Universität Wien
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230144 SE Sociology of war (2023W)

4.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 23 - Soziologie
Continuous assessment of course work

Registration/Deregistration

Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).

Details

max. 35 participants
Language: English

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

  • Thursday 05.10. 09:45 - 11:15 Inst. f. Soziologie, Seminarraum 3, Rooseveltplatz 2, 1.Stock
  • Thursday 12.10. 09:45 - 11:15 Inst. f. Soziologie, Seminarraum 3, Rooseveltplatz 2, 1.Stock
  • Thursday 19.10. 09:45 - 11:15 Inst. f. Soziologie, Seminarraum 3, Rooseveltplatz 2, 1.Stock
  • Thursday 09.11. 09:45 - 11:15 Inst. f. Soziologie, Seminarraum 3, Rooseveltplatz 2, 1.Stock
  • Thursday 16.11. 09:45 - 11:15 Inst. f. Soziologie, Seminarraum 3, Rooseveltplatz 2, 1.Stock
  • Thursday 23.11. 09:45 - 11:15 Inst. f. Soziologie, Seminarraum 3, Rooseveltplatz 2, 1.Stock
  • Thursday 30.11. 09:45 - 11:15 Inst. f. Soziologie, Seminarraum 3, Rooseveltplatz 2, 1.Stock
  • Thursday 07.12. 09:45 - 11:15 Inst. f. Soziologie, Seminarraum 3, Rooseveltplatz 2, 1.Stock
  • Thursday 14.12. 09:45 - 11:15 Inst. f. Soziologie, Seminarraum 3, Rooseveltplatz 2, 1.Stock
  • Thursday 11.01. 09:45 - 11:15 Inst. f. Soziologie, Seminarraum 3, Rooseveltplatz 2, 1.Stock
  • Thursday 18.01. 09:45 - 11:15 Inst. f. Soziologie, Seminarraum 3, Rooseveltplatz 2, 1.Stock
  • Thursday 25.01. 09:45 - 11:15 Inst. f. Soziologie, Seminarraum 3, Rooseveltplatz 2, 1.Stock

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

War takes place in a society and can affect its functioning for decades or even longer. In public and academic debates, we tend to treat wars as milestones through which we explain social and political change. But what is war, how exactly it shapes the relations between the state and the society, and how, if at all, is it different from other forms of social violence? This course will ask these questions and situate them in relation to culture, gender, social inequalities, ethics, and social movements. The course will provide students with advanced knowledge and analytical skills that will help them think, talk, and write in an informed and critical manner about war.

After completing the course, students shall be able to:
• Develop a systematic and critical understanding of war, including its place in history and its role in social affairs.
• Develop a detailed conceptual understanding of the different approaches to the history and theory of war.
• Effectively synthesise and communicate the empirical and theoretical uncertainties, ambiguities and limits of the different approaches to the history and theory of war.

Assessment and permitted materials

Active participation (10%)
Students are supposed to read the required literature, prepare for the classes and be able to critically assess the literature and put it in a broader context. Active participation in class discussions and activities based on preparation will thus be considered in the assessment.

Students are allowed three absences during the semester.

Mid-term assignment (10%)
Students will be given a small assignment in the middle of the course.

Group presentation (30%)
Based on instructions explained in detail in the course, students will carry out a small research project related to the topic of the course. The focus of the project will be to interrogate a specific empirical case through some of the theoretical perspectives discussed in the course. The presentations will be held towards the end of the semester. The presentation should take about 15-20 minutes. Groups are encouraged to use ppt presentations and cite relevant sources. All group members shall be equally involved in preparing the presentation.

Research paper (50%)
Students shall prepare a final term paper on a subject related to the course based on their own small research. The research paper shall be ca. 3,500 words long and shall use some of the compulsory readings used in the course as well as additional academic literature.

Important Grading Information:
The provision of all partial tasks is a prerequisite for a positive assessment, if not explicitly noted otherwise.

The use of AI tools (e.g. ChatGPT) for the production of texts is only permitted if this is expressly requested by the lecturer (e.g. for individual work tasks).

In order to ensure good scientific practice, the lecturer can provide for a "grading-related discussion" (plausibility check) of the written work submitted, which must be completed successfully.

All students who received a place in the course are assessed if they have not deregistered from the course in due time or if they have not credibly shown an important reason for their failure to deregister after the cause for this reason does no longer apply
Students who credibly show an important reason (e.g. a longer illness) for the withdrawal from a course with continuous assessment are not assessed.
Whether this exception applies is decided by the lecturer. The request for deregistration must be submitted immediately.

If any requirement of the course has been fulfilled by fraudulent means, be it for example by cheating at an exam, plagiarizing parts of a written assignment or by faking signatures on an attendance sheet, the student's participation in the course will be discontinued, the entire course will be graded as "not assessed" and recorded accordingly.
You can find these and other provisions in the study law: https://satzung.univie.ac.at/studienrecht/.

In case you have received three negative assessments of a continuously assessed course and want to register for a fourth attempt, please make sure to contact the StudiesServiceUnit Sociology. (for more information see "third attempt for continuously assessed courses" https://soziologie.univie.ac.at/info/pruefungen/#c56313)

The plagiarism-detection service (Turnitin in Moodle) can be used in course of the grading.

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

- active participation
- mid-term assignment
- participation in a group presentation
- research paper

less than 50%: 5 (fail)
more than 50%: 4 (sufficient)
more than 62%: 3 (satisfactory)
more than 74%: 2 (good)
more than 86%: 1 (very good)

Examination topics

Reading list

Neff, S. C. (2005) War and the law of nations: a general history. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
Strachan, H. and Scheipers, S. (2011) The changing character of war. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
Sylvester, C. (2011a) Experiencing war. London: Routledge.
Clausewitz, C. von (2018) On war.
Enloe, C. H. (2014) Bananas, beaches and bases: making feminist sense of international Politics. Berkeley, California: University of California Press.

Association in the course directory

Die Lehrveranstaltung kann für jede Forschungsspezialisierung des Masterstudiums Soziologie herangezogen werden, sofern dies inhaltlich zu Ihrem Masterarbeitsvorhaben passt.

Last modified: Th 12.10.2023 09:47