University of St Andrews

Key information

SCOTCAT credits : 30

ECTS credits : 15

Level : SCQF level 11

Semester: 1

Planned timetable: Tuesday 11am -1pm Mediation Training Wk 1 - Monday 11th Sept, 9am -5pm, Thursday 14th Sept, 9am-5pm Wk2 - Monday 18th Sept, 9am-5pm, Thursday 21st Sept, 9am-5pm Wk3 - Monday 25th September 9am to 5pm

The module situates mediation concepts, assumptions, and practices within the fields of critical, feminist, and post-/de-colonial peace and conflict studies to: contextualise and critique mediation levels (tracks), locate the presence and absence of diverse mediation actors, explore the affective power of mediation languages and discourses, and teach critical reading and archival collation of mediation texts. The module deploys case studies of mediation that cut across levels of interactions and involve differently-located actors, including: the role of Scotland as a mediator; the University as a site of mediation; local, community-level, and indigenous approaches to mediation; and international dispute management and resolution. The module affords students additional learning and professional development opportunities through student-led Mediation in Scotland research praxis groups, and formal mediation training towards Scottish mediation accreditation.

Relationship to other modules

Co-requisite(s): You must also take IR5705

Learning and teaching methods and delivery

Weekly contact: 2-hour seminar (x 10 weeks)

Scheduled learning hours: 97

Guided independent study hours: 212

Assessment pattern

As used by St Andrews: Coursework = 100%

As defined by QAA
Coursework: 100%

Re-assessment: Coursework = 100%

Personnel

Module coordinator: Dr J R McMullin
Module teaching staff: Dr Jaremey McMullin

Intended learning outcomes

• Obtain structured training, continuous professional development opportunities, and mediation accreditation in Scotland through Scottish Mediation
• Develop an understanding of the key concepts, assumptions, and practices of international mediation
• Develop a critical understanding of diverse mediation actors, levels, and approaches across a range of issues relevant to conflict management and resolution
• Challenge the temporal and spatial locations of mediation, through a structured case study approach drawing on indigenous, community-level, Scottish, and global mediation sites
• Understand and apply theoretical insights from feminism, critical theory, and post-/de-colonial approaches to identify absent and alternative mediation ideas, subjectivities, and practices
• Reflect on their own situatedness and participation in conflict and mediation dynamics, including through structured discussion of the University as a site of mediation