Students

POIR1080 – Introduction to Global Politics

2023 – Session 2, In person-scheduled-weekday, North Ryde

General Information

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Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit convenor and teaching staff Lecturer and Convenor
Umut Ozguc
umut.ozguc@mq.edu.au
25 Wallys Walk Room 255
Tutor
Vincenzo Scappatura
vincenzo.scappatura@mq.edu.au
Tutor
Flavia Julius
flavia.julius@hdr.mq.edu.au
Tutor (OUA and External Students)
Sandey Fitzgerald
sandey.fitzgerald@mq.edu.au
Credit points Credit points
10
Prerequisites Prerequisites
Corequisites Corequisites
Co-badged status Co-badged status
Unit description Unit description
Global politics is often dramatic and contentious covering big picture dilemmas such as what are the causes of war and peace? How do we find solutions to shared global problems like climate change and preventing the spread of nuclear weapons? How do we make sense of persistent poverty and underdevelopment in some parts of the world but not others? Whose political ideas matter most and why? Finally, what have been the implications of globalisation for world politics? This unit equips students with the tools to understand the forces that shape the world we live in by introducing them to the key issues, institutions, ideas and actors involved in global politics. The first section of the unit outlines the historical context, key theories and concepts, and fundamental institutions of contemporary global politics. The second section covers important contemporary issues including security challenges, climate change, nuclear proliferation, terrorism, global inequality, the role of culture, religion and identity in global politics, great power rivalry, and globalisation. The unit gives students the foundations necessary for undertaking a major in International Relations or Politics.

Important Academic Dates

Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  • ULO1: Understand and evaluate the role of historical events and the meanings that have been attributed to them in world politics.
  • ULO2: Apply and develop further independent research skills required to discover relevant evidence to support academic arguments.
  • ULO3: Understand and apply the academic skills required to write cogently and to structure arguments in a logical order.
  • ULO4: Critically engage with and analyse the key issues and challenges that are the current focus of world politics.
  • ULO5: Understand, explain and apply the key concepts, theories, methods, and issues relevant to the study of International Relations at an introductory level.
  • ULO6: Identify and understand the defining debates in the field of Global Politics.

General Assessment Information

Essays may be FAILED for the following reasons:  

1. Plagiarism – for example, where sentences or paragraphs are taken word-for-word or nearly word-for-word from another source and presented as original expression. See the University's Academic Honesty Policy (link below) for an in-depth explanation of what constitutes plagiarism. Plagiarism is taken very seriously by the Convenor and the Department generally. All suspected incidents of plagiarism will be referred to a Faculty Academic Integrity Officer for review, which may result in a range of penalties, including a zero grade for an assessment task.

2. Excessive use of direct quotes may result in a fail grade. As a general rule, no more than 10% of the overall word length of a research paper should appear in direct quotes. Students must try to express their ideas and arguments in their own words as much as possible. This demonstrates true understanding of the topic.

3. Identical or nearly identical essays will be referred to a Faculty Academic Integrity Officer for review and potential penalty – regardless of the original authorship.

4. Work that is significantly below the required word length.

5. Essays written with poor English grammar and expression may be failed if the marker is unable to understand the argument(s) raised.

6. Self-plagiarism: Work that has been previously submitted and assessed in other units (and this unit if you have failed previously) that is then re-submitted for assessment for this unit, in whole or part, will be referred to an Academic Integrity Officer for review and potential penalty. This is defined as 'self-plagiarism' under the Academic Honesty Policy.

Mid-Semester Test

Mid-Semester Test questions will be posted on ilearn on the 4th September 2023 at 10 am. Students need to submit their answers in Turnitin by the 8th September 2023 at 10 am. The only exception to taking the test at the designated time is where a student has experienced 'unexpected, unavoidable and serious circumstances' that prevented them from completing the paper, that can be documented. In these circumstances, the student should consider applying for 'Special Consideration'. Consult the Special Consideration Policy (below) for further information about what criteria must be met. Special Consideration outcome may result in new questions. 

Extensions

Any student seeking an extension of time to submit their major research essay must apply formally for 'special consideration' using the ask.mq.edu.au system.

Applications should be made before the due date for the assignment. Whilst we do understand that many or most students support themselves through paid employment, extensions cannot be granted on this basis alone. Students must manage their time and workloads accordingly. Essay topics will be made available early in the semester leaving sufficient time for essay preparation. Meeting deadlines for assignments is treated very seriously in this course. Note that the penalties for late submission are high under the Faculty of Arts new policy.

Late Submission Penalty

Unless a Special Consideration request has been submitted and approved, a 5% penalty (of the total possible mark) will be applied each day a written assessment is not submitted, up until the 7th day (including weekends). After the 7th day, a mark of ‘0’ (zero) will be awarded even if the assessment is submitted. A 1-hour grace period is provided to students who experience a technical issue. This late penalty will apply to non-timed sensitive assessment (incl essays, reports, posters, portfolios, journals, recordings etc). Late submission of time sensitive tasks (such as tests/exams, performance assessments/presentations, scheduled practical assessments/labs etc) will only be addressed by the unit convenor in a Special consideration application. Special Consideration outcome may result in a new question or topic. Special consideration requests are made through ask.mq.edu.au. 

Assignment Submission

Hard copy submission of assignments will not be required for this course. All assignments are to be submitted online using the ilearn website for this unit. A Turnitin link for submission for the research essay and mid-semester test is set up on ilearn. Comments and grades will also be available online.

Turn-it-in

All written work in this course is required to be uploaded using the Turnitin link provided on the ilearn website for this unit. Turnitin is a type of anti-plagiarism software used by the university. Work that is not uploaded using the Turnitin link on ilearn will not be graded and will receive a mark of zero.

Re-submission of assessment tasks

Re-submission of assessment tasks is not allowed in this unit. Please consult with your tutor or the Convenor before handing in any assessment task if you have any questions. Also, see the section below titled 'student support' for details about workshops on research skills, essay writing, and plagiarism available to all students in the first weeks of the semester.

 

 

 

Assessment Tasks

Name Weighting Hurdle Due
Class Participation 10% No Ongoing
Quiz 5% No Week 4 - 16/08/2023
Mid semester test 35% No Week 7
Research Essay 50% No Week 13 - 30/10/2023

Class Participation

Assessment Type 1: Participatory task
Indicative Time on Task 2: 36 hours
Due: Ongoing
Weighting: 10%

 

In class tutorial participation will be assessed. Details will be provided on iLearn.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Understand and evaluate the role of historical events and the meanings that have been attributed to them in world politics.
  • Critically engage with and analyse the key issues and challenges that are the current focus of world politics.
  • Understand, explain and apply the key concepts, theories, methods, and issues relevant to the study of International Relations at an introductory level.
  • Identify and understand the defining debates in the field of Global Politics.

Quiz

Assessment Type 1: Quiz/Test
Indicative Time on Task 2: 6 hours
Due: Week 4 - 16/08/2023
Weighting: 5%

 

Quiz - see details on ilearn.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Understand and evaluate the role of historical events and the meanings that have been attributed to them in world politics.
  • Critically engage with and analyse the key issues and challenges that are the current focus of world politics.
  • Understand, explain and apply the key concepts, theories, methods, and issues relevant to the study of International Relations at an introductory level.
  • Identify and understand the defining debates in the field of Global Politics.

Mid semester test

Assessment Type 1: Quiz/Test
Indicative Time on Task 2: 31 hours
Due: Week 7
Weighting: 35%

 

Mid semester test

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Understand and evaluate the role of historical events and the meanings that have been attributed to them in world politics.
  • Understand and apply the academic skills required to write cogently and to structure arguments in a logical order.
  • Critically engage with and analyse the key issues and challenges that are the current focus of world politics.
  • Understand, explain and apply the key concepts, theories, methods, and issues relevant to the study of International Relations at an introductory level.
  • Identify and understand the defining debates in the field of Global Politics.

Research Essay

Assessment Type 1: Essay
Indicative Time on Task 2: 41 hours
Due: Week 13 - 30/10/2023
Weighting: 50%

 

Research Essay

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Understand and evaluate the role of historical events and the meanings that have been attributed to them in world politics.
  • Apply and develop further independent research skills required to discover relevant evidence to support academic arguments.
  • Understand and apply the academic skills required to write cogently and to structure arguments in a logical order.
  • Critically engage with and analyse the key issues and challenges that are the current focus of world politics.
  • Understand, explain and apply the key concepts, theories, methods, and issues relevant to the study of International Relations at an introductory level.
  • Identify and understand the defining debates in the field of Global Politics.

1 If you need help with your assignment, please contact:

  • the academic teaching staff in your unit for guidance in understanding or completing this type of assessment
  • the Writing Centre for academic skills support.

2 Indicative time-on-task is an estimate of the time required for completion of the assessment task and is subject to individual variation

Delivery and Resources

Lectures, Tutorials and Online Discussion Board

Lectures:

All lectures will be held on campus. All lectures will be recorded and uploaded from week to week on the ilearn site for this unit.

Tutorials:

On-campus students are required to actively engage with the reading materials and lectures and will be assessed accordingly via participation in one 1-hour tutorial per week. Details of participation are provided on the ilearn site. 

Online Discussion Boards:

OUA and external students are required to actively engage with the reading materials and lectures and will be assessed accordingly via student contributions to online discussion boards that will be set up each week on the ilearn site for this unit. Details are provided on the ilearn site.

Textbook

John Baylis, Steve Smith, Patricia Owens (eds), 2020 The Globalisation of World Politics: An Introduction to International Relations, 8th Edition, Oxford University Press.

You can order your book via

https://www.booktopia.com.au/the-globalization-of-world-politics-8ed-john-baylis/book/9780198825548.html

You can find earlier editions of the book, and a few copies of the latest edition at our library. 

Unit Schedule

Week 1

Introduction: Studying Global Politics

 

PART 1: THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT

 

Week 2

Globalisation and the Transformation of World Politics

Week 3

History of Modern International Order & The Birth of Nation State

 

Week 4

International history of the 20th Century

 

PART 2: THEORIES OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS (IR)

 

Week 5

Traditional Theories of Global Politics: Realism and Liberal IR Theory 

 

Week 6

Constructivist Theories of Global Politics: Conventional and Critical Constructivism

 

 

PART 3: ISSUES AND CHALLENGES IN GLOBAL POLITICS

 

 

Week 7

‘New Wars’ and Humanitarian Interventions

Week 8

Artificial Intelligence, Autonomous Weapons and The Future of War

 

Week 9

‘Broadening’ and ‘Deepening’ Security in the 21st Century

 

Week 10

International Political Economy and Global Trade

Week 11

The changing nature of borders and refugee ‘crisis’ 

Week 12

Environmental Issues and Conclusions

Week 13

No Lectures and tutorials this week

Policies and Procedures

Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central (https://policies.mq.edu.au). Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:

Students seeking more policy resources can visit Student Policies (https://students.mq.edu.au/support/study/policies). It is your one-stop-shop for the key policies you need to know about throughout your undergraduate student journey.

To find other policies relating to Teaching and Learning, visit Policy Central (https://policies.mq.edu.au) and use the search tool.

Student Code of Conduct

Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/admin/other-resources/student-conduct

Results

Results published on platform other than eStudent, (eg. iLearn, Coursera etc.) or released directly by your Unit Convenor, are not confirmed as they are subject to final approval by the University. Once approved, final results will be sent to your student email address and will be made available in eStudent. For more information visit ask.mq.edu.au or if you are a Global MBA student contact globalmba.support@mq.edu.au

Academic Integrity

At Macquarie, we believe academic integrity – honesty, respect, trust, responsibility, fairness and courage – is at the core of learning, teaching and research. We recognise that meeting the expectations required to complete your assessments can be challenging. So, we offer you a range of resources and services to help you reach your potential, including free online writing and maths support, academic skills development and wellbeing consultations.

Student Support

Macquarie University provides a range of support services for students. For details, visit http://students.mq.edu.au/support/

The Writing Centre

The Writing Centre provides resources to develop your English language proficiency, academic writing, and communication skills.

The Library provides online and face to face support to help you find and use relevant information resources. 

Student Services and Support

Macquarie University offers a range of Student Support Services including:

Student Enquiries

Got a question? Ask us via AskMQ, or contact Service Connect.

IT Help

For help with University computer systems and technology, visit http://www.mq.edu.au/about_us/offices_and_units/information_technology/help/. 

When using the University's IT, you must adhere to the Acceptable Use of IT Resources Policy. The policy applies to all who connect to the MQ network including students.

Unit information based on version 2023.02 of the Handbook