Power and War
Course code
AIG6321.HT
old course code
Course title in Estonian
Võim ja sõda
Course title in English
Power and War
ECTS credits
6.0
Assessment form
Examination
lecturer of 2023/2024 Spring semester
Not opened for teaching. Click the study programme link below to see the nominal division schedule.
lecturer of 2024/2025 Autumn semester
Not opened for teaching. Click the study programme link below to see the nominal division schedule.
Course aims
The concepts of “power” and “war” are most likely very important in terms of a general understanding of the past in which states and military conflicts often are depicted as the core elements of historical analysis. This course, on the one hand, wants to scrutinise what these two terms actually meant in different ages, it wants to go deeper into the nature of “power” and “war”. On the other hand, this course aims to demonstrate the limitations of an understanding of history just in terms of political and military might.
Brief description of the course
This course is divided into lectures and seminars. The lectures are meant to give a broader understanding what these terms meant e.g. in medieval times or in the modern world, how they were popularised in art, architecture or in literature. The lectures ask how “power” emerged or what “war” did mean beyond victory or defeat. The seminars are meant to deepen the information given in the lectures with the help of scholarly literature.
Learning outcomes in the course
Upon completing the course the student:
- is able to discuss the meaning and the use of “power” and “war” in various periods of history and in different forms of historical memory
- has comprehended that “power” and “war” appear in different forms and undergo constant changes
- has an understanding that these two concepts are linked to many other aspects of the human past and that they are not the only things historians are interested in
- can independently analyse the concepts of “power” and “war” in periods and settings not discussed in this course
- is able to discuss the meaning and the use of “power” and “war” in various periods of history and in different forms of historical memory
- has comprehended that “power” and “war” appear in different forms and undergo constant changes
- has an understanding that these two concepts are linked to many other aspects of the human past and that they are not the only things historians are interested in
- can independently analyse the concepts of “power” and “war” in periods and settings not discussed in this course
Teacher
Raiko Jäärats
Study programmes containing that course