United Nations, Peace and Security (University of Tampere)
Course: UN, Peace and Security
Credits: 5 ECTS
Time: 9 January – 25 March 2012 (10 weeks)
Coordinating University: University of Tampere
Instructors: Touko Piiparinen (The Finnish Institute of International Affairs), Tarja Seppä (University of Tampere), Klaus Törnudd (University of Helsinki), Unto Vesa (University of Tampere), Tarja Väyrynen (University of Tampere)
Coordinator: Tarja Seppä (University of Tampere), email: tarja.seppa@uta.fi
Teaching language: English
Registration time: 1 December-31 December 2011
Requirements for registration: A general requirement for the participation for the course is basic knowledge of international system and scientific writing. The number of students taken to the course is 90.
Objective/learning outcome: The aim of the course is to provide students the basic understanding of how the UN System works in dealing with issues of peace and security and how it has transformed to meet the emerging global challenges. After the course the students are able to critically analyze and understand UN’s activities in the field of peace and security.
Course Content and timetable: During the week 2 (9 Jan – 15 Jan): general instructions for the course, learn to use Moodle – virtual learning environment. In each section there will be a short video introduction to the theme by the teacher in charge. The course is composed of five parts:
I Introduction: Klaus Törnudd (U. of Helsinki) (week 3: 16.1.-22.1.)
General introduction to the theme: UN, Peace and Security (20 minutes video).
Reading some basic material/text and to acquaint oneself to the UN web-page, www.un.org especially Peace and Security section.
II Crises management and peace keeping: Touko Piiparinen (U. of Helsinki) (week 4: 23.1.-29.1.)
The aim of the section is to examine the multifaceted role the UN plays in international crisis management, including its operations, functions and structure. The section will demonstrate the way in which UN peacekeeping and crisis management has been transformed in order to respond to the challenges and changes of the global security environment. The case studies will include the birth of UN peace operations and traditional peacekeeping in the Cold War, the rise of multifunctional peace operations in the 1980s, the crisis of UN crisis management in the 1990s, and the present state.
Essay: Week 5: 30.1.-5.2. The students will be provided with two optional essay questions, of which a student must answer to one question. The length of the essay must be approximately five pages. Dead-line for the essay is by the end of the module.
III Disarmament: Unto Vesa (U. of Tampere) (week 6: 6.2.-12.2.)
The aim of the module dealing with disarmament is to provide students with sufficient conceptual methods and critical understanding of the issue area, so that at the end of the course they are able to understand the present disarmament issues on the agenda of international negotiations and, to the degree possible, to consider potential means of influencing the relevant processes, i.e. it is also education for disarmament.
Essays: Week 7: 13.2.-19.2.
The students will be provided with two optional essay questions, of which a student must answer to one question. The length of the essay must be approximately five pages. Dead-line for the essay is by the end of the module.
IV Gender, peace and security : Tarja Väyrynen (U. of Tampere) (week 8: 20.2.-26.2.)
The aim of the module is to familiarize the student with such concepts as sex, gender, peace, security, femininity and masculinity. The starting-point of the module is the observation that ‘New Wars’ are different from the earlier inter-state wars. New wars have gendered consequences since the role of the civilian population is complex in them. UN measures to tackle with these wars include gender awareness and gender mainstreaming. The module will examine also the UN documents that focus on gender elements as well as the practical measures taken by the UN. In short, the aim of the module is to raise the critical awareness of the student concerning gender, war, peace and security within the UN structure.
Essays: Week 9: 27.2.-4.3. The students will be provided with two optional essay questions, of which a student must answer to one question. The length of the essay must be approximately five pages. Dead-line for the essay is by the end of the module.
Break between periods III and IV – week 10 – 5.3.-11.3.
V Human security and protection of civilians: Tarja Seppä (U. of Tampere) (week 11: 12.3.-18.3.)
After finishing this module students have acquired knowledge and critical understanding of the concepts of human security, protection of civilians and the responsibility to protect and their interrelationships. Special attention is paid to the principle of responsibility to protect, how it first was accepted at the UN and how it has been developed. A common denominator for these concepts and principles is to provide security and well-being for civilians, for people, cf. state security.
International security environment has changed because of the changed nature of wars. So called new wars concern especially civilians. Thus, the question is human security and human rights violations. The starting point for this module is the idea of the close relations between security and human rights. Human security discourse could suggest that a human being cannot be safe if her/his life is in danger in her/his own country. The principle of the responsibility to protect aims to tackle these questions.
Group work: Week 12 :19.3.- 25.3.
A group of students will be given a question or questions. A group response is prepared by discussing of the question/s given. In each group there will be 5 students.
Learning Methods: Students are supposed to get acquainted with the study material, write reflective essays and take part in group work/discussions.
Study Material: The course is web-based. Each teacher will provide learning material composing of relevant articles, documents, videos. Each teacher will also provide students his/her own theme related material.
Course Design: Students are expected to study individually, take part in group discussions and write essays. Essays are related to parts II, III and IV. For the group work/discussion in part V, students are divided into groups of five. In each module there is a discussion forum.
Assessment: Grade 1-5. The final mark will consist equally of all four parts of the course – three essays and one group discussion, each 25 %. For the essays, the students will be provided with two optional essay questions which a student must answer to one question. The assessment of the essays will examine the capacity of a student to establish his/her arguments and apply information provided at the module. In a good essay, there are extensive references to course materials, possibly to additional reading and it incorporates a student's own critical analysis and views of the topics. In a group work/discussion attention will be paid to how the given question was discussed, how it was understood, how different perspectives were put forward, and how different arguments were developed. Active participation is expected for the whole course.