58勛圖

IR5837 An Introduction to National Minorities, The State and Conflict

Academic year

2026 to 2027 Semester 1

Further information on which modules are specific to your programme.

Key module information

SCOTCAT credits

15

The Scottish Credit Accumulation and Transfer (SCOTCAT) system allows credits gained in Scotland to be transferred between institutions. The number of credits associated with a module gives an indication of the amount of learning effort required by the learner. European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) credits are half the value of SCOTCAT credits.

SCQF level

SCQF level 11

The Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) provides an indication of the complexity of award qualifications and associated learning and operates on an ascending numeric scale from Levels 1-12 with SCQF Level 10 equating to a Scottish undergraduate Honours degree.

Availability restrictions

This module is only available to students enrolled on one of the School of IR's distance-learning PGT programmes.

Module coordinator

Dr R A Brubaker

Dr R A Brubaker
This information is given as indicative. Staff involved in a module may change at short notice depending on availability and circumstances.

Module Staff

Dr Rebecca Brubaker

This information is given as indicative. Staff involved in a module may change at short notice depending on availability and circumstances.

Module description

What are national minorities? And why is it important to study state policies towards these groups in order to understand nationbuilding and security practices in the 20th and 21st centuries? This module offers an overview of the origins of population engineering policies and tracks states' efforts to restore, maintain, build or transform their national identities. It invites students to examine current events in light of this framing. The course will explore the dominant state approaches towards national minorities and consider the conditions under which states choose one policy over another. Finally, the course will examine the legal infrastructure that emerged to help protect national minorities in times of war and peace.

Relationship to other modules

Anti-requisites

YOU CANNOT TAKE THIS MODULE IF YOU TAKE IR3087

Assessment pattern

Coursework = 100%

Re-assessment

Coursework = 100%

Learning and teaching methods and delivery

Weekly contact

There are no fixed weekly contact hours. The module is made up of six units; each unit will include roughly 1h of pre-recorded content and associated asynchronous discussions and activities.

Scheduled learning hours

12

The number of compulsory student:staff contact hours over the period of the module.

Guided independent study hours

132

The number of hours that students are expected to invest in independent study over the period of the module.

Intended learning outcomes

  • Critically engage with the historical and political context around state policies towards national minorities
  • Assess the nature of state policies towards national minorities in a range of key cases.
  • Critically evaluate these policies
  • Anticipate future policies and risks of conflict
  • Become familiar with existing international legal protections for national minorities.