Interested in political ideas? Do you like to take responsibility for your learning by defining your own topic to research and discuss through a module? Ready to support via constructive criticism your fellow students as they pursue their chosen topics?

Open Political Ideas is a new and unconventional PAIS module in which students set the agenda, working with each other and the Module Director. It is designed to enable students to choose and pursue a specific research project in the broad field of Political Ideas, and work collaboratively with fellow students on their respective projects.

In practical terms, each student on the module will be required – in collaboration with the tutor and fellow students – to devise a research question in the broad field of political ideas. Topics within political ideas may include concepts, ideologies, thinkers/writers, cases, methods or claims. The module will be open to student choices of (e.g.) feminist, Marxist, post-structuralist, constructivist, liberal, grounded, postcolonial, comparative and other modes and methods of political ideas, along with studies of specific theorists or works of theory or institutions.

The week-to-week seminar work will involve each student in various key tasks: defining the research question, completing a book review, producing an essay plan with a methodological statement and an indicative bibliography, providing selected readings on their topic to fellow students, making a substantial presentation to the class and responding to queries and suggestions, and producing a final long essay. Training in skills such as presenting ideas and constructing an annotated bibliography will be provided within the module.