for example as a result of student feedback, timetabling, Professional Statutory and Regulatory Bodies' (PSRB) requirements, staff changes and new research.

Year 1

Core

• From Ancient to Modern: History and Historians

  An introduction to the discipline, Lancaster’s first-year History core course offers a fascinating survey of the last fifteen-hundred years. The course focuses on pivotal trends and events in European history, but it encompasses regions of wider world as distant as California, India, Japan and the South Pacific.

  You’ll become familiar with a wide range of primary sources used by historians in the writing of history. You’ll gain insights into how historians conduct research and interpret the past, and will therefore better understand the reasons for changing historical interpretations.

  In the process, by undertaking directed reading, by independent research, by attending lectures, by participating in seminar discussions, by working sometimes in a team, and by writing and receiving constructive feedback on what you have written, you will develop your study techniques and other transferable skills.

  The long chronological range and types of history covered by the course will extend your intellectual and historical interests and enable you subsequently to make informed choices from among the many historical options available to you in Part 2, either as a History Major student or as a Minor.

• Politics in the Modern World

  This module introduces students to some of the key areas of Politics and International Relations. It will provide a basic introduction and a foundation for future study, as well as expand and develop knowledge into new areas.

  The module tells a story about the 20th century that enables students to make sense of the 21st century world. Beginning with the consequences of the First World War, the module introduces students to the events and ideas that have transformed societies in complex ways: the evolution of the welfare state; the problems of democracy; increasingly global formations of governance; the transformation from Cold War geopolitics to the 21st century’s War on Terror; and the emergence of new issues such as global warming, amongst a wide range of other issues.

  Students are introduced to the research concerns of members of the department, as well as setting the scene for modules offered at advanced stages in the degree structure.

Optional

• Brave New Worlds? Modernisms and Modernities

  Historians routinely distinguish between ancient, medieval, early modern and modern epochs without always giving too much thought to the question of exactly what it is that makes 'modernity' modern. But more is involved here than just an arbitrary chronological classification.

  Though generations of social theorists and cultural critics have argued about causes and consequences, 'the modern world' has been regarded as radically new since its inception and welcomed or feared for its challenges to established regimes of power, habits of thought, and ways of life.

  Embracing this novelty has in turn defined 'modernist' movements in literature, architecture, and the arts in the twentieth century, which have often linked their attempted cultural revolutions with revolutionary programs for social change.

  This module in the cultural and intellectual history of modern Europe and/or the United States allows you to explore the relationship between modernity, as conceived by a range of 19th- and 20th-century thinkers, and modernism in both politics and the arts, paying particular attention to how a sense of its own modernity reflexively did much to make 'the modern world' what it is

• From Great War to Total War?

  This module combines social, political and military history, and will give you the opportunity to examine some of the current debates concerning the nature and evolution of the Great War, in particular the emergence of 'total war', using certain conceptions of mass industrialised warfare, especially after 1915.

  You’ll focus on the Western Front and compare and contrast not only the nature of constantly evolving warfare on the battlefields but also include the so-called 'revisionist' arguments about the wider conflict, examining the unwelcome and unwanted national mobilisation forced upon Britain, France, and Germany and the many different consequences for these three war-fighting societies.

  To conclude, you’ll examine the postwar building of memorials and the emergence of new socio-cultural dimensions for the three 'total war' societies.

• 'Histories of Violence: How Imperialism made the Modern World'

  This module is an introduction to the systemic and episodic violence that characterised Imperial British authority during the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries. We will begin by exploring recent debates about British imperial history and British identity. Has Britain ignored its imperial past? Should Britain apologise for its Empire and, if so, to whom? Subsequent seminars will look at the ways in which violence was normalised as inevitable and necessary during imperial endeavours. The specific topics for lectures and seminars include slavery, genocide, anthropology, photography, imperial sexualities, rebellions and counter-insurgency. The module will draw on examples and analysis from a range of geographic areas: the Translantic, South Asia, Australia, East Africa, North Africa and the Caribbean. The final week will return to Europe’s late-colonial twentieth century and discuss Aimé Césaire’s argument that European fascism represented the return of imperial violence to Europe.

• Placement Preparation

  Your placement year is a terrific opportunity to gain experience in the workplace and to develop your skills and knowledge. This short module has been designed to help you find a suitable placement position and support you to get the most benefit from your placement year.

  With the help of our experienced tutors, you’ll find out about the graduate job market, including what employers expect from the graduates they employ, as well as the specifics of Lancaster’s placement year scheme and how this can support your career development. Using a blend of face-to-face sessions and online learning, you will sharpen your job seeking skills such as researching job opportunities, and creating professional application documents. Our online learning platform provides an introduction to psychometric testing, advice on how to set up a LinkedIn profile, and information and support in relation to interviews and assessment centres. You will have the opportunity to develop a greater awareness of your personal attributes, set up a LinkedIn profile, and consider how to present yourself effectively to employers.

  The skills and practice gained during this module, and the professional feedback and support you receive, will prepare you for your second year when you will start applying for placement positions.

  This module is not credit-bearing, however you will need to pass the module assessment in order to continue on the Placement Year scheme.

• Reform, Rebellion and Reason: Britain, 1500-1800

  Britain underwent radical change in the early modern period. In 1500 England and Wales, Scotland and Ireland were insignificant nations on the fringe of Europe. Out of the change came the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland', now a world leader on many fronts: for example, democratic government, religious pluralism, a consumer society and cultural achievements that rivalled France in art, science and philosophy.

  This module will enable you to explore how groups of people who were not part of the traditional ruling elite came to exercise more power and control over their lives, and thus played their part in shaping modern Britain.

  You’ll also develop an understanding of the periodisation of, and differences between, the medieval, the early modern and the modern, and you’ll develop familiarity with recent historiographical approaches to the period, notably those that emphasise underlying commonalities.

• The Fall of Rome

  Ever since the English historian Edward Gibbon wrote his ground-breaking work The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire in the late eighteenth century, the question of caused the loss of the Empire’s western provinces and the transformation of its eastern half into Byzantium has preoccupied historians. They have identified much relevant data, but they continue to disagree as to what happened to the Empire between the third and the seventh centuries AD and why. For some historians the barbarian invasions of the late fourth and fifth centuries were crucial, but others have argued that they merely finished off a society that was already in deep moral, social and/or economic decline. For some historians the Empire’s ‘decline and fall’ was a disaster; but others have maintained that the Empire never regressed, that the foundations of medieval (and even modern) civilisation were forged in the cultural ferment of the later rather than the earlier Roman Empire, and that the barbarian takeovers in the West made little difference to the lives of those who lived there. An introduction to this exciting period of history, this course invites you to discover what really happened and to assess the theories and interpretations that currently command historians’ support.

Year 2

Optional

• A History of Paris, c. 1730 to the Present

  This module explores the history of the city of Paris in the modern age, asking how and why Paris has captured the imagination of generations and remained a focal point for the study of politics, art and culture. Key topics will include Paris's role in the Enlightenment and French revolutions of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century, the birth of a bourgeois consumer culture in the latter part of the nineteenth century, political and artistic movements of the fin de siècle and the turbulent history of twentieth-century Paris as a site of war, immigration and cultural exchange.

  The module places marginal social groups centre-stage, arguing that the identity of Paris has been shaped in large part by the diversity, vitality and increasing visibility of these communities. Another core component of the module is its engagement with non-traditional historical sources – film, literature, music and art.

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• After Vietnam: Remembering, Representing and Refighting the 'Bad War'

  In this module, you will encounter the political, cultural and psychological consequences of the Vietnam War in the United States, and the ways that they combined and complicated one another. You will address the way the war was commemorated through a so-called ‘healing’ process designed to overcome wartime divisions; the repercussions of wartime atrocities; the position of Vietnam veterans as embodiments and reminders of the experience of the war; and the debates about the proper lessons of the Vietnam War and their application to later foreign and military policy contexts, including the renewed debates about the lessons of Vietnam in the wars in Asia after 2001.

• Athens, Sparta and Alexander the Great, 403-31 BC

  The defeat of Athens in the Peloponnesian War changed the power relations in the Greek world significantly. In this module you will explore the major political, socio-economic and cultural developments in ancient Greece from the end of the Peloponnesian War through the age of Alexander the Great to the coming of the Rome (c. 403 to 31 B.C.).

  You will focus in particular on Spartan imperialism, Athens in the fourth century, and Theban hegemony, as well as the rise of Macedon, the legacy of Alexander the Great, Hellenistic kingship and monarchies, and the emergence of Rome as an imperial power.

  Using the main literary sources of Xenophon, Arrian and Polybius, together with iconographic and archaeological evidence, you’ll come into close contact with the most significant political, social and cultural developments in the late Classical and Hellenistic periods.

• Athens, Sparta and the Greek World (c. 800-404 B.C.)

  How did the ancient Greeks define themselves against the barbarians? How did the Athens and Sparta come into clashes with each other? To what extent was the ‘golden age’ of Athens an invention by the Athenians?

  In this module you will study the major political, socio-economic and cultural developments in the Greek world from the emergence of the city-state to the end of the Peloponnesian War (c. 800 to 404 B.C.). In particular you will focus on the Persian Wars, Sparta as a hoplite state, Athenian democracy and culture, the heyday of the Athenian empire, and the conflicts between Athens and Sparta. While the focus is on Greece, you will also study the Greeks’ interactions with neighbouring cultures in the Mediterranean such as Persia and Asia Minor.

  By using the main literary texts of Herodotus and Thucydides, together with Greek drama, visual and archaeological materials, you will have the opportunity to come vividly close into contact with the political and cultural life of the early Greeks. This module is open to all of you; those new to the topic are especially welcome: absolutely no prior knowledge of Ancient History is needed.

• Between Two Worlds: Russian History 1825-1914

  This module examines Russian history during the period 1825-1914. It focuses in particular on how Russia’s development during this period – cultural, political, economic and social – was affected by the country’s position on the periphery of Europe. The module places particular attention on the way that successive tsarist governments did – and did not – seek to introduce major reforms. It also examines the rise of radical and revolutionary opposition movements (liberal, populist and Marxist). A good deal of attention is also paid to the role of successive tsars in shaping policy both at home and abroad. The module is taught through two weekly lectures and a fortnightly seminar. The seminars will revolve around set readings and (in some cases) documents which are all available via Moodle.

• China's International Relations

  This module focuses on the international relations of one of the most influential actors in world politics: China. The course explores the key question of when and how China’s actions conform with – and diverge from – various international relations (IR) theories. This offers students a twofold payoff. Students gain a broad understanding of how China’s foreign policies are made, its relations with its neighbours in East Asia, with international organizations, and with other global powers including Britain. At the same time, students gain a deeper, more concrete understanding of the uses and limitations of IR theory in explaining global politics.

• Exploring Key Economic Issues: Economics for the Real World II

  This module explores the analysis of contemporary economic problems through the discussion of a range of contemporary economic issues. It will help students extend their knowledge of the analysis deployed by policy makers and by media commentators when presenting potential solutions to a range of contemporary economic challenges that was developed in the first of the paired modules (PPR228). At the end of the module students will better understand the terminology used in economic debates and how these discussion inform and shape discussion of a range of contemporary economic issues. The second of the paired modules is intended to allow students to further develop their knowledge and analytical perspectives on economics and its associated policy debates. The module can normally only be studied after successful completion of the first of the paired modules (PPR228). To be clear: like its pair, this module encourages a critical approach to contemporary economic theory and policy (as widely discussed beyond the academy) and is not intended to provide a “textbook” introduction to academic economics.

• Gandhi and the End of Empire in India, 1885-1948

  By what means was Indian independence seized from the British Empire in 1947? This module explores opposition to British rule in India from the end of the nineteenth century until 1947 when colonial India was divided to create the nation states of India and Pakistan. In particular, we will explore the modes of resistance that emerged from the Indian freedom struggle and in particular, the role of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. Gandhi transformed the Indian National Congress, an organization that had been founded in 1885 as a loyal and moderate organization. Gandhi created a mass movement that challenged the colonial state in extraordinary ways. British rule in India gradually lost credibility and struggled to find the means of maintaining control in the face of massive resistance to its right to govern India.

  You will explore Gandhi’s philosophies of personal restraint and political resistance to the injustices of the colonial state. You will also trace the emergence of religious politics in India during this period and the increasing pace of communal conflict, in particular Hindu-Muslim antagonism. What was the role of the colonial state in firing communal anxiety? Did Gandhi’s political ideas allay or encourage the conflation of political action and religious identity? The course ends with the partition of India, the largest migration in history and a process in which over one million people lost their lives, and the event that led, in 1948, to Gandhi’s assassination by a Hindu fundamentalist.

• International Relations and Politics of the Asia Pacific

  To examine and analyse the political systems of the states in South Asia and East Asia/the Asia Pacific. To identify the key security concerns of the Asia Pacific. To examine the basis of political identities, the nature of nationalism and sub nationalism and their implications for the nation state, regional stability, peace, cooperation and development; To critically analyse the foreign policies of all the states and their relations with each other. To study the growth and evaluate the success of regional cooperation in Asia; and impediments to development and further cooperation; To identify the economic problems of South Asia/East Asia and to explore alternative approaches to development dealing with economic problems and to critically analyse South Asia’s/East Asia’s position in the global political economy.

• International Relations, Security and Sustainability

  The module explores the main theoretical foundations to International Relations, including realism and neo-realism, liberalism, and social constructivism and critical IR. It also explores how complexity theory relates to these theories. The second section focuses on the major international events of the 20th and early 21st centuries and how these relate to and interact with the development of international relations theories. The final weeks of the module focus on key relevant topics and developments including issues such as international political economy, debates relating to human/environmental sustainability and the impact of climate change and the practicality of an ethical foreign policy.

• Making History: Contexts, Sources and Publics

  This module aims to provide you with a solid introduction to the discipline of history at the beginning of your Part-II studies. The module, accordingly, explores the discipline at large, including: its characteristic practices, methods, and traditions; its use of different source materials; and its relation not just to the past, but also to the present and the future. The module includes three thematic blocks. The first section (Contexts of History) provides an overview of different types of historical scholarship, focussing on the methods, theories and intellectual tendencies that characterise them. The second section (Sources and Evidence) examines the use and application of different types of sources as evidence in historical research. The third section (History in Public) considers the public role and function of the discipline, as well as the challenges that historians have faced in the public spotlight, and, finally, the role that the study of history can play in your future.

• New World Order 1919-1939

  This module explores how globalization, shared cultures and new identities – key features of modern life – are not as new as we might think. Historians understand the repeated cycles of interaction and change over several centuries, but in this course you will examine just 20 years, focusing on ‘Eurasia’, that combination of Europe, Russia China and Japan. This process between 1919 and 1939 involved virtually every aspect of life, modern and traditional, with various influences flying in every direction; indeed, aviation played a significant role in the transformation. The module therefore uses diplomatic, political, military, social and cultural histories to examine the rich, and often surprising, interplay between states and societies in the Eurasian region that now dominates the international system.

• Partisans and Collaborators: World War II in Occupied Europe

  After a brief survey of the main events leading to the declaration of war and the invasion of Poland, this module allows you to explore resistance and collaboration in countries that were first occupied in 1940, namely, Norway, Denmark, Belgium, Holland and the Netherlands. The transition between active collaboration to increasing resistance is next traced through Vichy France. The module then moves to the Eastern and Mediterranean fronts where the resistance was more effectively organized. The countries studied in this segment include Yugoslavia, Greece, and the USSR (Belarus, Russia, Baltics and Ukraine).

  Lastly, you’ll examine countries that were first part of the Axis and eventually switched sides from 1943 onwards (Italy, Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania). Special attention will be given to the treatment of Jews, the Holocaust and the difficulties of coming to terms with what remains a contested past. Besides political documents, you will engage with photography, posters, films, documentaries and personal memoirs.

• Peace Studies in Action

  This course explores British politics by focusing on the role of its central figure – the Prime Minister.Judging by media coverage, it would seem that the Prime Minister dominates the decision-making process, dwarfing other institutions such as the Cabinet, Parliament and the judiciary. But does

  this impression reflect reality? Does Britain really have a system of ‘Prime Ministerial’ – or, as some commentators have claimed – even ‘Presidential’ government? The course attempts to answer these crucial questions through case-studies of recent Prime Ministers and an examination of the sources of Prime Ministerial power, such as the ability to appoint ministers, to influence public opinion and to shape Britain’s foreign policy.

• Philosophical Questions in the Study of Politics and Economics

  Our aim in this module is to consider some of the big philosophical questions underlying social sciences. Economics and politics raise both deep philosophical questions about society and subjectivity – for example: Who gets what? Who rules whom? Who, or what, decides? In this module we will investigate a variety of methods that attempt to address these questions, and what answers might be possible. In sum, the aim is to examine methods and assumptions across central movements in the social sciences, politics and economics, from a philosophical perspective – to see the troubles and possibilities in each.

• Politics and History of the Middle East

  In the few years that have passed, the Middle East has experienced momentous changes. Most notable of these changes are the so-called ‘‘Arab Spring’’ uprisings, which started in late 2010, and the following consequences of these uprisings on the international relations of the region. Topics include the early emergence of Arab states, origins and sustainability of authoritarian regimes, state types and personality cult, masculinity and constructions of identity and belonging, women’s movements, social mobilization and the Arab uprisings. The course offers students from a variety of backgrounds the opportunity to engage with the most important themes in the study of the politics of the Middle East and to locate and contextualise them within wider debates and scholarship of international politics

• Politics of Development and Global Changes

  This course introduces students to the main approaches in the study of politics of development and global changes. It provides students with an overview of the main theoretical approaches, especially modernisation theories, dependency theories, world systems theories, postcolonialism and feminist approaches. It relates these theories to development issues and case studies concerning changes during the globalization era and how they affect the global south. These include a critical examination of the impact of neoliberalism globalisation upon the politics of production and retail trade, global property right regimes, and the rise of BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) and China itself.

• Russian International Politics

  This module examines the domestic and the external sphere of Russian politics. At the end of the module students will better understand some doctrines of Russian politics and its wide-ranging effects on Russia’s engagement with the EU, the US, NATO, countries in the former Soviet space and the Middle East. It assesses Russia’s response to the Arab Spring and its engagement in the conflict in Syria.

  The course introduces students to Russia, an actor which gained presence and influence over several issue areas and regions. It prepares students for more extensive analyses of conceptualising Russia as an actor in their future studies

• The History of the United States, 1789-1865

  This module combines a lecture series that offers an overview of the history of the United States in the 19th century with a closely linked set of seminars that focus on the construction of race, class and gender difference over the same period. This combination allows students to explore an important thematic aspect of world history (the construction of race, class and gender difference) while simultaneously providing grounding for further study and research into the history of the United States in the 19th and/or 20th centuries.

  The module builds upon skills that you gained in Part I and, in particular, will explore the history of the United States, from the passage and implementation of the US Constitution (1789) to the conclusion of the Civil War (1865). The module is particularly focused on the culture and politics of race, class and gender in the rapidly industrialising and expanding nation.

  Seminars meet fortnightly and are structured around primary readings and recommended secondary texts that offer critical and historical insight into the topics under consideration.

• The Politics of Development: Latin America

  The aim of the module is twofold. The first goal is to introduce students to broad themes in development politics and policy such as colonialism, primary commodity dependence, neoliberalism, austerity programmes (structural adjustment programmes), poverty reduction policies, the developmental state, migration, remittances, aid, NGOs and social movements. The second goal is to apply those themes to key case-studies in Latin America.

• The Politics of Race

  Race has played a central role in shaping the political agendas of many nations around the world – and has acted both as a mechanism of political exclusion and as a form of politicised identity. In this course we critically examine the notion of race, and its connection to the politics of ethnicity, religious identity, and class. We examine the role race has played, and continues to play, in the determination of domestic and international politics. We look at the way in which race is politicised and de-politicised, and consider the nature of various forms of racism that exist in politics.

• The Victorians and Before: Britain, 1783-1901

  Who were the Victorians? Sometimes they are credited with inventing modern Britain, with the industrial revolution, urbanisation, democratisation, the transport network, and the law and order system listed among their achievements. Yet at the same time, they exhibited attitudes to gender, sexuality, race, politics, and poverty which would be considered shocking and disgraceful by modern standards.

  This module introduces you to a fascinating and contradictory period in British history. You will discover nineteenth-century Britain by exploring its most important and contentious spaces, such as the factory, the workhouse, the prison, the city, the railway carriage, and the home. You will find out what life was really like in the long nineteenth century by studying a range of primary sources, including novels, press reports, paintings, cartoons, and autobiographies.

• Three Colours, One Flag, One Empire: the French Colonial World, 1791-1962

  This module explores the relationship between imperialism, race and the making of modern French identities. France's overseas empire was a context in which coloniser and colonised interacted in complex and unexpected ways, forging new hybrid cultures and redefining the meaning of metropolitan centres and colonial peripheries. You will encounter a variety of case studies from the Haitian Revolution of 1791 to the end of the French empire in Algeria in 1962, from the Americas to Africa, Asia and the Pacific. Key themes and topics include race, class, citizenship, the civilising mission, knowledge and power, gender and sexuality, violence and decolonisation, and the role of literature and film in history.

• Understanding Key Economic Concepts: Economics for the Real World I

  This module explores the analysis of contemporary economic problems through an introduction to a range of key concepts. It will help students develop their knowledge of the analysis deployed by policy makers and by media commentators when presenting potential solutions to a range of contemporary economic challenges. At the end of the module students will better understand the terminology used in economic debates and will be prepared for the paired module - PPR238. The first of the paired modules is intended to demystify the debates about economics in the media, in political debates, in specialised policy prescriptions and support students to develop a nuanced appreciation of their own analyses of contemporary market society. The module is intended to be a stand-alone introduction which also prepares students for the second module on key issues in contemporary economics. To be clear: this module encourages a critical approach to contemporary economic theory and policy (as widely discussed beyond the academy) and is not intended to provide a “textbook” introduction to academic economics.

• Virginia, (1585-1685): adventure, war and tobacco in the first American colony

  This course explores the problems of founding a new society in the Americas during the earliest years of English adventurism. The course begins, chronologically, with the earliest voyages to the North American mainland, the adventurism of Sir Walter Raleigh and the settlements on Roanoke Island, the relationship with the Powhatan Confederacy, and the Lost Colony. It then moves its attention to the Virginia Company and the settlement of Jamestown, and explores the different experiments by successive governors - John Smith and Sir Thomas Dale in particular - to build an stable and workable community. It looks at the introduction of tobacco and the state of trade and the switch towards a plantation economy and society using slave labour with the concomitant fall of the Company. Finally it explores the problems of proprietary government, and ends with the governorship of Sir William Berkeley and the rebellion by small-scale planters under Nathaniel Bacon.

• Work Based Learning Preparation

  During your second year you will apply for placement positions. A range of positions will be available in different types of organisations, and you will be able to decide which are of interest to you. While a placement role may not be available in a field or organisation that is directly related to your academic studies, all placement roles offer valuable experience of working at a graduate level and gaining a range of professional skills.

  A placement year provides the opportunity to find out more about yourself and the type of career that is right for you. The aim of this module is to prepare you to maximise the opportunities for learning and development that your placement can provide, including any formal elements such as Professional Development Reviews (PDR) and options for informal learning.

  You’ll consider your individual strengths and preferences through completion of a personality type assessment. This will be useful when we move on to looking at your aspirations for the placement. Working with others in the group and your tutors, you will be asked to develop strategies for achieving your goals and to record these in an action plan.

  You will need to successfully complete the assessment for this module in order to continue on the Placement Year scheme. This module provides 10 credits towards the 30 credits which successful completion of your placement year provides. These 30 credits are on top of the 360 credits of a standard degree, meaning that you will graduate with 390 credits; 30 more than if you took the same degree without a placement year. The additional credits recognise and reward the additional skills and experience that you will develop during your placement year.

  The University will use all reasonable effort to support you to find a suitable placement for your studies. If you are unsuccessful in securing a suitable placement for your third year, you will be able to transfer to the equivalent non-placement degree scheme and would continue with your studies at Lancaster, finishing your degree after your third year. The University offers a range of shorter placement and internship opportunities for which you would be welcome to apply.

Year 3

Optional

• Advertising and Consumerism in Britain, 1853-1960

  This module explores the origins of modern ‘consumer society’ in Britain, introducing you to an exciting and innovative new field of historical research.

  In the hundred years from the abolition of advertising tax in 1853 to the birth of commercial television in the 1950s, advertising became a ubiquitous feature of modern capitalism. You will examine the causes and consequences of this process of commercialisation using a variety of primary sources, from press reports, novels, and cartoons, to business archives, social surveys, and, of course, the advertisements themselves.

  You will explore the changing relationship between people and their possessions, new retail environments, including the department store and the supermarket, how advertising has shaped modern gender identities, and how ethical consumerism was pioneered by the co-operative movement. Advertising is political, and you will also see how it helped Britain win two world wars and market the Empire to its own people. You will learn how advertisements work by designing your own advertising campaign in a particular historical context. You’ll never look at shops or advertisements in the same way again.

• Africa and Global Politics

  This course provides a historical and thematic introduction to the issues facing Africa in the international system today. The course is divided into two sections. The first section explores the historical incorporation of the continent into the emerging international system centred on Europe from the sixteenth to the twentieth century. It focuses on the impact of colonialism and independence in terms of the economy, the state and the politics of race and the implications these have for the region’s prospects for democracy and development today. The second section looks at key contemporary issues and agents shaping the continent. The latter includes ‘top-down’ actors such as the Chinese state, as well as grassroots actors such as unionised South African workers.

• Britain in the World

  This course presents a detailed analysis of the major developments in British foreign policy since 1945. It explains these developments within a global context, offering rival interpretations of Britain’s changing role and status – issues whose importance has been underlined by the debates surrounding the 2016 ‘Brexit’ referendum. The major themes include: the consequences of Britain’s participation in the Second World War; the retreat from Empire after 1945; the ‘special relationship’ with the United States; and the prolonged attempt to redefine Britain’s global role in the context of perceived economic and geopolitical decline.

• Contemporary Issues in Human Rights

  This module introduces students to human rights as a political and legal concept. It provides a critical overview of contemporary debates in the field, without losing sight of key theoretical questions. What are human rights? What is their source? In what sense are they ‘universal’ and ‘inalienable’? Following a discussion of philosophical and historical foundations the module will examine the post-World War II international legal regime for the protection of human rights. It will explore the political implications of enshrining human rights at the international level, and engage with questions of culture and diversity, development and globalization, poverty and health. Students will have the opportunity to research and discuss such issues as gender-based violence, torture in the ‘war on terror’, treatment of refugees and asylum seekers and HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa. These empirical case studies of recent human rights struggles and controversies, will shed light on the complexity of global human rights politics in the early 21st century.

• Contemporary Issues in the Middle East

  As the Middle East has long been [and still] one of the most unstable regions in the world, and it is further bedevilled by strong authoritarian states and pervasive ethnic and sectarian violence, what explains this instability and ongoing tensions? By examining key questions surrounding the study of Middle Eastern politics, this course aims to provide students with a critical perspective of the region’s politics. This course introduces students to an analysis of the history, politics, society, culture and religions of the Middle East with attention to major events in the region.

• Dissertation

  PPR.399 provides an opportunity for students to choose a topic related to some aspect of Politics and International Relations, Philosophy and Religious Studies which particularly interests them, and to pursue it in depth. The topic may be related to work that is being done on a formally taught course, or it may be less directly linked to course work. The intention is that students will develop their research skills, and their ability to work at length under their own direction.

  Students write a dissertation of 9,000-10,000 words. They are expected to start thinking seriously about the dissertation towards the end of the Lent term of their second year, and to submit a provisional topic by the end of that term. Work should be well advanced by Christmas in the third year. The completed dissertation must be submitted by the end of the Lent term in the third year. To help students prepare for work on the dissertation, there will be an introductory talk on topics relating to doing one's own research and planning and writing a dissertation. A course handout will be available setting out in more detail the requirements for the dissertation and giving full details of lectures, supervision arrangements and assessment.

• Dissertation with external collaboration

  The aim of this module is to allow students to pursue independent in-depth studies of a topic of their choice, within the scope of their scheme of study. The topic will be formulated in dialogue with one or more external collaborator(s) and may be related to work that is being done on a formally taught course, or it may be less directly linked to course work. Students will develop their employability and research skills, and their ability to work independently at length under their own direction with input from external 45 | P a g e collaborators and an academic supervisor. The external collaboration will enhance students’ ability to reflect on the impact of academic work. One option is to incorporate work done through the Richardson Institute Internship Programme, but students may also discuss other forms of collaboration with their supervisor.

  Students are expected to start thinking seriously about the dissertation towards the end of the Lent term of the second year, and to submit a provisional topic by the end of that term. Work should begin during the Summer term of the second year and a draft plan must be approved by the end of the Summer term. Work should be well advanced by Christmas in the third year. The completed dissertation must be submitted by the end of the Lent term in the third year. To help students prepare for work on the dissertation, there will be an introductory talk on topics relating to doing one’s own research and planning and writing a dissertation. A course handout will be available setting out in more detail the requirements for the dissertation and giving full details of lectures, supervision arrangements and assessment.

  It adds to this existing module by explicitly incorporating an element of collaboration with external actors and stake holders in order to enhance the employability and impact thinking of participating students.

• Dissertation with field studies

  The aim of this module is to allow students to pursue independent in-depth studies of a topic of their choice, within the scope of their scheme of study. The topic may be related to work that is being done on a formally taught course, or it may be less directly linked to course work. Students will develop their employability and research skills, and their ability to work independently at length under their own direction with input from an academic supervisor. The field work element will enhance students’ ability to reflect on the impact of academic work. One option is to incorporate a study trip organised by the University, such as the LUSU Involve Overseas Programme, but students may also discuss other forms of field studies with their supervisor. Students are expected to start thinking seriously about the dissertation towards the end of the Lent term of the second year, and to submit a provisional topic by the end of that term. Work should begin during the Summer term of the second year and a draft plan must be approved by the end of the Summer term. Work should be well advanced by Christmas in the third year. The completed dissertation must be submitted by the end of the Lent term in the third year. To help students prepare for work on the dissertation, there will be an introductory talk on topics relating to doing one’s own research and planning and writing a dissertation. A course handout will be available setting out in more detail the requirements for the dissertation and giving full details of lectures, supervision arrangements and assessment.

• Gender Identities in the People's War: Experiences, Representations and Memories

  The labelling of the Second World War as the People’s War in Britain draws attention to the importance of the men and women who waged it. With the blurring of the Home and Battle Fronts, the conventional gender contract in which men fight to protect the vulnerable at home and women keep the home fires burning was challenged, not least by the revolutionary act of conscripting women to the war effort.

  In this module you will examine how the Second World War was experienced by a wide spectrum of British men and women, some of whom identified with the war effort, some of whom were deliberately excluded, or chose to challenge gender conventions in their choice of role. You’ll consider different categorisations of experience (military/civilian; home front/ battle front; male/female) and explore whether there was a hierarchy of service and subsequently of remembrance. Were gender roles in Britain really transformed by the exigencies of war? Through a wide range of written and visual sources, including autobiographical materials, poems, photographs, films, parliamentary minutes, newspapers, posters and cartoons, we will seek to understand individual and collective experiences of the war, and their gendered dimensions.

• International Political Economy of Globalization

  Globalization remains a buzzword in academic and policy discourses. It is often related to the acceleration of global communication as well as internationalization of the economic, political and social processes. This module addresses some of these changes especially those related to trade, production and investment in the international political economy. There are many approaches in understanding these changes, this module introduces students to both liberal and critical ones (e.g., neo-Gramscianism). Drawing from their insights, it investigates and analyzes the roles of state and non-state actors (e.g., transnational corporations and NGOs) in rebuilding the governance of global production and finance. Finally, it examines the rise of transnational justice movements in offering alternatives to globalization and its uneven development, before and after the financial crisis of 2007.

• Islamic Politics

  What is Islamic Politics? This module seeks to introduce students to key debates surrounding the nature and character of political Islam in the historical and contemporary context. While the core inquiry is a political one the module is interdisciplinary in nature. Islamic Politics draws on a variety of related disciplines such as anthropology, contemporary international relations, history, sociology, and religion to construct a cohesive representation of Islam in the political context. As such, it engages with debates surrounding its historical roots, its core political ideology, its relationship to violence, its compatibility with democracy, its representation in the media, the place of Muslim communities in non-Islamic polities and the prospects and possibilities surrounding engagement with radical Islam. In terms of area study focus it covers the greater Middle Eastern region. It is a module designed as much for students with little or no background in Islamic Politics, as it is for students who have already had some grounding.

• Politics of Cultural Diversity

  Culture is, perhaps, the most contentious and prominent feature of contemporary political debate. Whether it be religious schism and ethnic conflict, migration, controversy regarding bodily integrity, justifications for development policy and overseas aid or debate over the nature of wellbeing, the issue of cultural diversity looms large. The aim of this module is to provide students with the conceptual, analytical and normative resources to understand and assess the politics of cultural diversity. In essence, the module grapples with the question of whether, and in which ways, we can make judgements about culture.

• Politics of Global Danger

  This course examines the changing character of war and security in a time of rapid and disruptive technological and geopolitical change. The course combines analysis of contemporary policy documents with the interdisciplinary insights of intellectuals that have examined how war has changed in the modern age. Students are introduced to a range of concepts that are currently significant in the policy debates about the future of war – concepts such as ambiguous war, the gray zone, the third offset strategy and the three block war. While the course is grounded in broader debates from social and political though about war and modernity, it explores a range of evolving and inter-related case studies that are central to understanding how war is changing: cybersecurity/artificial intelligence; cities and urban war; drones and the future of robotics; climate change and ecological insecurity. Each year we try to bring a guest lecturer from the Ministry of Defence or the FCO to discuss questions relevant to the course – and to discuss how the course can be relevant to a broad range of careers.

• PPR in India

  (PPR in India) is a special dissertation unit open to all PPR students going into their third year. An essential component of the module is three weeks at Manipal University, India. This will take place during the summer of 2019. In this immersive three week programme India becomes your classroom as you accompany lecturers to different temples and heritage sites to learn about the India's richly textured culture, vast history, and influential current events. There is no course work do to when you are in India, but upon return you will write a 10,000 word dissertation that will be due in the spring of 2020. The dissertation can be about any topic related to India. Past topics include: political relations between India and Pakistan, India's trade relations with East Africa, the rise of Hindu nationalism, Buddhist ethics, and ancient Indian religious texts.

• Religion and politics

  This module will take a historical and cross-cultural approach to examining the relationship between religion and politics. In the first half of the module, we will look at primary sources from the ancient world, such as Plato’s Republic, the Analects of Confucius, the inscription of Ashoka, and the Laws of Manu. In the second half of the module we will look at contemporary debates about secularism, multiculturalism, and pluralism taking place throughout the world today. Throughout the module we will be addressing the following questions: How has the relationship between religion and politics been characterised in different cultures and at different historical moments? To what extent are ancient discussions about the relationship between religion and political relevant today? Is there something distinctive about recent debates about secularism, or are these debates playing out perennial questions? Is it possible to separate religion and politics?

• Religion and Violence

  There are those who claim that religion is little more than a perverse and irrational scar on the modern world, one that invariably causes violence, while others (at times driven by political motivations) claim that religion is ‘good’ and that violence only occurs when ‘religion has been hijacked by other forces’. Others still claim that ‘religious violence’ is a myth constructed for political purposes, and that one should not therefore speak of religion in such terms.

  In disentangling such claims, this course examines the relationship between religion and violence, asking whether one can draw such associations between the two and whether one can develop any broader theoretical understandings about their relationship that enhances our understanding of religion in the modern world. It thus challenges students to think through and develop an understanding of these issues. While examining a variety of theories and perspectives on the topic, including close examination of the arguments outlined above, it continually will refer to empirical data and case studies in which religious movements and religious individuals have been involved in violent activities, as well as examining cases where acts of immense violence (including genocide) have occurred in what appear to be political contexts, but where religious rhetoric may have been used by the perpetrators of violence.

• Special Subject: Complexity, Pragmatism and Policy

  What moral obligations do we have towards future generations – to people who are yet to be born, and to merely possible people whose existence (or non-existence) depends on how we decide to act now? PPR392a explores this question in detail by examining both a series of case studies and some of the main concepts and theories that philosophers use when thinking about these issues.

  Question considered normally include:

  • Is there a moral obligation to refrain from having children (e.g. for environmental reasons) and what measures may governments take to encourage or enforce population control? Conversely, might there be a moral obligation to have (more) children?
  • Should we use selection techniques to minimise the incidence of genetic disorders and disabilities in future populations? Should parents be allowed to use these techniques to determine the characteristics of their future children?
  • How should we weigh quality against quantity of life? Would a world with a relatively small number of ‘happier’ people be preferable to one with many more ‘less happy’ ones?
  • When considering long-term environmental issues (e.g. climate change, nuclear power) and long-term financial issues (e.g. national debt and pensions) how should we balance the interests and rights of people who exist now against those of future people?
  • When considering the future, how should the interests of non-human creatures be weighed against those of humans? How strong are our moral obligations to prevent extinctions, and to preserve wildernesses? Would considerably extending the human life span (to 150 years or beyond) be defensible if this meant that fewer ‘new’ people could be born?
• 'The Shock of the New': Modernity and the Modernisms of American Culture, 1877-1919

  Many writers have described the years of unprecedented historical change that surrounded the turn of the twentieth century as a time of 'cultural crisis'. This interdisciplinary module in US cultural history explores that so-called crisis through the close reading and analysis of a variety of important written and visual texts, including fiction and non-fiction, architecture and urban design, painting, photography and cinema. Course themes include: technology and culture, labour and capital, imperialism and the 'myth of the west', immigration and urbanisation, celebrity and consumer culture, reform politics, the Great War, and cultural modernism.

• Understanding External Intervention in Violent Conflicts

  The module aims to provide students with an in-depth knowledge of the different facets of contemporary Asian conflicts and how international organisations such as the UN, and how Western and Asian governments have attempted to deal with these challenges in recent times. Conceptually, the course will examine the principles of state failure; terrorism, ‘New Wars’, the New Security Agenda, Islamism, nationalism and sub nationalism, international conflict prevention; peace keeping and global governance. Empirically, the course will focus on conflict zones in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Indian Kashmir, the Indian northeast, Chinese Xinjiang and Tibet. Thus, the aim of this module is to provide students with an overview of the security of a region which is now of tremendous global importance.

• Work Based Learning Placement

  As well as developing skills and experience that are specific to your placement position and industry, your placement year should provide the opportunity to gain broader experience and professional skills in several areas:

  • analytical thinking, problem solving and decision making;
  • planning and negotiation;
  • prioritisation and time management;
  • critical engagement with theories and frameworks through applying them to real situations.

  During your placement year, although you will be working away from the University campus, you will be able to be in regular contact with other students via our online learning platform and with your Lancaster University tutors.

  You will be asked to review your experience on the placement and this will form the module assessment.

  This module provides 10 credits towards the 30 credits which successful completion of your placement year provides. These 30 credits are on top of the 360 credits of a standard degree, meaning that you will graduate with 390 credits; 30 more than if you took the same degree without a placement year. The additional credits recognise and reward the additional skills and experience that you will develop during your placement year.

  The University will use all reasonable effort to support you to find a suitable placement for your studies. If you are unsuccessful in securing a suitable placement for your third year, you will be able to transfer to the equivalent non-placement degree scheme and would continue with your studies at Lancaster, finishing your degree after your third year. The University offers a range of shorter placement and internship opportunities for which you would be welcome to apply.

• Work Based Learning Reflection

  In your final year you’ll return to Lancaster to complete your degree. Feedback from previous students is that their final year studies were enhanced by the real-world experience they were able to draw on.

  Whatever your career path, having the skills to critically evaluate your own learning and development will considerably enhance your effectiveness in the workplace. During your final year, you will be asked to reflect on your experience of work based learning. Did you take part in any formal training relating during your placement? How did this benefit your work? What kinds of informal learning opportunities arose? What did you learn about your own preferences for professional development? How do your experiences compare to those of other placement students?

  You will be asked to consider your future career aims and identify areas for further development.

  This is an assessed module that provides 10 credits towards the 30 credits which successful completion of your placement year provides. These 30 credits are on top of the 360 credits of a standard degree, meaning that you will graduate with 390 credits; 30 more than if you took the same degree without a placement year. The additional credits recognise and reward the additional skills and experience that you have developed during your placement year.