Subjects

This seminar will present and define critical approaches in the field of security studies which are dealing with social justice issues and contribute to the understanding of human security and human agency within the field. Specifically, this seminar will deal with feminism (in all its forms) and postcolonialism in security studies and their relevance to issues of social justice and challenges to the west-centrism of SS and IR.

The various readings should provide students with varied feminist and postcolonial perspectives on security, war, conflict, and peace and engage students in complex debates. Special attention will be dedicated to the issues of epistemology and knowledge production and its relevance to our understanding of violence, war, and other crucial phenomena relevant to our field (both International Relations and Security Studies).

This will be done through the continuous challenge to the prevailing mainstream paradigm in the field: realism, positivism, and the prevailing notion of objective (universal) knowledge.

Link for Moodle: https://dl2.cuni.cz/course/view.php?id=6087

Last update: Kotvalová Anna, Mgr. (15.09.2025)

The goal of this seminar is for students to engage in alternative/critical perspectives within the field and to understand the ontological and epistemological challenges and debates taking place in the field of IR and SS (additionally, the goal is for students to understand the crucial role ontology and epistemology play in our field so students are able to apply these concepts on various problems and issues going forward in their studies). Moreover, the goal is to understand the current feminist and postcolonial debates taking place in the field and connect them to the concept of social justice which is so often omitted in our field.

Last update: Kotvalová Anna, Mgr. (02.09.2022)

All sessions are foreseen to take place in Jinonice and all students are expected to physically attend.

Students may use generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools as study aids, provided they remain critical of the outputs, verify the information, and explicitly state how AI was used in assignments or projects. Copying AI-generated results in their literal or slightly modified form and presenting them as one's own work is considered plagiarism. All uses of AI tools must be explicitly stated according to the guidelines set by FSV UK, and they must adhere to the broader ethical recommendations provided by Charles University. Students may decide not to use artificial intelligence tools or not to have their work processed by artificial intelligence, and such decisions will be fully respected by lecturers

Last update: Kotvalová Anna, Mgr. (07.10.2025)

The final grade shall be a composite of preparatory activity (10%), class participation (10%), presentation (30%) and final essay (50%). Preparatory activity shall consist of the successful completion of one test after the last session exploring student´s understanding of the compulsory readings. This test will be completed by the due date in Moodle. Presentation (10 minutes) shall consist of a critical overview of one phenomena/historical event or issue connected to the concept of social justice. The presentation needs to be supported by relevant theoretical literature and theoretical arguments. The assignment of presentations to be prepared by students shall be done during the introductory session. (No presentations are scheduled for this session). The final exam will take the form of a submitted research paper (min. 2,000 words, excluding references). Students are expected to use relevant secondary literature to support their argument and follow all standards of academic writing when preparing their paper.

Attendance is mandatory, but allowance is made for the absence of no more than two sessions, one of which must be the introductory session. Students who miss the introductory session are requested to contact the lecturer without delay at anna.kotvalova@fsv.cuni.cz to arrange the distribution of class assignments. Students are furthermore requested to report their absence in the other sessions in advance. Students are not allowed to miss the seminar where they present their presentation.

Last update: Kotvalová Anna, Mgr. (13.09.2025)

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	syllabus 2025.26.pdf		Mgr. Anna Kotvalová