Duration
60h Th
Number of credits
Lecturer
Language(s) of instruction
French language
Organisation and examination
Teaching in the second semester
Schedule
Units courses prerequisite and corequisite
Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program
Learning unit contents
This course is an introduction to the study of international systems, actors and stakes.
Introduction to key notions/concepts and features in international relations.
We will consider:
- Various theoretical approaches and theoretical concepts;
- the State, territorial space, sovereignty, international organisations;
- foreign policy;
- transnational actors;
- the evolution of the international system, between order and disorder;
- the historical development of the international system;
- international trade and economic relations;
- strategic relations, between conflicts and cooperation;
- war and terrorism;
- ...
Learning outcomes of the learning unit
The course aims at providing students with clues to understand major trends in the contemporary world, among which:
- major issues in international security
- dynamics at work in the globalisation and regionalisation processes
- international institutions and organisations
- changes in economic relationships both in countries of the North and in countries of the South
- multiplication of the number of partners in international relations
- the evolution and distrubtion of global power
Prerequisite knowledge and skills
The Course is given in French. However, students who wish to take this course have to be able to read and refer to works and periodicals in English, and to understand a lecture in English. Passive knowledge of English is required.
Planned learning activities and teaching methods
Several activites are planned:
1. Students must attend the coaching sessions organized in small groups in order to study the mandatory reading (see below) of the academic year. One point will be deducted from the final mark for each unjustified absence.
2. Students will have other readings as well in English as in French. If so, they will get the readings during the year.
3. Students must follow the daily international news. They will receive every week a questionnaire. The last consists of about 5 questions about international news, which will have taken place during the week preceding the course. The students will have answered about 8 questionnaires. Those who will have given 60% of good answers will receive a bonus of 1 point on the final mark. Students who have not answered all the questionnaires will not benefit from the bonus of 1 point.
The assessment will start in early March 2021.
The evaluation will be done using the WOOCLAP. It is therefore strongly recommended to have a smart phone, a tablet or a laptop in order to be able to connect with her/his login ULiège.
4. In the event of return from distance learning courses, summary tests (in the form of multiple choice questions, open questions or others) of the material already seen in the courses will be offered every two weeks on eCampus in order to assess the understanding of the material by students and prepare them as well as possible for the following class sessions. These tests are not mandatory, but strongly recommended.
Mode of delivery (face to face, distance learning, hybrid learning)
Ex Cathedra lectures
If the opportunity arises, there will be external interventions made in French and/or in English.
It is also possible the students will have to follow a couple of conferences related to topics tackled during the course.
Organisational adjustments related to the current health context
In the event of a return of the pandemic and distance learning courses, the courses will be given via eCampus/Blackboard Collaborate. Students will be able to follow the lessons "live" online (Blackboard Collaborate), which is strongly recommended as the assistants will be present alongside the professor in order to collect any questions and remarks that the students can transmit "live" via the chat platform (Blackboard Collaborate) and will send them to the teacher so that he can adapt his speaking rhythm, re-explain a concept or a notion, answer students' questions. This approach will allow better communication and more friendly interaction between the students and the teacher. If the pandemic returns, the reading sessions will also be given remotely via the Blackboard Collaborate platform (accessible via eCampus). To allow an easy and quick face-to-face transition, the assistants will present the various online course tools to the students during the first class session.
Recommended or required readings
The course is based on notes prepared by the responsible of the course and some obligatory readings given during the course.
Obligatory reading for 2020-2021:
Pascal Boniface, Géopolitique du Covid-19, Paris, éditions Eyrolles, 2020, 189 pages.
The reading is available at "Point de Vue" (Campus: Sart Tilman) and at Pax Library (downtown).
The book is available at the Graulich Library located at the Campus of Sart Tilman.
Recommended reading:
Dario Battistella (dir.), Relations internationales. Bilan et perspectives, Paris, Ellipses, 2013, 571 p.
Richard Mansbach and Kirsten Taylor, Introduction to Global Politics, Londres, Routledge, 2017, 602 p.
Diane Ethier, Introduction aux relations internationales, Montréal, Presse universitaire de Montréal, 2010
Jean-Claude Zarka, Relations internationales, Paris, Ellipse, 5e éd., 2013;
We highly recommend students to refer to a chronology of international relations.
We also highly recommend students to refer to dictionaries of international relations (e. g., Dictionnaire des relations internationales, 3eme édition, publié par Marie-Claude Smouts, Dario Battistella, Pascal Vennesson et Franck Petiteville, Paris, Dalloz, 2012, 572 pages).
Assessment methods and criteria
Below you will find information on the evaluation methods planned for in-person and remote exams as well as those planned for hybrid sessions. Depending on how the health crisis evolves, the chosen method will be communicated to you no later than one month before the start of the exam session.
Any session :
- In-person
written exam ( open-ended questions )
- Remote
oral exam
- If evaluation in "hybrid"
preferred in-person
Additional information:
ATTENTION:
If the health situation does not allow to organize a written exam, an oral exam will be organized instead and will take place online on eCampus/Collaborate.
In case of written exam, students will have to answer around ten open questions and eventually a couple of MCQ.
In the event of an oral exam, students will have to answer 3 questions: one question about the book and two questions about the subject taught. The exam will take place on Blackboard collaborate.
Work placement(s)
Organizational remarks
The course evolves, year by year, according to the political topicality of international relations.
The slides of the courses are put online as and when classes are held.
If the course is a distancing learning course, the students will have access to the recordings of the sessions just after the course. Blackboard collaborate will make the recording of each course available for a maximum of two weeks. Then it will delete them.
Contacts
- Professor: Sebastian Santander (Office: R71, level 0 - tel. 04 366 30 46)
- Assistants:
Vincent Bricart (Bureau R77, niveau 0 - tel. 04.366.42.59, v.bricart@uliege.be)
Camille Schmitz (Bureau R77, niveau 0 - tel. 04.366.42.59, camille.schmitz@uliege.be)