Politics and International Relations
Unit outlines will be available through Find a unit outline two weeks before the first day of teaching for 1000-level and 5000-level units, or one week before the first day of teaching for all other units.
Politics and International Relations
Advanced coursework
Advanced Coursework requires completion of a minimum of 36 credit points, including:
(i) 24 credit points of advanced coursework stream core units of study; and
(ii) a research, community, industry or entrepreneurship project of at least 12 and up to 24 credit points.
Advanced Coursework stream core units of study
GOVT4603 Wicked Problems and Policy Innovation
Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Please refer to the unit of study outline for individual sessions https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x2hr lecture/week, 1x1hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: 24 credit points at 3000-level in the Politics and International Relations stream, including GOVT3601 and a minimum of 126 credit points Assessment: 1x1000wd equivalent policy briefing (presentation) (15%), 1x3500wd final policy analysis (70%), participation (15%). Please refer to the unit of study outline for individual sessions https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Students have encountered the study of public policy and administration in theory as well as practice. This unit builds on, and challenges, their understanding by looking at wicked problems: those that are multi-dimensional, multi-scalar, and inter-disciplinary. It encourages them to engage deeply with the challenges of contemporary policy-making. Because the topics are "wicked", the approach to them will be flipped so that rather than going from the general to the specific, the reverse will be the case. Students will be challenged to take what appears to be a simple problem, but as it is a sub-set of a broader and more complex set of issues, to go from a narrow to broad conception of it.
GOVT4604 Advanced Topics in Politics and IR
Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Please refer to the unit of study outline for individual sessions https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x2hr lecture/week, 1x1hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: 24 credit points at 3000-level in the Politics and International Relations stream, including GOVT3601 and a minimum of 126 credit points Assessment: 2x750wd short provocation writen responses (30%), 1x3000wd extended masterclass response (55%), participation (15%). Please refer to the unit of study outline for individual sessions https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit presents a set of four 'master classes' on contemporary issues in politics and international relations. Each master class is taught by an expert in the field, using the latest high-level literature on the topic as a base line to establish the topic, look at conventional and unconventional understandings of the topic, and provide a foundation for students to explore the topic using their own understandings of theory and practice in politics and international relations. At the end of the course, the students will have produced a series of provocative responses to the master class topics, and a depth analysis of one topic of their choice.
SSPS4101 Social Sciences and Social Change
Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Please refer to the unit of study outline for individual sessions https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x1hr lecture/week, 1x1hr workshop/week, 1x1hr curated online discussion forum/week Prerequisites: ANTH3998 or ANTH3999 or CRIM3998 or CRIM3999 or ECOP3998 or ECOP3999 or GOVT3898 or GOVT3900 or SCLG3998 or SCLG3999 or SLSS3998 or SLSS3999 Assumed knowledge: 36 credits points towards a major in a relevant subject area in the social sciences or humanities Assessment: 1x1000wd project outline (short answer questions) (25%), 1x1000wd online discussion contribution (25%), 1x2500wd change proposal (50%). Please refer to the unit of study outline for individual sessions https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Life today is characterised by mounting concerns over inequality, oppression and environmental sustainability. Following Karl Marx's insistence that "The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways. The point, however, is to change it", the unit engages with exploring other possible ways of organising the world in which we live. Social scientists are well placed to diagnose and propose responses to the biggest challenges we face. Students will apply a social science lens to persistent problems in our economy, society and environment. The unit evaluates prevailing and alternative policy models in the context of the forces shaping and contesting states and economies.
SSPS4102 Data Analytics in the Social Sciences
Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Please refer to the unit of study outline for individual sessions https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x3hr workshop/week Prerequisites: ANTH3998 or ANTH3999 or CRIM3998 or CRIM3999 or ECOP3998 or ECOP3999 or GOVT3898 or GOVT3900 or SCLG3998 or SCLG3999 or SLSS3998 or SLSS3999 Assumed knowledge: 36 credits points towards a major in a relevant subject area in the social sciences or humanities Assessment: 1x1000wd short essay (20%), 1x1500wd data visualization and communication exercise (40%), 1x2000wd big data analysis exercise (40%). Please refer to the unit of study outline for individual sessions https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Our lives are increasingly shaped by data, not only from official government agencies but from diverse sources in our social world. As the sources, form and content of data diversify somust the social science techniques for analysing and using that data. This unit of study focuses on the world of big data. It equips students with an understanding of how the emergence of big data has expanded the power and scope of the social sciences and of how to make use of big data for social science purposes. It introduces some key techniques for presenting, communicating, and analysing data, including data visualisation and pattern discovery.
INGS4002 Identity, Politics, Globalisation
Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x2 hour lecture/week, 1x1 tutorial/week Prerequisites: INGS3998 or INGS3999 Assessment: 1x1000wd Critical analysis of a case study (20%), 1x1000wd Outline of case study to be presented to the class, with peer review (15%), 1x2500wd Case study (65%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
How do we build a political life in this contemporary moment? In this unit, we examine our individual affinities to objects of global concern by focusing on ideologies, identities, practices and politics that have drawn together and divided people around the world. Selecting from fields of study spanning feminisms, environmentalisms, policy, Indigenous, queer and cultural studies to focus on one or more objects of global interest, this unit addresses, as its core, the diverse formations of politics and identities emergent from these global objects.
Advanced Coursework stream project units of study
SSPS4111 The Future of Work
Credit points: 12 Teacher/Coordinator: Please refer to the unit of study outline for individual sessions https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x2hr seminars/week, 1x2hr workshop/week Prerequisites: ANTH3998 or ANTH3999 or CRIM3998 or CRIM3999 or ECOP3998 or ECOP3999 or GOVT3898 or GOVT3900 or SCLG3998 or SCLG3999 or SLSS3998 or SLSS3999 Assumed knowledge: 36 credits points towards a major in a relevant subject area in the social sciences or humanities Assessment: 1x2500wd literature review (20%), 3x500wd equivalent quizzes (15%), 4x500wd equivalent research minutes (group) (15%), 1x6000wd research report (group) (50%). Please refer to the unit of study outline for individual sessions https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Technological disruption, demographic change, globalisation and economic transformation are having a profound impact on the quantity and quality of jobs, how and by whom work is undertaken as well as the distribution of income and well-being. Such changes make the future of work challenging for all societies in the 21st Century. This project unit offers students the opportunity to explore the historical, contemporary and potential future(s) of the role of 'work' in the national and international context. Students will engage in primary and secondary research, with research experts within and external to the University, and apply social science expertise to contemporary public debate.
GOVT4621 Politics and IR Placement A
Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Please refer to the unit of study outline for individual sessions https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Session: Semester 1,Semester 2 Classes: 1x3hr intensive seminar at beginning of semester, 1x preliminary meeting with placement organisation and academic supervisor, 2x individual (hour) or small group (one hour) meeting with academic supervisor during semester, 1x130hr placement Prerequisites: A minimum of 126 credit points, including (GOVT3601 and 18 credit points at 3000-level in the Politics and International Relations stream) Prohibitions: GOVT4612 or GOVT4622 Assessment: 1x1250wd literature review (25%), 1x2500wd major project report (50%), 1x750wd poster presentation (25%). Please refer to the unit of study outline for individual sessions https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit, an integral part of the fourth year Politics and International Relations Stream, takes the form of an intensive one-semester internship with a placement organisation. Students will have the opportunity to develop their knowledge and skills in practical contexts through working in an organisation and being supported by academic guidance and assessments designed to connect theory with real-world practice. Entryto this unit is subject to first securing an offer of a placement. In certain limited circumstances, this unit may be taken in conjunction with GOVT4622.
GOVT4622 Politics and IR Placement (12cp)
Credit points: 12 Teacher/Coordinator: Please refer to the unit of study outline for individual sessions https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Session: Semester 1,Semester 2 Classes: 1x3hr intensive seminar at beginning of semester, 1x preliminary meeting with placement organisation and academic supervisor, 1x mid-year review meeting with placement organisation and supervisor, 6x individual (half hour) or small group (one hour) meeting with academic supervisor during semester, 1x3hr intensive peer review seminar (conclusion), 1x240hr placement Prerequisites: 24 credit points at 3000 level in the Politics and International Relations stream, including GOVT3601 and a minimum of 126 credit points Prohibitions: GOVT4612 Assessment: 1x1500wd annotated bibliography (15%), 1x750wd expectations document (10%), 3x500wd placement journal (15%), 1x1000wd closeout presentation (10%), 1x4250wd final report (50%). Please refer to the unit of study outline for individual sessions https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit, an integral part of the fourth year Politics and International Relations Stream, takes the form of an intensive one-semester internship with a placement organisation. Students will have the opportunity to develop their knowledge and skills in practical contexts through working in organisation and being supported by academic guidance and assessments designed to connect theory with real-world practice.