Security Challenges in Policy and Practice
UndergraduateMUR-POL3042025
Course information for 2025 intake View information for 2024 course intake
Go deeper into your global security studies with an investigation of policy responses. You’ll explore social conflict case studies, like poverty or refugees. Get to know how security-related policymaking works. Think about its problems and effectiveness.
- Study method
- 100% online
- Assessments
- Subject may require attendance
- Enrol by
- 16 Feb 2025
- Entry requirements
- Prior study needed
- Duration
- 13 weeks
- Price from
- $2,125
- Upfront cost
- $0
- Loan available
- HECS-HELP and FEE-HELP available
Security Challenges in Policy and Practice
About this subject
At the completion of this subject students will be able to:
- Knowledge of the various structures, processes, actors and norms of security-related policymaking.
- Have a broad critical understanding of the role of evidence and theories of change in security policy
- The ability to identify and analyse the political dynamics and risks of security policy approaches in different issue areas.
- Detailed knowledge of number of traditional and new security policy challenges, such as poverty, armed violence, environmental and climate change, international tensions and refugeeism.
- Ability to undertake a self-directed policy project.
- Clearly and persuasively communicate concepts, problems and arguments in relation to security politics, policy and practice.
- Introduction: human security policy in theory and practice
- Theories of change 1: what they are, why they are important?
- Theories of change 2: What are the different types & levels of theories of change?
- Developing evidence-based security policy
- Turning theory in to practice 1: policy development
- Turning theory in to practice 2: the political economy of policy implementation
- Case study 1: Social conflict, demobilisation and post-conflict peacemaking
- Case study 2: Inter-ethnic and inter-religious dialogue
- Case study 3: Refugees, rights and displacement
- Case study 4
- Conclusion
This unit examines policy responses to security threats at the global, regional, national and local levels. The course is situated at the intersection of public policy analysis, security politics and security challenges. A key feature of this of this course is to analyse political conflicts over such as issues as climate change, water security, border security and migration. Which solutions are available and how effective are they? Whose voices are heard when designing these solutions? Why are certain voices marginalized? How is this reflected in policy, and how is security constructed and produced?
Students will learn to how to define, critique and assess security issues, analyse the social forces and interests that shape various policy responses to security challenges, and explore (alternative) policies to deal with them. This requires effective and practical policy frameworks underpinned by strong evidence, practical methods, and a theory of change. Making use of case studies to explore the political dynamics of security policies, the unit will equip students with policy skills to analyses and respond to a wide range of security challenges.
Please Note: All students studying at Murdoch University will need to complete the compulsory unit, Murdoch Academic Passport (MAP100), which only takes 2-3 hours to complete online. Find out more: http://goto.murdoch.edu.au/MurdochAcademicPassport.
- Policy Brief (50%)
- Invigilated Mid-semester Exam (30%)
- Policy Brief Presentation (supervised) (20%)
For textbook details check your university's handbook, website or learning management system (LMS).
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- QS Ranking 2024:
- 27
- Times Higher Education Ranking 2024:
- 26
Entry requirements
Others
To enrol in this subject, you must have passed a minimum of 12 credit points at 100-level.
Additional requirements
No additional requirements
Study load
- 0.125 EFTSL
- This is in the range of 10 to 12 hours of study each week.
Equivalent full time study load (EFTSL) is one way to calculate your study load. One (1.0) EFTSL is equivalent to a full-time study load for one year.
Find out more information on Commonwealth Loans to understand what this means to your eligibility for financial support.
What to study next?
Once you’ve completed this subject it can be credited towards one of the following courses
Bachelor of Global Security (Terrorism and Counterterrorism Studies)
UndergraduateMUR-BGS-DEG
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