Politics and Societies in the BRICS States

2023/2024

Учебный год

ENG

Обучение ведется на английском языке

4

Кредиты

Кто читает:

Департамент политологии и международных отношений

Статус:

Курс по выбору

Когда читается:

3-й курс, 1, 2 модуль

Преподаватели

Аркатов Дмитрий Александрович

Клещенко Людмила Леонидовна

Морозова Валентина Сергеевна

Смирнова Ольга Викторовна

Course Syllabus

Abstract

The course ‘Politics and society in BRICS countries’ covers main issues of current political, social and economic development of BRICS countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Main goal of the course is to provide students with solid data and insights in internal issues of BRICS countries through reading relevant literature and having in-class discussions.

Learning Objectives

• As the major learning outcome, we expect students to learn how to conduct high-qualified research on political and social aspects of development on foreign countries and prepare themselves to work with complex international issues.

Expected Learning Outcomes

• can solve professional problems based on synthesis and analysis
• can retrieve, collect, process and analyze information relevant for achieving goals in the professional field
• can find, define and use the information from different sources required for solving of research and professional problems

Course Contents

• Introduction to BRICS
• Russia and BRICS
• Harmony and influence: traditional chinese culture's contribution to China's role within BRICS
• Brazil
• Latin America and BRICS
• India
• South Africa
• Summary of the course

Assessment Elements

• In-class test
  Each seminar starts with 10-minute long test to assess how the student comprehended the material given during the lectures. Each test consists of 10 closed ended questions based on the topic of the previous lectures. Each question is worth 1 points, thus a student can acquire up to 10 points per test.
• Essay
  In the end of the course the students must write an essay on one of the topic that were covered during the course. Since the course is area studies-oriented, the essay can be written with more country-specific details, but still include all relevant theories and concepts covered previously. The essay consists of 4 parts: Introduction, The main part, Conclusion and Bibliography. In the introductory part, students must give a background on the issue; state a research question; give an argument that will be proven or disproven later; structure of the text. The main part is an agrumentative one, where students must prove their point using theoretical backgrounds and relevant data such as statistics. In conclusion, student must provide a summary on the issue as well as unaswered questions that may be researched later. The essay must be 2000 words long, 12 font Times New Roman, with 1.5 spacing. Citations are done using APA style. Bibliography should include no less than 5 relevant and relatively new scientific sources. Plagiarism is strongly prohibited and will result in 0 without any possibilities to retake.
• Exam
  A student can be exempted from the exam on the lecturer's decision. If this is the case the grade for the course is grade point average for other forms of assessment. If not, the student is given 1 question and has 60 minutes to answer it.

Interim Assessment

• 2023/2024 2nd module
  0.33 * Essay + 0.34 * Exam + 0.33 * In-class test

Bibliography

Recommended Core Bibliography

• Pan, C. (2015). Understanding Chinese Identity in International Relations: A Critique of Western Approaches. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsbas&AN=edsbas.B31BB10D
• Why traditional Chinese philosophy still matters : the relevance of ancient wisdom for the global..., , 2019

Recommended Additional Bibliography

• Harry Irwin. (1996). Communicating with Asia : Understanding People and Customs. Routledge.