Interactive Syllabus

Introduction to International Relations and European Studies (IREb1001/IREn5501)

Lecturers:

Petr Kaniok, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

Department of International Relations and European Studies

Faculty of Social Studies, Masaryk University, Brno

Phone: 549 493 571

Email: kaniok@fss.muni.cz

Kateřina Fridrichová, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Department of International Relations and European Studies

Faculty of Social Studies, Masaryk University, Brno

Phone: 549 496 761

Email: fridrichova@fss.muni.cz

Essay evaluation

Lenka Martinkova

Assistant

Department of International Relations and European Studies

Faculty of Social Studies, Masaryk University, Brno

Email: 397457@muni.cz

Course Objectives and Description

This course aims to provide students with a historical and conceptual background in the disciplines of International Relations and European Studies, thus making it possible to gain an appropriate understanding of major events, processes, and actors in international and European politics. In the first part of the course, the students are introduced to the most important concepts and issues in International Relations that constitute the underlying structure of the modern international system and substantially shape the behavior of its actors. In the second part, the focus of this course moves toward the process of European Integration as embodied in the European Union. Students are introduced to key milestones of the integration process, a basic overview of the EU decision-making system, and the content of the most important policies. The course also summarizes the most important events and trends shaping recent developments in the EU.

Assignments and Grading for IREb1001 enrolled students:

This is a pass/fail course. In order to pass, students must meet the following criteria and at the same time achieve a score of 60% of available points.

• Submit 8 short essays referring to sessions 2-7 and 8-12 respectively. (See instructions below.)
• Take two tests during the semester, with 25 points available each. The dates of the tests are indicated in the syllabus, students write them in computer labs.

If students don't achieve 60% (40 points) for papers and semester tests, they can replace the test points via a test that covers both sections of the course.

Assignments and Grading for IREn5501 enrolled students:

This is a pass/fail course. In order to pass, students must meet the following criteria and at the same time achieve a score of 60% of available points.

• Take two tests during the semester, with 25 points available each.  The dates of the tests are indicated in the syllabus, students write them in computer labs.

Class essays:

For IREb1001 enrolled students: Each student is required to submit 8 short essays referring to sessions 2-7 and 8-12 respectively and dealing with the essay topics/questions assigned to each session. Please note there are eleven sessions available, so out of these, you choose eight to which you wish to submit your essay. 

Each essay must conform to formal requirements (font size 12, one-and-half spacing, text even in one column, appropriate referencing, and at least 2 additional resources beyond the assigned reading) and consist of two parts: a summary of the readings (half a page), and your own views/criticism (up to 1 page). Essays must be uploaded into IS two days before the respective session is held. 

For each essay you can get up to 2 points; therefore, the overall value is up to 16 points. Students repeating the course do not have to resubmit papers evaluated for 2 points last year. Please see the guide on "How to write a position paper" below. This guide can help you to get the overall knowledge and guidance on how to write an academic paper in general.

AI-generated text is unacceptable and the detection of such text will be subjected to plagiarism rules. It is possible to work with the information offered by AI, but it must be reformulated in one's own words, and using AI to create the final text is not possible. Language or translating apps as Grammarly or Google Translate are not considered AI, therefore can and SHOULD be used to improve the quality and comprehensiveness of the text.

DEADLINE for submission is SUNDAY 18:00 pm before the lecture. Later submissions will not be accepted!!!

Feedback and evaluation will be usually provided within 5 working days. However, due to the number of students in the class, it can take up to ten working days in exceptional cases. Thank you for understanding.

Workload

369 pages of assigned readings (29 pages per week, based on a semester of 13 weeks)

Petr Kaniok can be reached either face to face (Tuesday 10.00 - 11.00, Wednesday 14-15) or via Teams (upon request). 

Kateřina Fridrichová can be reached either face to face in Office 4.48  (Tuesdays and Thursdays 10.00 - 11.00 a.m.) 

Lenka Martinkova can be reached either face to face in Office 4.55b (Tuesday 17.00 - 18.00 pm) or via Teams preferably during office hours or after the previous appointment via mail.