BA Joint Hons History & Politics and International Relations

This class focuses on the history of the British Isles from 1700 to 1914. It was a period of phenomenal change in terms of who ruled the country, the main economic activities, emerging cultural expression and attitudes and the growth of British power overseas on an unprecedented scale.

In the class we'll use the British Isles as a historical 'laboratory' to discuss key themes that have shaped the modern world.

We'll look at:

• the formation of the British state
• the ideas that were shaped by the Enlightenment, in which Scottish writers played an important part
• why Britain industrialised and Ireland did not
• the often dire social consequences of industrialisation
• how and why Britain created the Empire
• the growth of British overseas trade will be looked at
• the impact of Britain on Asian, African and American societies
• the ideological effects of the American War of Independence, the French Revolution and the 1798 rebellion in Ireland
• the meaning of Victorian values in Scotland and the development of modern political parties and the growth of democracy
• the roles of gender and class in shaping modern British and Irish society

This class follows on from History 1A and takes the story up to the end of the 20th century. We'll look at:

• the effects of World War I on Scottish society and why Ireland broke away from the United Kingdom
• the growth of the Labour Party and the rise of socialism will be traced
• the effects of the Great Depression of the 1930s on British society
• the reasons why the British government formulated a policy of appeasement, to show how foreign policy and domestic policy were inextricably linked
• the impact of World War II on British society
• the demands that led to the creation of the Welfare State will be explored
• the new international realities facing Britain in 1945
• the beginnings of the Cold War, to show how effectively Britain adapted to the loss of Great Power status
• post-war society and the cultural revolution of the "Swinging Sixties". We'll ask whether a generation gap emerged
• the long slow march of women's rights
• the impact of immigration, to show the ways in which British society was changing fundamentally
• the collapse of the traditional industrial economy in the 1980s and changes in Scottish family life, to show how social norms were being overturned
• the advent and effects of devolution in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

Just as in the first semester History class, we will use carefully selected documents in tutorials to help us analyse each topic.

This class provides an introduction to the study of politics from a scientific perspective. The course covers how modern states around the world function and interact through from a social science perspective. The course will cover the basic concepts that characterise the essence of political life within and across countries and use these concepts to explore arguments and theories on the functioning of human behaviour. We'll cover key concepts, ranging from the meaning of democracy and authoritarianism, to structures and institutions – including elections and governments – essential to understanding modern politics.

You'll leave the class with the basic tools, concepts and approaches to interpret the political events as a political scientist and the background information to succeed in your journey through political science topics at the University of Strathclyde.

This class investigates the role of actors and political institutions in policymaking processes within states and across political regimes. The class builds on Politics 1A in which the main focus was on concepts and key institutions. This previous knowledge is used to develop a deeper understanding of political actors’ behaviour and the processes through which they influence outcomes. It covers a range of political processes that take place within democratic and non-democratic states and beyond. The class examines a range of outcomes that influence the lives of citizens, including the policies associated with modern welfare states.

You'll leave the class with the ability to read and critically discuss research in political science and the broader social sciences. This class will equip you to evaluate academic findings and debates in the field of comparative politics, to interpret the political events as a political scientist and to build foundational knowledge for undertaking research in political science topics.

This course will focus on the period from the final establishment of the territorial boundaries of the Scottish kingdom in James III’s reign through to the Union of Crowns in 1603. In covering the era of the Renaissance and Reformation in Scotland, as well as the regnal union of 1603, it will focus on the reigns of successive Stewart monarchs and their subsequent accession to the English and Irish thrones, thereby creating a British imperial monarchy.

Scotland’s contact with Europe and its strained relations with England form core themes but political history will be studied in the light of the social, religious, economic and cultural developments that lend early-modern Scotland its distinct identity, thereby examining issues such as trade and economic development, the impact of the Renaissance in Scotland, literacy and the spread of reforming ideas, the arts, education and issues of identity.

This class provides a broad introduction to the historical relationship between diseases and human societies in the early modern and modern periods.

It examines the core thesis that diseases and other health conditions have had dramatic impacts on history, shaping economic relations, political and social structures and cultural and religious beliefs.  However, it also explores the reverse of this, the thesis that human activities, ideas and behaviours have radically altered the diseases and conditions that afflict our societies over the last five hundred years.

The course is grouped around three themes:

• infectious disease
• chronic disease
• society's responses to disease

Lectures in the first two sections focus on exploring the origins of key diseases/debilities, the ways in which social structures/behaviours have caused or abetted these conditions, and their impacts on society, economics, politics and culture.

In the final section, lectures focus more on the ways in which societies have sought to conceptualise, control and cure diseases. The key questions that students should be able to answer by the end is how have diseases and debilities shaped human societies, and how have human societies shaped diseases and debilities?

This course will explore Scotland’s political, economic, religious, intellectual and social development in the aftermath of the Union of 1707 through to 1832.  The benefits, disadvantages and tensions that arose from the process of becoming part of the British state will be explored through such issues as:

• causes and impact of union
• the significance of Jacobitism
• the nature and consequence of agricultural and industrial change
• Empire
• the role of the Scottish Enlightenment.

This class examines some of the principal developments in international history of twentieth century Europe. It pays particular attention to:

• the causes of the First World War
• the impact of the war upon the international system
• the rise of new powers within the international community after 1919
• the causes of the Second World War
• the Cold War and the forces driving European integration since 1945
• the role of the USA and USSR in recent European history

The objective of this class is to introduce you to the academic study of International Relations (IR). The class begins by examining the basic concepts and historical contexts in order to give you a firm grounding in IR. The next part of the course delves into the major theories of IR, which will provide you with conceptual underpinnings into world affairs. The course then examines the structures and processes within IR, covering topics such as the changing nature of war, international security and international institutions.

This class covers the key normative concepts used in political philosophy. This includes justice, equality, democracy, the state, collective action and rights.

You'll study different approaches to these concepts, analysing political practices and applying the concepts to political institutions. The class will reference your knowledge of empirical political science (political institutions, political behaviour), learnt in other politics classes. You'll also consider the application of political philosophy to practical policy making problems.

Social science students are expected to develop core research skills, learn to work in groups, planning and conducting independent research projects. This course ensures that you understand the ideas of applied social research, and thus it prepares you for an employment market that seeks out graduates with research skills beyond narrow subject-specific knowledge.

This course is part of the university’s new initiative in Vertically Integrated Projects for Sustainable Development (VIP4SD). VIPs are designed to provide students from second-year through to postgraduate with an opportunity to work with teams of other students on projects related to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. Undergraduate students may participate in a project for up to three years.

In this VIP we'll examine the linkages between the quality of democratic governance, citizenship, service delivery, and quality of life in developing countries, with a focus on Africa. You'll have the opportunity to investigate important policy-relevant questions using various forms of survey, administrative, national accounts, and spatial data to track progress toward the sustainable development goals and investigate factors that facilitate or hinder sustainable development. The complexity of the research project will differ according to the level of the student.

Please note that this is compulsory for students who wish to use oral history in their dissertation.

Oral history is a way of engaging with the past via the experiences and memories of those who were there. ‘Oral history’ is a multifaceted term that refers to the sources (interviews), the methodology (interviewing), theory (analysis), and products (of which there are many).

This new class aims to alert students to the possibilities of using oral history as a way of understanding the past. It will examine key concepts and methodologies in oral history and explore how oral history has helped to shape historical understanding.

This class also has an important practice-based focus – students taking the class will gain an opportunity to develop practical skills in oral history interviewing and analysis as well as to reflect critically on theory in relation to practice. They will also get an opportunity to explore the application and use of history in the public arena through engaging with work on oral history and public history.

Because of the practical nature of this class and the limited supply of equipment, numbers are capped at 25.

The aim of this class is to gain an understanding of the key role that disability plays in the study of the historical past.

The class will explore the ways in which disability has been defined, treated and experienced. It will place developments in disability policy within wider social, cultural and political contexts. Students will engage with, and think critically about, primary sources ranging from official papers, newspaper articles, and oral testimonies, in addition to relevant secondary source material.

The use of oral testimonies in particular will help you to consider the lived experiences of disabled people and the ways in which society sought to define and treat disability. 

This class explores the role that health and medicine has played in the major wars of the twentieth century. In particular, it considers the vital contribution that medicine has made to manpower economy, discipline and morale.

Focusing predominantly on Britain, the USA and Europe, the class analyses the ways that different countries have responded to the medical issues posed by modern warfare in both military and civilian contexts. As such, it considers issues such as wartime disability, welfare provision, occupational health and psychiatry, and explores the role that military doctors, women and humanitarian organisations have played in shaping medical responses to war.

The key objective of this class is to place military-medical developments within their wider social, cultural and political contexts and to examine the impact of military health and medicine on the lived experience of war.

The class begins with the traumatic episodes of the Franco-Prussian War and the Communes of 1871. By analysing the often problematic political and cultural consolidation of the Third Republic, this class will explore the ‘culture wars’ and the internal divisions that culminated in the Dreyfus Affair. After the humiliation of losing its status as Europe’s dominant power, France sought greatness in colonial expansion in Africa and Indochina, while seeking to consolidate national identity by transforming ‘peasants into Frenchmen’.

You'll explore the experiences of the First World War, assessing the strength of French unity in the face of the German enemy. The interwar clashes between fascism and the Popular Front will then be examined and how the First World War impacted upon French foreign policy and attitudes towards future war.

You'll spend three weeks exploring the enduring controversies of the Second World War, focusing upon the collapse, resistance, collaboration, and French involvement in the persecution of the Jews, as France faced its ‘hereditary enemy’ once again.

The class concludes with an analysis of the French withdrawal from Indochina and Algeria and an assessment of France’s position in the post-war global order.

A variety of sources will be explored throughout the class, including paintings, monuments, films, literary sources, newspaper reports, memoirs and archival documents. 

This class examines means by which states conduct informal activities to promote their domestic and foreign objectives during wartime. In particular, it analyses the role of propaganda throughout the twentieth century, focusing on the use of modern mass communication and technology by states involved in conflicts.

The class is structured around a number of historical themes, which help shed light on the emergence of propaganda as an important means of modern warfare. Key themes analysed throughout the course include:

• the First World War as the first ‘total war’
• the growth of international radio broadcasting
• the creation of centralised propaganda machines in Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union
• home-front propaganda during the Second World War
• propaganda, disinformation and the Cold War
• the United States and the experience of Vietnam
• information, media coverage and the Gulf War
• 9/11 and the war on terrorism

This class is compulsory for students who want to study history at Honours level.

This class will introduce students to the methods used by historians to reconstruct the past, exploring and analysing the techniques used by historians in doing primary research. The class is designed to demonstrate how students can use these techniques in their own work, particularly their 4th year/Honours dissertation.

Among the topics that will be covered are:

• constructing bibliographies
• using evidence
• using academic conventions
• constructing research plans
• writing historical prose

The objectives of this class include introducing students to recent examples of genocide and related mass atrocities, and writing and thinking about these cases in a critical and engaged manner through analysis of primary and secondary materials.

Students will be introduced to historical, sociological, anthropological, and legal perspectives related to the occurrence of genocide and related atrocity crimes. Using case studies from the 20th century, we'll discuss:

• contemporary issues related to the labelling of cases
• the evolution of international legal, diplomatic, economic and military measures to prevent, interdict and punish atrocity crimes
• the phenomenon of genocide denial
• the politics of commemoration
• the lingering legacies of violence on individuals and communities in the post-genocide period

Case studies will include clear-cut (recognized in international humanitarian law) examples of genocide, including:

• the Armenian genocide
• the Holocaust in Nazi-occupied Europe
• the 1994 Rwandan genocide

Less clear-cut examples will also be looked at, such as:

• Canada’s Residential School System
• Stalinist crimes in Soviet Russia
• Khmer Rouge atrocities in Cambodia
• the scorched earth policies in Guatemala
• ethnic cleansing surrounding the Bosnian War.

This class will cover the political developments and social groups from the late-nineteenth century till the decolonisation of South Asia in 1947.

This is a key period in the social and political history of modern South Asia as it witnessed the growth of a mass-based anti-colonial struggle.  Simultaneously, the involvement of different social groups in this process led to the emergence of community and caste based identity politics.  Under pressure from demands for independence, the colonial state initiated a process of phased devolution of power, and decolonisation after the Second World War.  The class will compare these developments to raise questions about the 'modernity' of colonial society and polity.  The class will analyse how different social groups - such as the peasantry, the working class and tribal groups - participated in and shaped political movements in South Asia.

Students will also be encouraged to use the regional perspective of South Asian history to understand the different expressions of class, gender and ethnicity in non-Western societies.

Historiography had tended to isolate Highland history from Scottish political development during the late medieval and early modern periods.  This class will re-address this trend, emphasising the Highlands as an integral part of Scottish society, at the same time exploring the division within Scotland between the ‘barbaric’ Highlands and the ‘civil’ Lowlands.

Students will study the nature and structure of clan society and place Highland events within the wider context of national and British politics during the sixteenth century.  While relations between the Scottish crown and its Highland subjects is the key theme of this class, students will analyse the extent to which such relations changed through time, and why.

The class will also highlight divergent policies within clan society itself, a factor which warns against treating the Highlands as a homogenous whole, instead taking into consideration regional, local and personal biases.  

The class provides a broad survey of Scottish social history since 1914. The aim of this class is to explore the nature and development of Scottish society in the twentieth century by assessing the impact of industrialisation and the problems associated with de-industrialisation, as well as the development of an urban society.

By the end, the successful student should have expanded their knowledge of contemporary Scottish history and have a good idea of the diversity of issues, techniques and arguments which historians have deployed in the study of twentieth-century Scotland. Among the themes to be covered are:

• the extent to which Scotland had a recognisable culture and identity
• the myths and realities of 'Red Clydeside'
• the notion that Scotland was a more intensely patriarchal society than the rest of Britain
• the idea that Scotland was an anti-immigrant, racist and religiously intolerant society

This class teaches students a range of quantitative research methods. It will help you better understand the high quantity of statistics published by governments and in the media. Additionally, learning quantitative methods improves your job prospects and equips you better for study in Honours and beyond.

On the basis of the knowledge acquired in this course, students will be able to critically assess the validity and reliability of published research, to develop a research design, and to collect, analyse and present data.

You'll learn about different methods of:

• social science research
• distilling information from academic work
• collecting and analysing data
• the basic design of surveys conducive to quantitative analysis and conducting of qualitative interviews
• • the use of SPSS as an analytical tool used by many businesses and organisation
• the basics of uni-variate and bi-variate statistical analysis

This class provides a comprehensive overview of European politics, identifying the common characteristics of politics and government across the continent, but also the distinguishing features that make countries different. The class combines thematic topics with studies of politics and government in particular countries - France, Germany, Italy, and the countries of eastern and central Europe.

The first section of class examines the emergence and evolution of parties and party systems, focusing on the relationship between parties and society, ideological developments and modernisation processes. Particular attention is given to the emergence of ‘new politics’ and the rise of the far right.  This part of the class concludes with an examination of the different types of electoral system employed in Europe, and the effects they have on politics.

The second section focuses on government; the character of government at the centre, multilevel governance, and parliaments.

This class introduces students to the basic concepts and theories relating to the study of political institutions, processes, behaviour, and policy in the United States. The first half of the class examines ‘American exceptionalism,’ and its political culture. The second half examines the institutions of the US political system, covering such topics as the constitution, federalism and the branches of the central government. The class will conclude with a survey of public policy in the United States, in several dimensions.

Class topics include:

• the US party system
• political participation and mobilisation
• individual voting behaviour
• public opinion
• nominations and elections
• media
• interest groups
• the question of where power lies

The class seeks to provide a comprehensive overview of Scottish politics contextualising it within UK, European and world politics, historical inheritance and contemporary Scottish society. It examines the practice of Scotland’s governing institutions, the changing nature of democracy in Scotland, the impact of devolution on policy and broader governance as well as Scotland’s constitutional status.

This class looks at the issue of who holds power in local politics in the UK as well as examining changing managerial and democratic practice. It asks fundamental questions about local politics, such as:

• how is local democracy justified?
• who holds power?
• what is the basis of that power?
• what is the role of citizens in localities today?
• what is the role of local governing institutions?
• how are local public services delivered
• how is policy made and delivered?

This class is co-taught with staff from the UK Parliament and the Scottish Parliament. It also involves deliberative sessions with parliamentarians.

The class focuses on how Britain is governed, focusing particularly on how its main institutions and processes – with their own influences, conflict and dynamics – have risen to the multiple challenges of the modern world, ranging from demands for sub-national autonomy in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, to the opportunities and constraints afforded by Britain’s membership of the European Union.

This class will provide a comprehensive overview of Chinese politics since 1949, contextualising it within the study of comparative politics, historical inheritance and contemporary Chinese society.

It will give you grounding in the dynamic evolution of the Chinese state and Chinese nationalism, China’s self-identified problems of weakness and underdevelopment, and the difficult political choices faced by political elites. It will also analyse how the country’s Communist legacy offers both opportunities and constraints for the present politics of China. The case of Taiwan is also included as a comparison.

This course looks at the multi-faceted and ever-changing nature of war, conflict and terrorism, in the context of the end of the Cold War and the September 11 terrorist attacks. It addresses debates within the sub-discipline of Strategic Studies (for example, the study of the use of force) and International Relations more broadly, relevant to the causes of war, the conditions of peace and strategies for dealing with terrorism and conflict.

Economics is not only about the technical allocation of scarce resources among competing needs. Economy policy choices inevitably involve political trade-offs, social concerns and value judgments. In this light, this class looks at the ideational and ethical underpinnings of public policymaking. The focus is on how the clash of economic ideas shapes policy decisions in key areas. It also examines the sources and implications of big shifts in policy paradigms. An effort will be made to make sense of the direction of economics and the rethinking of policy frameworks in the aftermath of the global financial crisis.

This course familiarizes you with the historical debates over alternative economic paradigms and policies and their historical and philosophical foundations. Questions such as why some nations are richer than others and what should governments do to overcome economic crises are as pressing today as they were a century ago. Indeed, the question “what is the best economic policy” has been asked and debated over centuries, and, as it turns out, policymakers are still guided by ideas and paradigms that were articulated by men and women centuries ago.

At the end of this course, you'll have a better knowledge about how our economic and financial world was developed.

This course is part of the university’s new initiative in Vertically Integrated Projects for Sustainable Development (VIP4SD). VIPs are designed to provide students from second-year through to postgraduate with an opportunity to work with teams of other students on projects related to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. Undergraduate students may participate in a project for up to three years.

In this VIP we'll examine the linkages between the quality of democratic governance, citizenship, service delivery, and quality of life in developing countries, with a focus on Africa. You'll have the opportunity to investigate important policy-relevant questions using various forms of survey, administrative, national accounts, and spatial data to track progress toward the sustainable development goals and investigate factors that facilitate or hinder sustainable development. The complexity of the research project will differ according to the level of the student.

The primary purpose of this course is to develop your ability to understand and analyse the national security policies of the United States. First, we discuss the different government actors along with non-state actors. Second, we do an in depth examination of the tools and strategies necessary for enacting the policies of the United States. Lastly, we'll take into account post-9/11 U.S. national security and discuss current and potential real world events.

The class is taught over ten weeks, through a combination of twice-weekly lectures and fortnightly tutorials. After examining competing explanations regarding the causes of war, we'll survey the history and characteristics of war and conflict. We'll then discuss a range of strategies on how to prevent and how to manage conflict. Terrorism is examined both empirically and qualitatively in the second part of the class. The final part focuses on civil war.

The interwar years are central to any analysis of the decline of European colonial rule in the Middle East and the formation of nation states. It was in the 1920s and 1930s that British and French mandatory authorities faced the emergence of nationalist movements throughout the Arab world as well as the increasing competition and penetration of hostile forces.

Students will examine historical themes and events that are significant to the development of political and cultural identities in the Middle East. Through the analysis of primary sources, students will focus on:

• the debate surrounding British and French colonial practices
• the emergence of the Zionist movement and the creation of a Jewish home in Palestine
• the radicalisation of Arab nationalism and its impact upon the relations between local political elites and European colonial powers
• the increasing tension between Jewish and Arab communities in Palestine
• the creation of the mandates in Palestine, Transjordan, Syria and Lebanon and the process that led to the independence of Egypt and Iraq
• the challenge brought by German and Italian subversive activities to British and French strategic interests in the region

The class will explore major themes in twentieth-century European history:

• the post-World War I settlement
• the rise of fascism
• the origins and course of the Second World War, Soviet expansion, the Cold War, the social and political revolutions of the 1960s and the waning of the Soviet Union in the 1980s and 1990s -- from the perspective of a central European country which was created in 1918, dissolved in 1993, and whose opinions were seldom taken into account by the Great Powers.

Students will obtain a solid grounding in the history of Czechoslovakia from its creation to its dissolution. The class should also offer a useful introduction to themes in twentieth-century European history more generally.

Independent reading will concentrate heavily on source material, enabling students to taste the excitement as well as the frustrations of historical research. By being encouraged to view European affairs from a Czech perspective while at the same time having special responsibility for one other European country, students will be led to consider the problems of historical bias and subjectivity, and should develop historical empathy as well as considerable sensitivity to the complexity of international affairs.

The purpose of this special subject is to introduce students to the study of peace and conflict, broadly defined, and to encourage them to write and think about these subjects in a critical and engaged manner informed first and foremost by history-based discourse, but also borrowing from political science, anthropology, and related disciplines.

The module will focus on the case study of Rwanda, with individual classes proceeding chronologically.

The first semester will cover the pre-colonial period to the start of the second Hutu Republic in 1973, while the second semester will cover 1973 to present.

Throughout, students will analyse relevant primary and secondary sources to explore the benefits of applying a historical lens to understanding a nation whose recent history includes both periods of peace and political stability, and several manifestations of state-sanctioned violence, including colonialism, small-scale ethnic, regional, and political conflicts, civil war, genocide, and authoritarianism.

Students seeking careers in human rights advocacy, international law, diplomacy, and journalism will also find this course particularly relevant.

This class will explore the plantations that took place in Ulster during the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries.

Students will examine the emergence of the idea for plantation in Ireland, why Ulster was regarded as suitable for plantation, and the various endeavours by English and Scots to settle in the north of Ireland, whether by private enterprise or by the state. This will culminate in the official Plantation of Ulster, a 'British' project initiated by James VI and I in the early years of his reign as king of England, Ireland and Scotland.

Students will also look at a couple of cases studies of individuals who were involved in plantation, enabling a detailed study of the political, social, economic and confessional reasons why they chose to migrate to and settle in Ireland at this time.

The class begins with the traumatic episodes of the Franco-Prussian War and the Communes of 1871. By analysing the often problematic political and cultural consolidation of the Third Republic, this class will explore the ‘culture wars’ and the internal divisions that culminated in the Dreyfus Affair. After the humiliation of losing its status as Europe’s dominant power, France sought greatness in colonial expansion in Africa and Indochina, while seeking to consolidate national identity by transforming ‘peasants into Frenchmen’.

You'll explore the experiences of the First World War, assessing the strength of French unity in the face of the German enemy. The interwar clashes between fascism and the Popular Front will then be examined and how the First World War impacted upon French foreign policy and attitudes towards future war.

You'll spend three weeks exploring the enduring controversies of the Second World War, focusing upon the collapse, resistance, collaboration, and French involvement in the persecution of the Jews, as France faced its ‘hereditary enemy’ once again.

The class concludes with an analysis of the French withdrawal from Indochina and Algeria and an assessment of France’s position in the post-war global order.

A variety of sources will be explored throughout the class, including paintings, monuments, films, literary sources, newspaper reports, memoirs and archival documents.

This class explores the role that health and medicine has played in the major wars of the twentieth century. In particular, it considers the vital contribution that medicine has made to manpower economy, discipline and morale.

Focusing predominantly on Britain, the USA and Europe, the class analyses the ways that different countries have responded to the medical issues posed by modern warfare in both military and civilian contexts. As such, it considers issues such as wartime disability, welfare provision, occupational health and psychiatry, and explores the role that military doctors, women and humanitarian organisations have played in shaping medical responses to war.

The key objective of this class is to place military-medical developments within their wider social, cultural and political contexts and to examine the impact of military health and medicine on the lived experience of war.

The class provides a broad survey of Scottish social history since 1914.

The aim of this class is to explore the nature and development of Scottish society (and place it in a wider context) and to examine dominant narratives of Scotland and Scots in the twentieth century.

By the end, the successful student should have expanded their knowledge of contemporary Scottish history and have a good idea of the diversity of issues, methodologies and arguments which historians have deployed in the study of twentieth-century Scotland.  Among the themes to be covered are:

• gender relations (for example, analysis of the Scottish ‘hard man’ narrative)
• religion (including sectarianism and secularisation)
• health and deprivation
• the arts and culture (including festivals, theatre, cinema and television)
• industry (and de-industrialisation and its impacts)

Historiography had tended to isolate Highland history from Scottish political development during the late medieval and early modern periods.  This class will re-address this trend, emphasising the Highlands as an integral part of Scottish society, at the same time exploring the division within Scotland between the ‘barbaric’ Highlands and the ‘civil’ Lowlands.

Students will study the nature and structure of clan society and place Highland events within the wider context of national and British politics during the sixteenth century.  While relations between the Scottish crown and its Highland subjects is the key theme of this class, students will analyse the extent to which such relations changed through time, and why.

The class will also highlight divergent policies within clan society itself, a factor which warns against treating the Highlands as a homogenous whole, instead taking into consideration regional, local and personal biases.  

The objectives of this class include introducing students to recent examples of genocide and related mass atrocities, and writing and thinking about these cases in a critical and engaged manner through analysis of primary and secondary materials.

Students will be introduced to historical, sociological, anthropological, and legal perspectives related to the occurrence of genocide and related atrocity crimes. Using case studies from the 20th century, we'll discuss:

• contemporary issues related to the labelling of cases
• the evolution of international legal, diplomatic, economic and military measures to prevent, interdict and punish atrocity crimes
• the phenomenon of genocide denial
• the politics of commemoration
• the lingering legacies of violence on individuals and communities in the post-genocide period

Case studies will include clear-cut (recognized in international humanitarian law) examples of genocide, including:

• the Armenian genocide
• the Holocaust in Nazi-occupied Europe
• the 1994 Rwandan genocide

Less clear-cut examples will also be looked at, such as:

• Canada’s Residential School System
• Stalinist crimes in Soviet Russia
• Khmer Rouge atrocities in Cambodia
• the scorched earth policies in Guatemala
• ethnic cleansing surrounding the Bosnian War.

This class will cover the political developments and social groups from the late-nineteenth century till the decolonisation of South Asia in 1947.

This is a key period in the social and political history of modern South Asia as it witnessed the growth of a mass-based anti-colonial struggle.  Simultaneously, the involvement of different social groups in this process led to the emergence of community and caste based identity politics.  Under pressure from demands for independence, the colonial state initiated a process of phased devolution of power, and decolonisation after the Second World War.  The class will compare these developments to raise questions about the 'modernity' of colonial society and polity.  The class will analyse how different social groups - such as the peasantry, the working class and tribal groups - participated in and shaped political movements in South Asia.

Students will also be encouraged to use the regional perspective of South Asian history to understand the different expressions of class, gender and ethnicity in non-Western societies.

The aim of this class is to introduce students to the concepts, theories, institutions and processes of regulatory governance. The transnational and international dimension of regulatory governance is also taken into account.

This class aims to investigate the political determinants of peace and prosperity, conflict and poverty. It also deals with the recent literature on conflict, inequality, and globalisation. A special emphasis will be placed on providing an understanding of the contemporary challenges facing developing countries.

This class adopts a comparative approach to the study of political parties and party systems, focusing on Europe and the United States. We discuss the main functions and organisational and ideological characteristics of the different types of parties found in these regions, and the way in which parties adapt to social change.

We look at the relationship between parties and voters from the alternative theoretical perspectives of class voting, partisan identification and rational choice. We also examine party systems and party government.

The class focuses on how we do comparative politics (methodology). We'll consider the comparative method, and how the scientific method can be applied to the study of politics. We consider the problem of only having a relatively small number of cases to compare, and how we select these, as well as the difference between case-study driven, small-n and large-n studies. We also consider the use of ideal types – the importance of finding a language to compare very complex systems.

This class is divided into four main blocks:

• green political theory
• environmental attitudes & behaviour
• environmental movements
• green parties

The focus of this class is the individual voter. Individual characteristics, such as education, socio-economic status, political attitudes and values, or involvement in social and political networks are looked at. However, contextual factors, such as the institutional framework, can also play a role for a wide range of political actions.

This class provides a critical introduction to feminism and its implications for politics. Over the last few decades, feminists have systematically challenged the long-standing view that politics is gender-neutral by uncovering masculinist bias and drawing attention to the neglected experiences, values and arguments of women.

Feminists have also reconstructed key political concepts and practices and expanded the range of issues and ideas understood to be political.

This class explores debates about key concepts in International Relations theory, in the context of what is widely seen as a new era in the analysis and practice of global politics. The class investigates the 'cutting-edge' of IR theory and makes connections with social and political thought more generally.

Students are introduced to the literature and research agendas related to security and conflict studies. Specifically, the course will explore various aspects of civil war, terrorism, international conflict, arms transfers and refugee security.

The impact of faith upon politics is evident in many ways, including:

• the 1979 revolution in Iran
• conflicts in Afghanistan and the Middle East
• the Catholic Church's contribution to democratisation efforts in Latin America and Eastern Europe
• the role of religious actors in current debates on Islam in the EU

The class introduces students to the systematic study of these phenomena based on a quantitative methods perspective. Qualitative approaches are also considered. As part of the class assessment, students will conduct an empirical case study.

This course is part of the university’s new initiative in Vertically Integrated Projects for Sustainable Development (VIP4SD). VIPs are designed to provide students from second-year through to postgraduate with an opportunity to work with teams of other students on projects related to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. Undergraduate students may participate in a project for up to three years.

In this VIP we'll examine the linkages between the quality of democratic governance, citizenship, service delivery, and quality of life in developing countries, with a focus on Africa. You'll have the opportunity to investigate important policy-relevant questions using various forms of survey, administrative, national accounts, and spatial data to track progress toward the sustainable development goals and investigate factors that facilitate or hinder sustainable development. The complexity of the research project will differ according to the level of the student.

This course examines the worldwide movement away from authoritarian rule and toward democratic government that took place in the last 25 years of the 20th century, and the problem of democratic backsliding that confronts us in the first quarter of the 21st century.

We focus on the following questions:

• what is democracy and how best can we measure it?
• by what sequence and process have countries become democracies?
• how can countries maintain democracy?
• what are the consequences of democracy?
• what is the most likely future of democracy across the globe?

Students who take this course will discover a political process that connects with the content of other Honours level classes on globalization and international relations, comparative politics, political parties, and political behaviour. This course should be of specific interest to students who wish to pursue careers in academia as well as national donor agencies and international organizations specializing in development and trade, development consultancies, or national and international civil society organizations.

This class provides a critical introduction to territorial politics in the UK. Over recent decades the territorial dimension in UK politics has come to the forefront with asymmetrical devolved arrangements in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales; the re-shaping of the UK’s relationship with the EU; the recurrence of ‘The English Question; as well as rising nationalism across the UK raising questions about the purpose and meaning of Britain in contemporary politics. These developments have all challenged and raised new questions about long-standing ideas about ‘parliamentary sovereignty’ and the ‘unitary state’ in the United Kingdom.

In essence, new developments in territorial politics have reconstructed long-standing analysis and political concepts and practices associated with the UK. The class is taught in ten seminars and seeks to examine key developments in UK territorial politics associated with the governance of the UK and its component parts – England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

This class aims to give an overview of the various theoretical approaches to try and explain political behaviour and to test their validity with reference to empirical studies of a broad range of forms of political action.

The main analytical focus of the class will be on the individual level. What determines whether an individual citizen takes part in the political process in one way or another? Explanations will focus on a range of individual characteristics, such as education, socio-economic status, political attitudes and values, involvement in social and political networks. Contextual factors, however, can also play a part, such as the political opportunity structure for a range of political actions.

Political participation is conceived in terms of a broad range of actions. While we will briefly look at determinants of election turnout, the main focus of the class is on non-electoral forms of political behaviour, such as taking part in demonstrations, joining campaigning groups and political parties. We will also look at violent forms of action, such as riots and terrorism.

In terms of empirical sources, we'll focus centrally on survey data. In a few cases, also qualitative studies may be relevant but most of the work testing various theories of why people become involved in politics will rely on quantitative approaches.