Course Title: Global Security Challenges
Part A: Course Overview
Course Title: Global Security Challenges
Credit Points: 12.00
Important Information:
Please note that this course may have compulsory in-person attendance requirements for some teaching activities.
To participate in any RMIT course in-person activities or assessment, you will need to comply with RMIT vaccination requirements which are applicable during the duration of the course. This RMIT requirement includes being vaccinated against COVID-19 or holding a valid medical exemption.
Please read this RMIT Enrolment Procedure as it has important information regarding COVID vaccination and your study at RMIT: https://policies.rmit.edu.au/document/view.php?id=209.
Please read the Student website for additional requirements of in-person attendance: https://www.rmit.edu.au/covid/coming-to-campus.
Please check your Canvas course shell closer to when the course starts to see if this course requires mandatory in-person attendance. The delivery method of the course might have to change quickly in response to changes in the local state/national directive regarding in-person course attendance.
Terms
Course Code |
Campus |
Career |
School |
Learning Mode |
Teaching Period(s) |
HUSO2434 |
City Campus |
Postgraduate |
365H Global, Urban and Social Studies |
Face-to-Face or Internet |
Sem 2 2022 |
Course Coordinator: Associate Professor Charlie Hunt
Course Coordinator Phone: +61 3 99253074
Course Coordinator Email: charles.hunt@rmit.edu.au
Course Coordinator Location: Building 37 Level 5 Room 13
Course Coordinator Availability: By appointment
Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities
None
Course Description
This course provides you with an introduction to the concepts, practices and issues surrounding contemporary global security.
It draws on a range of theoretical perspectives and discourses to enable students to sharpen their analysis of global security challenges and better understand which issues are securitised and why and how security issues intersect. Traditional state-centric conceptions of security will be contrasted with critical and emerging conceptions including human and ecological security as the course explores the contested and changing nature of the concept of security. It pushes beyond a focus on national security to take in a truly global perspective on security challenges facing the world today while also examining how they manifest at the local level.
The course will cover a range of traditional and non-traditional security challenges including the evolution of war and how it is fought, the impact of new technologies, the rise in transnational organised crime and terrorism, the implications of environmental degradation and climate change as well as the effects of global health pandemics.
Objectives/Learning Outcomes/Capability Development
Program Learning Outcomes
In this course you will develop the following program learning outcomes:
- Critically analyse, synthesise and reflect on the immediate effects and broader consequences of global sustainability challenges, including the interplay of ecological, economic, political, social and cultural factors
- Develop and use appropriate research strategies, methods and tools to generate knowledge to inform decision-making in diverse social, cultural and geographic contexts
- Provide professional leadership by determining and applying the specialist knowledge and technical skills required to creatively solve problems, demonstrating expert judgment and ethical responsibility
- Critically analyse, synthesize and reflect on diverse knowledges, practices and lived experiences to extend and challenge the discipline and the field
Course Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to:
- Evaluate the ways in which competing security discourses shape the policies and practices of particular actors
- Explain the key political, historical and cultural characteristics of contemporary global security challenges
- Analyse the challenges posed by an emergent security threat and develop advice to inform policy and practice
- Collaborate and share knowledge and insights into Global Security Challenges with peers
Overview of Learning Activities
You will be actively engaged in a range of learning activities such as lectures, tutorials, seminars, project work, class discussion, individual and group activities. Delivery may be face to face, online or a mix of both.
Overview of Learning Resources
You will be given access to a wide range of resources through a Course Reader or core textbook and also will be able to access a wide range of online learning tools and content for your course from via Canvas, and RMIT Library resources. These resources will include book chapters, journal articles, media articles, lecture notes, bibliographies for supplementary reading, video, and links to external websites. You will have the opportunity to contribute collectively to class resources by sharing your own research findings and sources with your peers.
There are services available to support your learning through the RMIT Library. The Library provides guides on academic referencing and subject specialist help as well as a range of study support services. For further information, please visit the Library page on the RMIT University website and the Canvas student portal.
Overview of Assessment
You will be assessed on how well you meet the course’s learning outcomes and on your development against the program learning outcomes.
Assessment Tasks
Assessment Task 1: Op-Ed article – 800 words (20%) CLO1
Assessment Task 2: Scenario-based exercise – 5-10min oral presentation and feedback session – (20%) CLO1, CLO2, CLO4
Assessment Task 3: Briefing Paper/Policy Brief – 2,000 words (40%) CLO1, CLO2, CLO3
Assessment Task 4: Participation and collaboration – 600-word reflective report + participation across semester (20%) CLO4
Feedback will be given on all assessment tasks.
If you have a long term medical condition and/or disability it may be possible to negotiate to vary aspects of the learning or assessment methods. You can contact the program coordinator or Equitable Learning Services if you would like to find out more.
Your course assessment conforms to RMIT assessment principles, regulations, policies, procedures and instructions.