Challenges to Peace in the Contemporary World 2751-KONJA-CPCW

The first session will be dedicated to organizational matters: the teacher will discuss the principles of conducting the course, the organization of the debates to be held, and the assessment criteria.

Subsequent sessions will focus on various aspects related to contemporary challenges to peace. Topics will be proposed by the students themselves. Each topic will be discussed in the form of an Oxford-style debate, in which two four-person teams will be assigned in advance to criticize or defend a previously established thesis. The debates will consist of exchanges between participants (5 minutes for each participant's presentation, followed by a maximum 15-minute series of polemics). This will be followed by a series of questions from the audience, composed of other participants. The entire session will conclude with a joint discussion on the evaluation of the debate itself, the arguments used, and possible alternatives not explored by the participants.

Unlike the classic Oxford-style debate, the debate will not be assessed using an extensive scoring system designed to determine a winner. The primary goal of the classes is to teach each other how to construct arguments, conduct a substantive conversation, as well as develop language skills and learn specialized vocabulary.

Total student workload

Hours of teacher involvement (3.5 ECTS): 30 hours - class participation 30 hours - face-to-face consultations (during office hours, online, and via email) 18 hours - consultations on developing original discussion topic proposals 9.5 hours - discussion of the debates and justification of grades Hours of independent student work (1.5 ECTS): 5 hours - reading assigned literature 10 hours - developing own discussion topic 22.5 hours - preparing to participate in debates

Learning outcomes - knowledge

K_W04: Student is aware of relations between social and political structures and institutions on nationa and international level, including international organisations and globalization processes. K_W05: Student knows relevant facts from World and Polish political history.

Learning outcomes - skills

K_U01: Student is able to interpret social and primarily political phenomena. K_U04: Student is able to communicate using the B2 level of a foreign language, including professional vocabulary from the political science area.

Learning outcomes - social competencies

K_K01: Student is ready to obtain knowledge, information, and data essential for problem-solving related to professional activity, especially related to the area of politics and administration.

Teaching methods

Discussion, presentation, and elements of a lecture.

Expository teaching methods

- discussion
- problem-based lecture

Exploratory teaching methods

- brainstorming
- Oxford

Type of course

elective course

Prerequisites

General knowledge of modern history and contemporary national and international politics. English language proficiency at least B1 level.

Course coordinators

Bartłomiej Różycki

Assessment criteria

In order to pass, the student needs to participate in at least two debates organized throughout the semester.

The criteria for improving thr grade are the following:

- preparing an original debate proposal (regardless of whether it will be used during classes): 2 points
- participating in the class as an audience member (questions for debaters, participation in debriefing discussions): 0.5 points per activity, max. 2 points
- outstanding participation in debates: 0.5-1 point per debate, max. 2 points

Final grade based on points earned:

3.0- 0 points (after meeting the requirement for passing the course)
3.5 - 1 point
4.0 - 2 points
4.5 - 3 points
5.0 - 4 points

Practical placement

Bibliography

Bradley G., Whitehouse D. (2012). Challenges to Peace in the 21st Century: Working towards a Good Information and Communication Society, Conference Paper in IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology · September 2012, DOI: 10.1007/978-3-642-33332-3_25.

Bar-Tal, D. (2011). Challenges for constructing peace culture and peace education. In E. Matthews, D. Newman, & M. Dajani (Eds.), The Israeli-Palestinian conflict: Parallel discourses (pp. 209-223). London: Rutledge.

Reychler L. (2006). International Journal of Peace Studies, Volume 11, Number 1, Spring/Summer 2006, Challenges of Peace Research.

Simons C., Zanker, F. (2012), Finding the Cases that Fit: Methodological Challenges in Peace Research, GIGA Working Papers, No. 189.

Oxford-style debate. Training for Judges, Arizona Board of Regents, https://azregents.edu/sites/default/files/2024-01/Oxford_2022.pdf

Moszoro M., Oxford-style Debate, http://www.moszoro.net/docs/Oxford_debate_guidelines.pdf

Oxford Style Debate, United States Courts, https://www.uscourts.gov/about-federal-courts/educational-resources/about-educational-outreach/activity-resources/oxford-style-debate

Additional information

Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system:

Description of 2751-KONJA-CPCW in USOSweb