Module Catalogue 2025/26

Pre Requisite Comment

N/A

Co Requisite Comment

N/A

Aims

The aim of this interdisciplinary module is to enable students to apply key concepts drawn from the study of gender, sexuality and the law to the legal regimes that govern armed conflict, including the laws in war and the laws of war, post-conflict legal structures and security agendas. It introduces students to the key aspects of the laws that regulate the use of force (jus ad bellum), collective security, the international humanitarian law of armed conflict, peacebuilding and peace processes. Students are required to reflect upon the critical ethical, political, and legal decision-making structures and their implication in and reproduction of gender norms and structures. Students will learn how to apply different approaches and understandings of gender and to use this to develop alternative legal approaches that re-balance the persistent gender inequalities that are experiences during armed conflict, the gender nature of harms and the gender structures of law. No prior knowledge of gender theory or the laws of war are required to take this module. The module is designed to develop skills in both gender and legal analysis from diverse disciplinary backgrounds.

Outline Of Syllabus

Introduction to Gender, Armed Conflict and International Law

Collective Security

Women, Peace and Security

Introduction to Feminist, Queer and Gender Theories

International Law on the Use of Force

Humanitarian Intervention

Counter-terrorism

International Humanitarian Law of Armed Conflict

Technology, Law and War

Environmental Security

Post-conflict Legal Structures: Peace Agreements, Peacebuilding and Peacekeeping - Pt 1 the legal regime

Post-conflict Legal Structures: Peace Agreements, Peacebuilding and Peacekeeping - Pt 2 gender analysis

Intended Knowledge Outcomes

Understand the impact of gender knowledge on legal regimes governing armed conflict (Knowledge Outcome 1 = KO1)


Appreciate diverse concepts and theories on gender, sexuality and the law (KO2)


Understand how diverse actors, including policy actors, practitioners, civil society actors, scholars and local women’s networks engage international legal institutions and structures during armed conflict and during post-conflict periods (KO3)


Appreciate the key debates surrounding the women, peace and security agenda (KO4)


Identify the main challenges and opportunities for gender law reform within the structures of international law (KO5)

Intended Skill Outcomes

Identify the key legal questions and controversies in the laws that govern armed conflict and collective security (Skills Outcome 1 = SO1)

Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of different theories and approaches in gender studies (SO2)

Apply diverse gender theories to legal regimes for governing armed conflict, security and post conflict (SO3)

Explore complex social, cultural, moral and legal questions that emerge from the study of gender and sexuality and the study of armed conflict (SO4)

Develop practical and legal alternatives to persistent issues and inequalities in the law (SO5)

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

Lecture
The first six weeks are knowledge focused to students develop a good grasp of the foundational concepts linked to KO 1, 2 and 4 / SO 1 and 2.

Small Group Teaching
After the weekly lecture students will have the opportunity to participate in a discussion style session to check understanding and to assist the develop of critical analytical skills required by the module. In some weeks two hours of small group teaching will be offered, this will reflect the emerging skills of students. (SO 3, 4 / KO 3, 4)

Scheduled on-line contact time
This will consolidate learning and offer students to check their understanding of the course materials and assessments (KO5/ SO5)

Workshops
Students will be given an opportunity to participate in a workshops that consolidates and develops their understanding of theory and its application to legal instruments and institutions.
(KO5 / SO 1 )

Structured research and reading activities
Module materials aid the understanding of key issues and concepts required to complete the module.
(KO1-5 / SO1-5)

Structured non-synchronous discussion
Online forums provide set tasks to prompt in-depth understanding of complex issues and their resolution.
(KO 3. 4. 5/ SO 4, 5)

Assessment preparation and completion
The tasks encourage legal writing and research skills, capacity for critical analysis and the application of theory to a persistent legal problem.
(KO 1-5/ SO 1-5)

Reflective Learning Activity

This encourages students to think beyond the materials and, through prompts, reflect on the ways in which the materials examined on the module interlock with wider questions around the relationship between gender, sexuality and the law.
*KO 2 / SO 3)

Independent Study
Reading, researching, viewing, reflecting, and synthesising material for each topic that goes beyond the set or further reading materials. This is expected to be different for each student, where the student is encouraged to use this time to fill gaps of knowledge or skills development.
(KO 1-5/ SO 1-5)

Online Study
This is specifically pertinent to the use of the legal materials that are required to succeed on the module – students will be given guides to the materials and will need to undertake online study to access and analyse these materials.
(KO 1/ SO 1 )

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

The module develops understanding of complex areas of law and skills in both gender and legal analysis. The two formative tasks offer students the opportunity to test their understanding of these skills and to receive feedback before they embark on their final assessment.

Formative Assessment

* Written Exercise – KO5 – SO1

Students are required to find a Security Council resolution and record the key gender issues that emerge, this is a focused task of legal research, legal reading and legal writing that focuses on skill and knowledge acquisition.

* Research Proposal – KO 2, 4, 5 – SO 1. 3, 4

Students are required to design and propose their research paper that demonstrates an understanding of the key legal questions and controversies in the laws that govern armed conflict and collective security, that identifies a relevant gender or feminist theory and how it can be used to analyse law. The proposal should identify how the research paper will explore the complex social, cultural, moral and legal questions that emerge from the study of gender and sexuality and the study of armed conflict

Summative Assessment

* Research paper (100%) 3,500-word limit critically evaluating the relationship between gender, armed conflict and international law (All KOs and SOs)

The summative assignment is at the end of the module. Students are expected to undertake an in-depth exploration into one sub-topic taught on the module and apply the knowledge learned from the entire syllabus. Each student assesses a gender or feminist theory, to examine its application to an area of law studied on the modules, before reflecting more broadly on what this means for international law, gender law reform and the regulation of armed conflict.

General Notes

N/A