New Security Challenges (919M1)

30 credits, Level 7 (Masters)

Autumn teaching

For much of the 20th century, Western academic institutions and policy circles defined security in predominantly state-centric terms, as the management of armed conflict between sovereign states. With the end of the Cold War, new sources of insecurity were identified and a ‘new agenda’ for security policy emerged. Links were drawn between security and issues such as:

• the environment
• development
• the spread of infectious diseases.

Events and processes such as 09/11 and the rapid development of cyberspace have caused further transformations in security thinking and policies. Engaging in this wide and constantly changing field, this module offers an advanced overview of contemporary security topics. You’ll:

• discuss different concepts of security
• analyse how and why certain phenomena become labelled as ‘security issues’
• reflect upon the political and policy effects of such labelling.

Contact hours and workload

This module is approximately 300 hours of work. This breaks down into about 33 hours of contact time and about 267 hours of independent study. The University may make minor variations to the contact hours for operational reasons, including timetabling requirements.

We regularly review our modules to incorporate student feedback, staff expertise, as well as the latest research and teaching methodology. We’re planning to run these modules in the academic year 2024/25. However, there may be changes to these modules in response to feedback, staff availability, student demand or updates to our curriculum.

We’ll make sure to let you know of any material changes to modules at the earliest opportunity.