PS2237: Introduction to International Relations
I didn’t enjoy this mod that much, but it nevertheless provided a good foundation for future IR mods. I thought IR would be a bit more colourful with country case studies, but I was mistaken. The focus was on familiarization with the key theoretical concepts, so it can get a bit boring. The readings provided many examples, but I think we probably weren’t expected to know all of them in the exams. Demonstrating in-depth understanding of the theories seemed most important.
The lecturer was okay – very knowledgeable, funny and he uploads short summaries on IVLE. However, he goes very fast in lectures (and tends to ramble) so it may be difficult to follow at times.
Assessment
10%: tutorial participation
30%: two 900 word essays
25%: midterms
35%: finals
We were given four essay questions to choose from (due at different times), so that gave us the liberty to plan according to our own work schedules. You absolutely must read the relevant readings for the essays (one reason being you’ll need to cite). For the midterms, we were given a list of six possible questions to prepare beforehand; for the finals, twelve questions. Some of them were really, really hard and I hadn’t the slightest idea how to answer them. Luckily, the lecturer was tremendously kind when setting exam questions. For both the midterms and finals, he came up with the simplest and most direct questions from the lists. I’m sure everyone was very grateful.
Workload
I would say the workload for this mod is quite heavy. There were plenty of long readings to complete. While I don’t think it necessary to read them all, it’s good to read those you deem important. Or risk feeling completely lost during lectures and for the essays.
Studying for the finals was tough to say the least. There was a lot of content to cover, and the possible questions weren’t easy at all. It’s even worse when you’re desperate, and waste time trying to decide which topics to drop. On the bright side, final exam accounts for only 35% of your grade, so you don’t have all your eggs in one basket. Doing well for the CA will definitely help.
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