IR4586 Political Violence and Popular Culture

Academic year

2024 to 2025 Semester 1

Further information on which modules are specific to your programme.

Key module information

SCOTCAT credits

30

The Scottish Credit Accumulation and Transfer (SCOTCAT) system allows credits gained in Scotland to be transferred between institutions. The number of credits associated with a module gives an indication of the amount of learning effort required by the learner. European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) credits are half the value of SCOTCAT credits.

SCQF level

SCQF level 10

The Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) provides an indication of the complexity of award qualifications and associated learning and operates on an ascending numeric scale from Levels 1-12 with SCQF Level 10 equating to a Scottish undergraduate Honours degree.

Planned timetable

Tuesday 11am - 1pm

This information is given as indicative. Timetable may change at short notice depending on room availability.

Module coordinator

Dr N Brooke

This information is given as indicative. Staff involved in a module may change at short notice depending on availability and circumstances.

Module Staff

Dr Nick Brooke

This information is given as indicative. Staff involved in a module may change at short notice depending on availability and circumstances.

Module description

Popular culture has provided a platform to depict, examine and challenge our understandings of political violence, in a variety of ways. This module engages with popular culture to understand a range of themes around revolution, torture, victimhood and heroism, by focusing on depictions of policy, actors, events and narratives. It does this through engagement with a range of media from novels like Milkman, to television shows like 24 and films like Four Lions. Through this, students are introduced to a range of topics through popular culture which provides a foundation to examine these matters originally and critically.

Relationship to other modules

Pre-requisites

BEFORE TAKING THIS MODULE YOU MUST PASS IR2006

Assessment pattern

100% Coursework

Re-assessment

100% Written Examination

Learning and teaching methods and delivery

Weekly contact

The class would be delivered as a two-hour seminar, but with a mixture of lecture and tutorial styles as needed. Four weeks of the module will include a 3-hr compulsory screening/engagement session.

Scheduled learning hours

34

The number of compulsory student:staff contact hours over the period of the module.

Guided independent study hours

260

The number of hours that students are expected to invest in independent study over the period of the module.

Intended learning outcomes

  • Explain what is meant by the term ‘popular culture’, and how ‘popularity’ is measured
  • Critically assess the authenticity of depictions of political violence and counterterrorism within a range of popular media
  • Explain, with examples, the range of impacts that popular culture has on policy, both with regard to terrorism and political violence, and further afield.
  • Systematically and comparatively study a range of popular media.
  • Design an effective, valid and original short research project