PO3EXW: Experiencing War

Module code: PO3EXW

Module provider: Politics; School of Philosophy, Politics and Economics

Credits: 20

Level: Level 3 (Honours)

When you'll be taught: Semester 1

Module convenor: Dr Harmonie Toros, email: h.toros@reading.ac.uk

Pre-requisite module(s):

Co-requisite module(s):

Pre-requisite or Co-requisite module(s):

Module(s) excluded:

Placement information: NA

Academic year: 2024/5

Available to visiting students: Yes

Talis reading list: Yes

Last updated: 23 May 2024

Overview

Module aims and purpose

What is the lived experience of war? How does it differ from theories of war? This module examines the many different roles and experiences of human beings at and in war. It begins with an introduction to how we can understand the notion of “experience” and how we may be able to access some else’s experience of an event. It then examines what it means for humans to have agency in war and how to conceptualize agency. With this theoretical grounding, the module then examines the roles of key actors in war: combatants (both state and non-state), civilians (men, women and children), and third parties (peacekeepers, private security/military actors, journalists, and academics). These categories will be investigated in terms of their lived experience, recognizing that many of these categories overlap. This will be examined through testimonies of guest speakers as well as written, audio, photographic, and video material in an attempt to access experiential knowledge of war. 

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module, it is expected that students will be able to:

1. Demonstrate an understanding of what experiential knowledge is and explain the key issues around the concepts of experience and agency
2. Reason critically and independently about the ethical challenges of investigating another person’s experience, particularly of traumatic events
3. Show knowledge of recent work war experience and social and political theory framings of experiential knowledge
4. Demonstrate understanding of how to critically assess documents and apply this knowledge to testimonies of war
5. Advance their wider skills of critical analysis, and their ability to articulate their ideas orally and in writing

Module content

Topics will include:

• The concept of experience and agency
• The key actors in warfare
• Data collection methods in searching testimonies of war
• Methodology in interviewing to access experiential knowledge
• Ethics of researching war experience

Lectures and seminars will link these theoretical topics and methods to real-world testimonies of war.

Structure

Teaching and learning methods

The module is taught through a series of 10 three-hour weekly lecture-seminar sessions involving lecture, group work analyzing testimonies of war, or talks and question and answer sessions with guest speakers. The lectures provide an introduction to the theoretical and practical issues concerning agency and war experience, problems in addressing experiential knowledge and understanding human experience, and the sociology of warfare. The sessions also provide a forum for the use of a variety of different teaching approaches that encourage student participation. Students will have opportunities to ask questions, add comments, analyse primary documents, and otherwise engage in discussion with fellow students and the module convenor. Film clips, audio clips, photography and debate will be used to facilitate an active approach to learning. 

Study hours

At least 22 hours of scheduled teaching and learning activities will be delivered in person, with the remaining hours for scheduled and self-scheduled teaching and learning activities delivered either in person or online. You will receive further details about how these hours will be delivered before the start of the module.

Please note the independent study hours above are notional numbers of hours; each student will approach studying in different ways. We would advise you to reflect on your learning and the number of hours you are allocating to these tasks.

Semester 1 The hours in this column may include hours during the Christmas holiday period.

Semester 2 The hours in this column may include hours during the Easter holiday period.

Summer The hours in this column will take place during the summer holidays and may be at the start and/or end of the module.

Assessment

Requirements for a pass

Students need to achieve an overall module mark of 40% to pass this module.

Summative assessment

Penalties for late submission of summative assessment

The Support Centres will apply the following penalties for work submitted late:

Assessments with numerical marks

• where the piece of work is submitted after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): 10% of the total marks available for that piece of work will be deducted from the mark for each working day (or part thereof) following the deadline up to a total of three working days;
• the mark awarded due to the imposition of the penalty shall not fall below the threshold pass mark, namely 40% in the case of modules at Levels 4-6 (i.e. undergraduate modules for Parts 1-3) and 50% in the case of Level 7 modules offered as part of an Integrated Masters or taught postgraduate degree programme;
• where the piece of work is awarded a mark below the threshold pass mark prior to any penalty being imposed, and is submitted up to three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline), no penalty shall be imposed;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): a mark of zero will be recorded.

Assessments marked Pass/Fail

• where the piece of work is submitted within three working days of the deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): no penalty will be applied;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): a grade of Fail will be awarded.

The University policy statement on penalties for late submission can be found at: https://www.reading.ac.uk/cqsd/-/media/project/functions/cqsd/documents/qap/penaltiesforlatesubmission.pdf

You are strongly advised to ensure that coursework is submitted by the relevant deadline. You should note that it is advisable to submit work in an unfinished state rather than to fail to submit any work.

Formative assessment

Formative assessment is any task or activity which creates feedback (or feedforward) for you about your learning, but which does not contribute towards your overall module mark.

Students will have a workshop to present their choice of testimony ahead of the second assignment to discuss their choice and what aspects of experiential knowledge they will examine in their written work.  

Reassessment

Additional costs