SEC8101 Researching Security: Interdisciplinary Methods
- Offered for Year: 2025
- Module Leader(s): Dr Gethin Rees
- Owning School: Geography, Politics & Sociology
- Teaching Location: Newcastle City Campus
- Capacity limit: 999 student places
Semesters
Your programme is made up of credits, the total differs on programme to programme.
| Semester 1 Credit Value: | 20 |
| ECTS Credits: | 10.0 |
Aims
The module aims to give students an understanding of interdisciplinary methods and how they can be used to study international security. This will provide students with a foundation for critically engaging with the disciplines within the programme – Law, Sociology, Politics, and Geography. It will be especially useful for their dissertations.
Outline Of Syllabus
Indicative course content will cover:
- The concept of interdisciplinarity and how to conceptualise security from an interdisciplinary perspective
- Understanding the philosophical, methodological, and disciplinary intersections across the programme disciplines
- How to study the social complexity and reality of security across disciplines
- How to design research questions
- Ethics and reflexivity in research
- How to source materials
- Applying methods within and outside academia, including the public and private sectors
- Translating research and security ideas into a viable postgraduate dissertation
Intended Knowledge Outcomes
Upon completion of the module, students will develop a comprehensive critical understanding of:
- Security from different disciplinary perspectives
- Applying an interdisciplinary security approach to different scenarios
- The philosophical foundations of different methods and disciplinary practices
- Ethical issues and guidelines in social research
Intended Skills Outcomes
Upon completion of the module, students will be able to:
- Demonstrate skills in close reading, critical thinking, and analysis
- Achieve independence in their learning
- Express complex ideas clearly, both verbally and in writing
Teaching Methods
Teaching Activities
| Category | Activity | Number | Length | Student Hours | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Small group teaching | 2 | 2:00 | 4:00 | Lecture + seminar (library and study skills) |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Small group teaching | 4 | 2:00 | 8:00 | Lecture + interactive Q&A, delivered by POL8041 |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Small group teaching | 3 | 2:00 | 6:00 | Lecture + interactive Q&A (bespoke security sessions – intro, theory, law) |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Small group teaching | 1 | 3:00 | 3:00 | Seminar, delivered by POL8041 |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Small group teaching | 3 | 1:00 | 3:00 | Seminar |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Small group teaching | 2 | 2:00 | 4:00 | Reflective workshops building towards assignment (online; synchronous timetabled) |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Drop-in/surgery | 1 | 2:00 | 2:00 | Support for assessment |
| Guided Independent Study | Directed research and reading | 1 | 100:00 | 100:00 | Independent reading |
| Guided Independent Study | Assessment preparation and completion | 1 | 70:00 | 70:00 | Writing up assignment |
| Total | 200:00 | ||||
Assessment Methods
Other Assessment
| Description | Semester | When Set | Percentage | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Research paper | 1 | M | 100% | Summative assessment: Research proposal including research question, brief lit review, overview of methodological approach, relevance to international security, ethical statement, and action plan/timeline (3500 words) |
Assessment Rationale And Relationship
The submitted research proposal will enable students to demonstrate their understanding of how international security can be studied from an interdisciplinary perspective. It will also enable them to showcase their critical thinking and academic writing skills.