IR4587 Hunting The Lone Wolf: The Rise of Isolated Assassins and Terrorists

Academic year

2024 to 2025 Semester 1

Further information on which modules are specific to your programme.

Key module information

SCOTCAT credits

30

The Scottish Credit Accumulation and Transfer (SCOTCAT) system allows credits gained in Scotland to be transferred between institutions. The number of credits associated with a module gives an indication of the amount of learning effort required by the learner. European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) credits are half the value of SCOTCAT credits.

SCQF level

SCQF level 10

The Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) provides an indication of the complexity of award qualifications and associated learning and operates on an ascending numeric scale from Levels 1-12 with SCQF Level 10 equating to a Scottish undergraduate Honours degree.

Planned timetable

Tuesday 1pm - 2pm

This information is given as indicative. Timetable may change at short notice depending on room availability.

Module coordinator

Dr T K Wilson

This information is given as indicative. Staff involved in a module may change at short notice depending on availability and circumstances.

Module Staff

Dr Timothy Wilson

This information is given as indicative. Staff involved in a module may change at short notice depending on availability and circumstances.

Module description

A puzzling feature of recent political violence has been the prominence of lone attackers: individuals who strike in isolation, but proclaim loyalty to some wider ideology or cause. This phenomenon is frequently treated merely as a contemporary security nightmare. But it is older than often assumed: and this module traces the emergence of lone assassins and terrorists over 500 plus years. Between overview sessions (intro. and conc.), it adopts a biographical approach. Each week will take an individual case study as a ‘portrait in a landscape’. Cases are selected that are well-documented. This allows students some access to the attacker’s own thought-world; as well as to contemporaries’ reactions to their unexpected actions. From this close-up focus, we will step back to consider much wider questions. What is the changing relationship of lone attackers to wider society? What role does ‘toxic masculinity’ play in creating them? And how do communications revolutions encourage them?

Relationship to other modules

Pre-requisites

BEFORE TAKING THIS MODULE YOU MUST PASS IR2006

Assessment pattern

Coursework - 100%

Re-assessment

Written examination - 100%

Learning and teaching methods and delivery

Weekly contact

1 X 1 hour lecture and 1 X 1 hour tutorial per week.

Scheduled learning hours

21

The number of compulsory student:staff contact hours over the period of the module.

Guided independent study hours

275

The number of hours that students are expected to invest in independent study over the period of the module.

Intended learning outcomes

  • Critically assess the concept of the 'lone wolf' terrorist
  • Understand the key insights of social psychology on forces driving individual radicalization
  • Explain, with examples, how individuals have become lone actor terrorists
  • Identify the historical macro-conditions that encourage the proliferation of lone actor attackers
  • Critically assess the role of toxic masculinity as one driver of lone actor terrorism