F1IS 5615 - Visual and Sonic Approaches to Security Studies

The aim of this research seminar is to offer participants a research-oriented platform to engage with questions of security from the dual angle of visuality and the sonic. While visual security studies is now an established modality for analyzing security discourses and practices, the sonic dimension is an emerging modality participants will explore in this seminar. The aim of this seminar is to introduce participants to both dimensions in a broader engagement with a phenomenology of security. The seminar invites participants to produce and present original research papers concentrating on either dimension or both, especially in connection to the everyday dimensions of security as they may experience and witness it in Paris, where they come from, or where they have lived.

Learning Outcomes:
1. Identify and discuss key notions and analytical framework in n visual and sonic critical security studies;
2. Connect complex analytical frameworks to everyday life events, and evaluate their relevance;
3. Develop and write a research paper;
4. Evaluate and synthesize a complex set of literature.

Professional Skills:
1. Research and analysis;
2. Critical thinking;
3. Investigation;
4. Written and oral communication.

Xavier GUILLAUME
Séminaire
English
- In Class Presence: 24 hours a semester in 6 sessions of 4 hours
- Online learning activities: 7 hours a semester (preparation and presentation of research topic)
- Reading and Preparation for Class: 2 hours a week / 24 hours a semester
- Research and Writing for Individual Assessments: 95 hours a semester (25 hours for the literature review, 70 hours for the research paper)
None.
Spring 2024-2025
1 literature review (approx. 3000 words) & 1 research paper (approx. 5000 words)
- the literature review is worth 35% and the research paper 65% of the overall mark. The literature review is due on 19 March 2025, and the research paper is due on 5 May 2025.
Written feedback will be provided for each assignment; in particular the feedback to the literature review will be provided within 7 working days to enable participants to improve their research papers. An oral feedback session will take place after the submission of the literature review grades to help participants move forward in their research. Presentations will help participants to ‘try out' their arguments with feedback from the other participants.
All compulsory readings will be communicated via Moodle.