6 ECTS credits
150 h study time

Offer 1 with catalog number 4022146ENR for all students in the 1st semester at a (E) Master - advanced level.

Semester
1st semester
Enrollment based on exam contract
Impossible
Grading method
Grading (scale from 0 to 20)
Can retake in second session
Yes
Taught in
English
Faculty
Faculty of Social Sciences & SolvayBusinessSchool
Department
Political Science
Educational team
Alexander Mattelaer (course titular)
Wannes Johan Verstraete
External teachers
Johan Verbeke
Activities and contact hours
20 contact hours Lecture
6 contact hours Seminar, Exercises or Practicals
124 contact hours Independent or External Form of Study
Course Content

Diplomacy serves the function of allowing for the peaceful cohabitation between a specific political community and the wider world. This course aims to provide master students with a conceptual introduction to discussions about modern diplomacy as it unfolds in practice, and to prepare them for a variety of related career paths. It will feature a number of lectures on key concepts and topical issues, as well as sessions focused on practical diplomatic skills, such as negotiation techniques and drafting policy notes.

Course material
Handbook (Required) : Diplomacy in Practice, A Critical Approach, Verbeke, Johan, 1st Edition, Routledge, 9781032287089, 2022
Additional info

Students are expected to keep up with news on international affairs.

Learning Outcomes

Algemene competenties

By the end of the course, students will understand:

  • the organisation of diplomacy both in the standard and non-standard models
  • the principal functions of diplomatic missions and the role of diplomats in contemporary diplomacy
  • the key concepts that diplomats use in diplomatic analysis and problem-solving
  • why security questions are at the core of a diplomat’s work
  • both scope and limits of the normative framework in which diplomats operate (international law, human rights, rule of law)
  • the importance of core diplomatic skills such as negotiation and mediation, public speaking and drafting diplomatic texts

Grading

The final grade is composed based on the following categories:
Oral Exam determines 100% of the final mark.

Within the Oral Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:

  • Oral Exam with a relative weight of 100 which comprises 100% of the final mark.

Additional info regarding evaluation

Students are evaluated on the basis of a oral exam (accounting for 100% of the overall grade).

Allowed unsatisfactory mark
The supplementary Teaching and Examination Regulations of your faculty stipulate whether an allowed unsatisfactory mark for this programme unit is permitted.

Academic context

This offer is part of the following study plans:
Master of Political Science: European and International Governance: Standaard traject