UNIT REQUIREMENTS AND EXPECTATIONS

• You should spend an average of at least 12 hours per week on this unit. This includes listening to pre-recorded lectures prior to seminar discussions and reading weekly required readings detailed in iLearn.
• Internal students are expected to attend all seminar sessions and external students are expected to contribute to on-line discussions.

REQUIRED READINGS

• The citations for all the required readings for this unit are available to enrolled students students through the unit iLearn site and at Macquarie University's Library EReserve site.  Electronic copies of required readings may be accessed at the EReserve site.

RECOMMENDED READINGS

• Recommended readings will be posted to the unit iLearn site as Session 1 progresses.
• Students may consider obtaining a copy of the following book, Richards, D., and Mills, G., (eds) Victory Among People: Lessons from Countering Insurgency and Stabilising Fragile States, RUSI, London, 2011.  Students have previously found downloading an electronic version on to an E-Book to be an effective means by which the book can be acquired.

TECHNOLOGY USED AND REQUIRED

• Personal PC and internet access are essential for this unit. Basic computer skills and skills in word processing are also a requirement.
• The unit can only be accessed by enrolled students online through http://ilearn.mq.edu.au

SUBMITTING ASSESSMENT TASKS

• All assessment tasks are to be submitted, marked and returned electronically.  This will only happen through the unit iLearn site. 
• Assessment tasks must be submitted either as a PDF or MS word document by the due date.
• All assessment tasks will be subject to a 'TurnitIn' review as an automatic part of the submission process.
• A plagiarism declaration is automatically completed when work is submitted through "turnitin".  This removes the need to submit a coversheet declaration.
• The granting of extensions of up to one week are at the discretion of the unit convenor.  Any requests for extensions must be made in writing before the due date for the submission of the assessment task.  Extensions beyond one week are subject to special consideration.  The policy for this is detailed under Policy and Procedures.

LATE SUBMISSION OF ASSESSMENT TASKS

There is a penalty for the the late submission of assessment tasks.  If an assignment is submitted late it will initially be marked as if it had been submitted on time.  However, 5%of the weighting allocated for the assignment will then be deducted from the mark the student initially achieves in the assessment task for each day it is late. For example if the assessment task's weighting is 20, 1.00 mark per day will be deducted from the initial mark given per day it is late ie a task initially given 15/20 but which is submitted four days late will lose 4 x 1.00 marks.  That means 15/20-4marks=11/20.  It is this second mark which will be recorded in gradebook.   

The same principle applies if a student seeks and is granted an extension and the assessment task is submitted later than the amended submission date.

WORD LIMITS FOR ASSESSMENT TASKS

Stated word limits do not include references, bibliography, or title page.

Word limits can generally deviate by 10% either over or under the stated figure, unless specifically stated.

 If the number of words exceeds the limit by more than 10%, then penalties will apply. These penalties are 5% of the awarded mark for every 100 words over the word limit. If a paper is 300 words over, for instance, it will lose 3 x 5% = 15% of the total mark awarded for the assignment. This percentage is taken off the total mark, i.e. if a paper was graded at a credit (65%) and was 300 words over, it would be reduced by 15 marks to a pass (50%)

Module 1- Insurgencies their drivers, underlying principles and past exponents

Module 2 - Countering Insurgencies-an overview

Module 3 - The role of Intelligence agencies in confronting insurgencies

Module 4 - The Police and countering insurgencies

Module 5 - The military, other security agencies and private military companies in countering insurgencies

Module 6 - The media and NGOs and their roles in insurgencies and COIN

Modules 7-12 - Case Studies

Module 13 - Insurgencies and the Future