coursemapLoading course
Strategic and Defence Studies Centre · ANU College of Asia and the Pacific
This course will be occasionally scheduled to offer one-off opportunities to study under visiting experts, or to showcase a new teaching area. Information on the particular topic offered under this course will be outlined in the ‘Other Information’ section, including topic title, the topic convenor, and an indication of workload and indicative assessment.Students are invited to undertake a special topic course in Asia-Pacific Security. This topic will be delivered by international experts in security studies in the Asia-Pacific and will allow students to investigate security issues not covered in-depth in their core studies.
Assessment will differ from topic to topic and will be detailed in the class summary.
Learning outcomes 1, 2, 3, 4
36 contact hours per semester. A 2-hour lecture session per week for 12 weeks, a 1-hour tutorial per week for 12 weeks. Other Information This course is capped. International security is often characterised as a realm dominated by power & self-interest, with little room for morality. This perspective misses the vital role ethics play in shaping how we think & act. Underpinning security practices are assumptions about which people & what things should be secured. How it is determined who & what should be protected are not objective or neutral, but influenced by beliefs & values. This points to the way that ethics & security are closely connected. In this course students will explore this relationship by considering the ethical dilemmas present across major traditional & non-traditional security concerns. Some questions students will grapple with include: do our obligations towards others extend beyond state borders? Are nuclear weapons unethical because of the tremendous damage they can cause, or should they be valued for the restraint they encourage? Do we have any connection to people in extreme poverty in other parts of the world? Do states have an obligation to take care of refugees from wars they have no involvement in? Do technological changes create new problems for regulating & managing conflict? In considering issues such as these, students reflect on how the world is, how the world ought to be, and how to reconcile the gap between the two. Learning Outcomes - Gained an understanding of how morality connects to security; - Developed an awareness of key ethical problems in world politics; - Considered what responsibilities people and communities have towards one another; - Reflected on the relationship between ‘is’ and ‘ought’ in politics; - Improved their research and analytical skills. Assessment In-class reflective exercises-4 x 15% End of each day (except Fri), students to discuss major themes & issues raised that day. Students then write a brief response (1 page) to a question related to the day's topics. Take-home exam-30% Topics given out Fri 15 Feb. Due Thurs 21 Feb Class Participation 10%
Electronic copies of chosen readings will be provided to each student.