Course finder

<< return to browsing

Semester 1

Terrorism and Counterterrorism (PLIT10147)

Subject

Politics

College

CAHSS

Credits

20

Normal Year Taken

3

Delivery Session Year

2023/2024

Pre-requisites

Visiting students must have completed 4 Politics courses at grade B or above. We will only consider University/College level courses, and we cannot consider interdisciplinary courses or courses without sufficient Politics/Government/International Relations focus. **Please see Additional Restrictions below**

Course Summary

What is terrorism? What causes groups to engage in terrorist activities? And how can terrorism best be fought? This course examines debates related to terrorism and various strategies of counterterrorism. It draws on a range of case studies to address these and related questions. Case studies include international terrorist groups such as Al-Qaeda and ISIS, as well as domestic organisations such as the IRA, Boko Haram and the Red Army Faction.

Course Description

The course examines issues related to terrorism and counterterrorism, which have (re)emerged as prominent issues in international relations. It aims to develop students' ability to critically understand and assess a variety of challenges associated with terrorism and their implication for counterterrorism measures. The course addresses debates surrounding the definition of terrorism, the history of the concept and possible causes. Other topics discussed include issues such as gendered terrorism and state terrorism. Different counterterrorist strategies, such as war models, criminal justice models, prevention, and de-radicalisation efforts, are analysed to evaluate ways of addressing terrorist threats. The course will make extensive use of case studies that represent a diversity of issues and questions. The course will not only explore global terrorism and responses to it, but will also engage with domestic and regional actors (e.g. IRA and Boko Haram) that require different responses.

Assessment Information

Written Exam 0%, Coursework 90%, Practical Exam 10%

Additional Restrictions

Unless you are nominated on a Politics exchange agreement, visiting students are only permitted to enrol in one Politics course each, per semester, before the start of the relevant semester’s welcome period – and spaces on each course are limited so cannot be guaranteed for any student. Enrolment in a second Politics course will depend on whether there are still spaces available in the September Welcome Period, and cannot be guaranteed. It is NOT appropriate for students to contact staff within this subject area to ask for an exception to be made; all enquiries to enrol in these courses must be made through the CAHSS Visiting Student Office. This is due to the limited number of spaces available in this very popular subject area.

view the timetable and further details for this course