BA in Journalism / Бакалавр в Області Журналістики

Course Details

Course Information Package

Course Unit TitlePOLITICAL SCIENCE III : GLOBAL POLITICAL ISSUES
Course Unit CodeAPOL205
Course Unit Details
Number of ECTS credits allocated4
Learning Outcomes of the course unitBy the end of the course, the students should be able to:
  1. Outline the major current problems of global politics as well as the dynamics and problems which arise in the effort to create global organizations – and institutional forms of international law
  2. Discuss specific international problems as empirical examples in the context of theoretical discussions/debates between different perspectives.
  3. Analyze issues of global politics (and the related research and evaluation of data).
  4. Evaluate analytic perspectives and methodologies: to be able to identify the perspective from which emanate certain kinds of analytical or rhetorical political discourse, and to make conscious use in their own texts of the analytic tools and the different perspectives of the major schools of international relations.
  5. Develop the organizational and analytic skills for the creative engagement in following major issues in the media, creating a related archive, and the regular writing of analytic texts.
Mode of DeliveryFace-to-face
PrerequisitesNONECo-requisitesNONE
Recommended optional program componentsNONE
Course Contents·  Theoretical issues and empirical data/substantiation. The need to link the two. As an example: discussion the theoretical debate on “agency” and systemic/structural dynamics/determinism. Discussion of the theory of “hegemonic war” and its possible use in the current conjuncture [from the bombing of Yugoslavia to the war in Iraq]. Globalization and the debate on the crisis of US hegemony. The debate on the dynamics of globalization – applying the theoretical debate on “agency-structure”.
·  Development: The debate on “development” – conservative, liberal, radical perspectives. Emphasis on the how the data are used to prove a theoretical position. Selection of an area/country [outside the west] and discussion of some related data, in order to evaluate the theoretical perspectives.
·  Culture and the Economy: Discussion of Huntington’s thesis in the context of the post 1999 global conflicts. The critique of Huntington  and the “culturalist”/ “clash of civilizations” argument. Alternative perspectives on culture, politics, and the post industrial economic system: Negri-Hardt “Empire”
·  Post modern Politics: The politicization of phenomena like identity, the body, ecology, images. Review of the trends in this realm since the 1960’s. Special emphasis on the role of the media
·  Historical efforts at analyzing the causes of war and controlling the phenomenon. The current urgency: nuclear weapons and asymmetrical warfare. Efforts at international organizations: essay on their dynamics and prospects in the current conjuncture
Recommended and/or required reading:
Textbooks
  • Pascal Boniface. Άτλας Διεθνών Σχέσεων. Αθήνα. Ελληνικά Γράμματα. 2001
  • Weekly issues of newspapers on global trends
  • Reader: theoretical and historical articles on issues related to the topics under discussion
References
  • Robert Gilpin. Πόλεμος και Αλλαγή στην Διεθνή Πολιτική. Αθήνα. Ποιότητα/Cambridge University Press
  • G.R. Berridge. International Politics. Great Britain. Harvester – Wheatsheaf. 1992.
  • Frank Deppe. Η νέα διεθνής τάξη . Αθήνα. Νέα Σύνορα. 1995.
  • Lester Τhurow. "Ο επερχόμενος οικονομικός πόλεμος μεταξύ Ιαπωνίας Ευρώπης και Αμερικής. Αθήνα. Νέα Σύνορα. 1995.
  • Κίσινγκερ Χένρι. ΗΠΑ, Αυτοκρατορία η Ηγετική Δύναμη. Αθήνα. Λιβανη. 2002.
  • Chomsky Noαm. Παλιές και νέες τάξεις πραγμάτων. Αθήνα. Νέα Σύνορα. 1996.
  • Brezinski A. Η μεγάλη σκακιέρα. Αθήνα. Νέα Σύνορα. 1998.
  • Βεργόπουλος Κ. Παγκοσμιοποίηση - Η μεγάλη Χίμαιρα. Αθήνα. Νέα Σύνορα. 1999.
  • Χάντιγκτον Σ. Η σύγκρουση των πολιτισμών και ο ανασχηματισμός της Παγκόσμιας Τάξης. Αθήνα. Terzo Books. 1999.
  • Η κουλτούρα των Μέσων: Μαζική κοινωνία και πολιτιστική Βιομηχανία [συλλογή κλασικών κειμένων]. Αθήνα. Εκδ. Αλεξάνδρεια. 1991.
  • Forum την Δελφών, Κριτική και εγκώμιο των θεωριών ανάπτυξης. Αθήνα. Εξάντας. 1999.
  • Rosenberg, Birtell. Πως πλούτισε η Δύση. Αθήνα. 1987.
  • John G., Stoessinger, Why nations go to war. New York. St. Martin’s. 1988.
  • Immanuel Wallerstein. The capitalist world – economy. U.K.Cambridge University Press.
  • Giovanni Arrighi. The Long Twentieth Century. London. Verso. 1996.
  • Negri A., Hardt M. Empire. Cambridge, Mass. Harvard University Press. 2000
Planned learning activities and teaching methods

This course is delivered to the students by means of lectures and class discussions.  Lectures are supplemented with assignments on specific case studies in order for the students to familiarize themselves with the concepts and their application. The course is structured around 5 essays and the students must follow both weekly global events which are discussed in class and must be organized in order to complete their works on time as if on job assignment for biweekly editions.

The first two essays apart from their theoretical dimensions they also have methodological ones: one key dimension here is the discussion of quantitative and qualitative data.

The other 3 essays focus on global trends which seem to dominate our age.
Assessment methods and criteria
Assignments on methods and data40%
Essays of global-historical trends60%
Language of instructionGreek
Work placement(s)NO

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