Political Science

Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin

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Module Code: POU22022

Module Name: International Relations B: Topics and Treaties 2020-21

ECTS Weighting: 5
Semester/Term Taught: Semester 2
Contact Hours: 22 hours lectures + fortnightly tutorials; 5 hours tutorials
Module Personnel: Prof. William Phelan
Module Prerequisite: either PO1600 Introduction to Political Science or PO1603 Politics and Irish Society
Module Co-Requisite: POU22021 International Relations A
Pre-requisite for SS module: POU44021 Contemporary International Relations A and POU44032 Contemporary International Relations B

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this course students will be able to:

Understand the basic causal mechanisms underlying leading approaches to explaining state behaviour in international politics
Assess the explanatory power of leading theoretical approaches to international relations, including as relates to particular historical examples
Compare leading international regimes, such as the WTO and EU, both from the point of view of their formal rules and from different theoretical perspectives
Understand the different collective action problems associated with different issue-areas in international politics.
Contribute, on the basis of theory and knowledge of a range of issue-areas, to contemporary debates in international relations scholarship about the relative influence of power, international institutions, domestic interests and international norms in state behaviour.

Module Learning Aims

To introduce students to basic scholarly approaches to studying international relations.

Module Content

This course is an introduction to the positive, descriptive study of international relations. It focusses on a variety of topic in international politics, including the EU as an external actor, American Foreign Policy, international human rights politics, international environmental politics, nuclear proliferation and the international politics of art and archaeology.