Year
2024Credit points
10Campus offering
Prerequisites
POLS101 Introduction to Australian Politics OR POLS104 Introduction to International Relations OR POLS105 Introduction to Human Rights OR POLS213 Security, Terrorism and Human Rights
Unit rationale, description and aim
Professional outcomes in government, policy development and advocacy require a workforce knowledgeable about contemporary global political developments with the capacity to evaluate policies pertaining to issues of social justice.
This unit examines how conditions of globalisation shape the conduct of world politics in the twenty-first century. Where once nation-states exercised exclusive sovereignty over their territorial borders, today global flows and trends have undermined the demarcation between the domestic and international realms. Students will examine the key political questions arising from this dynamic, including human rights; global democracy; war and justice; refugees and forced migration; humanitarianism and the Responsibility to Protect; religion, and new wars. The roles of the United Nations and other international organisations and NGOs will also be analysed, with particular attention paid to the question of how we might envisage a more just world.
The aim of this unit is to provide students with a deep understanding of issues of justice in the context of globalisation and world politics.
Learning outcomes
To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.
Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.
Explore the graduate capabilities.
| Learning Outcome Number | Learning Outcome Description | Relevant Graduate Capabilities |
|---|---|---|
| LO1 | Describe the nature and significance of world politics and global governance and the political contexts in which they operate | GC1, GC9, GC11 |
| LO2 | Critically discuss diverse political perspectives on global justice in world politics, particularly with respect to marginalised, disadvantaged, and vulnerable peoples and communities | GC1, GC2, GC3, GC4, GC5, GC6, GC7, GC8, GC11, GC12 |
| LO3 | Demonstrate the capacity to gather, analyse and advocate ethical solutions to political problems through evidence-based argument and evaluation of secondary and primary sources | GC1, GC2, GC3, GC4, GC6, GC7, GC9, GC10, GC11 |
| LO4 | Apply concepts, theories, trends and methods used in the study of world politics to the analysis of interests, ideas, institutions and political behaviour in a way that informs students’ own practices of engaged citizenship | GC1, GC2, GC3, GC7, GC8, GC11, GC12 |
Content
Topics will include:
- Theories of world politics
- State sovereignty and the nation-state
- International organisations, NGOs and international cooperation
- The United Nations and its main agencies
- Human rights and Indigenous rights
- Global democracy
- Global justice
- Refugees and forced migration
- Humanitarianism and the Responsibility to Protect
- Global terrorism and homegrown terror
- Nuclear weapons
Learning and teaching strategy and rationale
This unit engages students in active learning activities, such as reading, writing, discussion and problem-solving to promote analysis, synthesis and evaluation of class content. Students encounter ideas through lectures and discuss and assimilate material through tutorial classes. Students will also act collaboratively to deliver tutorial presentations. Collaborative learning is an important component of active learning and sits within a community of inquiry theoretical framework. It provides opportunities for a group of individuals to collaborate in purposeful critical discourse and reflection to construct personal meaning and mutual understanding.
This 10-credit point unit has been for 150 hours in total across the semester. To achieve a passing standard in this unit, students will find it helpful to engage in the full range of learning activities and assessments utilised in this unit, as described in the learning and teaching strategy and the assessment strategy. The learning and teaching and assessment strategies include a range of approaches to support your learning such as lectures, tutorials, reading, reflection, discussion, webinars, podcasts, videos, etc.
Assessment strategy and rationale
The assessment tasks for this unit have been designed to contribute to high quality student learning by both helping students learn (assessment for learning), and by measuring explicit evidence of their learning (assessment of learning). Assessments have been developed to meet the unit learning outcomes and develop graduate attributes consistent with University assessment requirements. These have been designed so that they use a variety of tasks to measure the different learning outcomes of the unit.
The descriptive task (quiz) gives students the opportunity to describe the nature and significance of world politics and global governance and the political contexts in which they operate. The student-led analytical task (presentation) enables students to critically discuss diverse political perspectives on global justice in world politics, particularly with respect to marginalised, disadvantaged, and vulnerable peoples and communities. The major written task (essay) allows students to gather, analyse and advocate ethical solutions to political problems through evidence-based argument and evaluation of secondary and primary sources and to apply concepts, theories, trends and methods used in the study of world politics to the analysis of interests, ideas, institutions and political behaviour in a way that informs students’ own practices of engaged citizenship.
the schedule provides scaffolded learning with opportunities for students to monitor their own progress, practise their skills and receive feedback.
Overview of assessments
| Brief Description of Kind and Purpose of Assessment Tasks | Weighting | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|
Assessment Task 1: Descriptive Task Online Quiz. Students are required to describe the nature and significance of world politics and global governance and the political contexts in which they operate. | 30% | LO1 |
Assessment Task 2: Student-led Analytical Task Students are required to work together to critically discuss diverse political perspectives on global justice in world politics, particularly with respect to marginalised, disadvantaged, and vulnerable peoples and communities. | 30% | LO2 |
Assessment Task 3: Major Written Task Students are required to gather, analyse and advocate ethical solutions to political problems through evidence-based argument and evaluation of secondary and primary sources and to apply concepts, theories, trends and methods used in the study of world politics to the analysis of interests, ideas, institutions and political behaviour in a way that informs students’ own practices of engaged citizenship. | 40% | LO3, LO4 |
Representative texts and references
Baylis, J., Smith, S., & Owens, P. (Eds). (2020). The globalization of world politics: an introduction to international relations (Eighth edition). Oxford University Press.
Beeson, M., & Bisley, N. (Eds). (2017). Issues in 21st century world politics (Third edition). Palgrave, Macmillan Education.
Edkins, J., & Zehfuss, M. (Eds). (2019). Global politics: a new introduction ( Third edition). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315099118
Ip, K.K.W. (2016). Egalitarianism and global justice: From a relational perspective. Palgrave Macmillan US. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-51407-3
Jackson, R.J. (2013). Global politics in the 21st century. Cambridge University Press.
Juergensmeyer, M. (2014). Thinking globally: A global studies reader. University of California Press. https://doi.org/10.1525/9780520958012
Kavalski, E. (2016). Encounters with world affairs: an introduction to international relations. Routledge.
Lamy, S., & Masker, J. S. (2019). Introduction to global politics (Fifth edition). Oxford University Press.
O’Byrne, D.J. (2016). Human rights in a globalizing world. Palgrave.
Park, S. (2018). International Organisations and Global Problems. Cambridge University Press. No updated version. Hard copy only. No electronic copy.
Sluga, G. & Clavin, P. (2017). Internationalisms: A twenty-first century history. Cambridge University Press.
Weiss, T. G. & Wilkinson, R. (Eds). (2018). International organization and global governance (Second edition). Routledge.