Theory and Event

Course content

This course introduces the student to (a) the `theory` in the event and (b) the `event` in the theory, in the reference frame of world politics, with a view to enhancing the uses of theory in postgraduate work. The theory in the event designates the thematic patterns that emerge out of cases, situations and acts in international affairs, enabling abstract thinking on the event, roughly in response to the question: What is the pattern? And the event in the theory is about the functioning of theories as simplifying devices, rehearsing answers to the question: How do theories make sense of events that are inherently chaotic? The course, which does not assume a prior knowledge of theories of IR, aims to provide instruction on these themes through attention grabbing examples provided by the world of movies.