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Nuclear Weapons and Disarmament (POLS90030)
Graduate courseworkPoints: 12.5Not available in 2024
Overview
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This subject provides an advanced introduction and critical review of the development and spread of nuclear weapons, the challenges they present, and approaches to their control and to disarmament. This will include a critical examination of strategies for the use of nuclear weapons, measures to reduce their numbers, proliferation and risk of use (including an examination of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty), and whether complete nuclear disarmament is possible and how it might be achieved.
A feature of this subject is that most of the lectures will be delivered by visiting experts, which in 2014 included Professor Gareth Evans, Professor Peter Hayes, Professor Michael Hamel-Green, Colonel Roger Cavazos and Assoc. Prof. Tilman Ruff.
Intended learning outcomes
On completion of this subject students should:
- gain thorough knowledge of major aspects of the history of nuclear weapons.
- Strengthen analytical capacity about the complexities of competing nuclear strategies such as deterrence.
- Increase understanding of the consequences of the existence and potential use of nuclear weapons.
- Review possibilities and requirements for and the potential process of nuclear disarmament.
Generic skills
- Increasing capacity for contemporary historical analysis of international relations.
- Strengthening analytical capacity for national and international political and strategic review.
- Strengthening personal capacity to identify crucial factors influencing issues, analyse them logically and develop persuasive arguments about them.
- Further development of eloquence as a writer.
Last updated: 21 November 2023
Eligibility and requirements
Prerequisites
None
Corequisites
None
Non-allowed subjects
None
Recommended background knowledge
Politics and International Studies at Undergraduate level
Inherent requirements (core participation requirements)
The University of Melbourne is committed to providing students with reasonable adjustments to assessment and participation under the Disability Standards for Education (2005), and the Assessment and Results Policy (MPF1326). Students are expected to meet the core participation requirements for their course. These can be viewed under Entry and Participation Requirements for the course outlines in the Handbook.
Further details on how to seek academic adjustments can be found on the Student Equity and Disability Support website: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/student-equity/home
Last updated: 21 November 2023
Assessment
| Description | Timing | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
An essay
| Mid semester | 50% |
An essay
| During the examination period | 50% |
| Hurdle requirement: 1. Attendance hurdle requirement: This subject has a minimum requirement of 80% attendance at tutorials, seminars, or workshops. | Throughout the teaching period | N/A |
| Hurdle requirement: 2. Late Penalty and Assessment hurdle requirement: Assessment submitted late without an approved extension will be penalised at five per cent (5%) of the possible marks available for the assessment task per day or part thereof. All pieces of assessment must be submitted to pass the subject. Each submitted assessment must be complete, constitute a genuine attempt to address the requirements of the task and will not be accepted after 20 University business days from the original assessment due date without written approval. | Throughout the semester | N/A |
Last updated: 21 November 2023
Dates & times
Not available in 2024
Time commitment details
Total of 170 hours
What do these dates mean
Visit this webpage to find out about these key dates, including how they impact on:
- Your tuition fees, academic transcript and statements.
- And for Commonwealth Supported students, your:
- Student Learning Entitlement. This applies to all students enrolled in a Commonwealth Supported Place (CSP).
- Completion rate. Students who started their course from 2022 and are in a CSP or receiving a HELP Loan (eg FEE-HELP) must meet the completion rate to continue to receive Commonwealth Support for that course.
Subjects withdrawn after the census date (including up to the ‘last day to withdraw without fail’) count toward the Student Learning Entitlement, and as a fail toward the completion rate, unless there are approved ‘special circumstances’.
Last updated: 21 November 2023
Further information
- Texts
Prescribed texts
Readings will be provided online through the subject's LMS site prior to the commencement of semester.
Recommended texts and other resources
William Walker, A Perceptual Menace: Nuclear Weapons and International Order (London: Routledge, 2012)
- Related Handbook entries
This subject contributes to the following:
Type Name Course Master of International Relations Specialisation (formal) Politics and International Studies - Links to additional information
- Available through the Community Access Program
About the Community Access Program (CAP)
This subject is available through the Community Access Program (also called Single Subject Studies) which allows you to enrol in single subjects offered by the University of Melbourne, without the commitment required to complete a whole degree.
Entry requirements including prerequisites may apply. Please refer to the CAP applications page for further information.
Additional information for this subject
Subject coordinator approval required
Last updated: 21 November 2023