Ethics and International Relations

The course is divided in 12 teaching units of 100 minutes each. Each teaching unit comprises 50 minutes of lecture, a ten-minute break, and about 40 minutes of seminar and/or students’ presentations. The seminar is structured around exercises and discussions related to the topic of the lecture previously delivered, and requires the student to have covered the readings in order to be able to actively participate in class discussions. The first lecture presents an overview of the course and its contents, the last one a summary of all previous lectures.

Frontal lecture, seminar, in-class presentation.

The student’s performance is assessed with regard to attendance and in-class performance, the production of essays, and a presentation. 10% of the overall assessment is determined by evaluating the student’s degree and quality of participation in class activities, including attendance. 70% of the assessment is determined by two essays (each with a 35% weight) which the student will submit to the course leader in the weeks following lecture 8, and then shortly after the end of the course, respectively. Each essay should be about 2,500 word long and referenced. It should consist in the answer to a question chosen from a list which the course leader will circulate in advance. The course leader will announce the related deadlines during the course. The essays must be submitted via Turnitin. 20% of the assessment is determined by a presentation held by the student on an ethical question occurring in the international political domain. It could be either related to the presentation of a particular theoretical work or theory, or a case study. The topic should be previously agreed with the course leader. The calendar of the presentations will be agreed once the class size has stabilised by lecture 3 or 4.

Only as a general orientation in the various topics, the following textbook is indicated a valid starting point: Duncan Bell (ed.), Ethics and World Politics, Oxford University Press, 2010. Other sources: Patrick Hayden (ed.), Ethics and International Relations, Routledge, 2013. Niger Dower, The Ethics of War and Peace, Polity, 2009. Uwe Steinhoff, On the Ethics of War and Terrorism, Oxford University Press, 2007

More precise bibliographical information will be indicated for each lecture.

This class is open to all students, including those with no background in politics or ethical theory.