STV4227 – International Politics: Key Debates
Course content
This course provides an advanced overview of the field of international relations. It is structured thematically to tackle different facets of international politics.
The course is designed to cut across different theoretical traditions and analyze the structures and agents of various issue-areas of world politics. In doing so, a deeper understanding of how international relations is grounded, ordered, and produced emerges.
The course also connects practices of international relations to core questions of empirical social science and political theory by drawing on different epistemological foundations.
Overall, this course provides an in-depth analysis of how core components of world politics are structured, who the key actors are in various interactions, and what can be gained from increased knowledge of how the world hangs together.
Learning outcome
Knowledge:
You will gain knowledge about recent developments in the following areas:
- Key theories of international relations (IR).
- Empirical knowledge of different issue-areas of world politics.
- Major actors and institutions in IR.
- Different regional patterns from Africa, Asia, the Americas, and Europe.
- Contemporary events such as trade wars, climate change, and civil wars.
- Epistemological foundations of IR theories.
Skills:
You will learn
- How to understand and apply IR theories.
- How to assess and evaluate the relative merits of these theories.
- How to understand core concepts in IR.
- How to assess world politics in qualitative and quantitative terms.
- How to understand the deeper structures of world politics.
- How to examine a wider range of actors than states including international organizations, networks, and non-state actors.
- How to think about the relationship between causal understanding and policy prescription.
General Competence:
You will
- Develop your analytical skills.
- Develop your skills in assessing causal arguments and theories.
- Develop the ability to use empirical methods and theories.
- Gain experience in writing academic texts.
Admission to the course
Students who are admitted to study programmes at UiO must each semester?register which courses and exams they wish to sign up for?in Studentweb.
Students enrolled in other Master's Degree Programmes can, on application, be admitted to the course if this is cleared by their own study programme.?Apply for guest student status?if you are admitted to another Master`s programme (deadline 1 August / 5 January).
If you are not already enrolled as a student at UiO, please see our information about?admission requirements and procedures.
Teaching
Lectures
Compulsory activities:
Five written assignments (1000-1500 words each).?
Give written feedback to peer assignments.?
Absence from compulsory activities: For many courses, UiO requires participation in the form of compulsory activities. These must be approved before you can sit for the examination. If you are ill or have another valid reason for being absent from compulsory activities, your absence may be approved or the compulsory activity may be postponed. Report absence from or the need for a postponed deadline on a compulsory activity Absence from compulsory activities - University of Oslo (uio.no).?
Examination
Term paper
The term paper:
- Must be between 3500-5000 words.?
- See more information on home exams in Inspera.?
Language of examination
You submit your response in English.
Grading scale
Grades are awarded on a scale from A to F, where A is the best grade and F?is a fail. Read more about?the grading system.
Resit an examination
More about examinations at UiO
- Use of sources and citations
- How to use AI as a student
- Special exam arrangements due to individual needs
- Withdrawal from an exam
- Illness at exams / postponed exams
- Explanation of grades and appeals
- Resitting an exam
- Cheating/attempted cheating
You will find further guides and resources at the web page on examinations at UiO.