Teaching Security Studies: (Elgar Guides to Teaching)

Modelled on a decade of lived experience in teaching security studies, this book is an essential guide for instructors looking to engage students and innovate their teaching in the field. Utilising contemporary examples and novel activities, Rita Floyd lays out what to teach and how to teach it in an accessible and practical way. Teaching Security Studies examines a range of ways to teach traditional approaches to security, critical approaches to security, war and ethnic conflict, and non-traditional security threats such as climate change, migration, organised crime and terrorism. It offers concrete guidance to lecturers, including how to bridge the teacher–student gap while keeping control of the classroom and garnering respect. Chapters discuss a range of subject-specific teaching approaches, assessment methods, flexible seminar activities and study questions. Ultimately, this book provides instructors with the knowledge and confidence to build a comprehensive syllabus, become more effective teachers and lead students through complex subject areas within security studies. Theoretically pluralistic, this book is an invaluable resource for established instructors, newer faculty and postgraduate teaching assistants who teach security studies, international relations, politics and public policy.

Table of Contents:
Contents 1 Introduction to Teaching Security Studies 2 Off on a great journey 3 Teaching traditional approaches to security 4 Teaching critical approaches to security 5 Teaching war and ethnic conflict 6 Non-traditional security threats 7 Beyond lecturing: assessment, behaviour and how to survive and thrive 8 Conclusion: summary and suggestions Appendix: lecture and seminar outline for the 20-week variant of the suggest course References

About the Author :
Rita Floyd, Professor of International Security and Ethics, Department of Political Science and International Studies, University of Birmingham, UK

Review :
‘This is an excellent and valuable book. The author is immensely knowledgeable on the subject, provides concrete and useful advice, and does so clearly with flashes of dry humour. It will be an important resource in the field, especially for those taking their first tentative steps into teaching – but also for experienced teachers keen to refresh their approach.’ ‘Rita Floyd’s Teaching Security Studies is a valuable and well-written addition to textbooks in the field, aimed not at students but teachers in university settings. It provides exactly what new instructors need: an excellent, hands-on entry point to teaching international security. It is a highly accessible book that shows how to navigate the challenges of diversity in theories, viewpoints, and students.’