What's this subject really about?

[ukface]

I'm not sure if I made a wise move today.

I had to make my YR 12 subject choices today, and I chose International Studies/Global Politics, on the basis that I love the TV show House of Cards.

I've read the study design and summary, and it really makes no sense to me as I've got no clue what it's on about; Could someone please possibly catch me up with what the subject is like? I'm fairly good at remembering heavy content based subjects, with both a short term and long term memory - I tend to cram for SACS, and the info sticks with me till exams.

Anyway, please let me know! Cheers.

[achre]

Global actors (states and institutions that influence the global political arena), interactions between global actors, and issues that affect global actors. To do well you need to know case studies for every AOS and how the theory relates to your cases. The theory based part is mostly (if not entirely) in knowing how to define and use key terms (note: definitions always require examples), so in that sense a good memory should serve you well. Rote learning of dates and figures is (unfortunately, as far as I'm concerned) expected.

I'm not sure if I made a wise move today.

I had to make my YR 12 subject choices today, and I chose International Studies/Global Politics, on the basis that I love the TV show House of Cards.

Decisions influenced by HoC can't be unwise.

[ukface]

Global actors (states and institutions that influence the global political arena), interactions between global actors, and issues that affect global actors. To do well you need to know case studies for every AOS and how the theory relates to your cases. The theory based part is mostly (if not entirely) in knowing how to define and use key terms (note: definitions always require examples), so in that sense a good memory should serve you well. Rote learning of dates and figures is (unfortunately, as far as I'm concerned) expected.
Decisions influenced by HoC can't be unwise.

Thanks!

So I'm gathering that you study a particular topic throughout an AOS, and you must go out of your own way to develop your knowledge within this particular area and apply that accordingly into a SAC? *That's what I gathered from the term case study, unless you mean a case study that comes with the SAC and you have to quickly dissect it?* I think the first option would be awesome, because that'd add so much more of a challenge!

House of Cards is amazing.

[achre]

Thanks!

So I'm gathering that you study a particular topic throughout an AOS, and you must go out of your own way to develop your knowledge within this particular area and apply that accordingly into a SAC? *That's what I gathered from the term case study, unless you mean a case study that comes with the SAC and you have to quickly dissect it?* I think the first option would be awesome, because that'd add so much more of a challenge!

House of Cards is amazing.

Not exactly. The teacher will go over the theory for the relevent AOS, and then you'll look at case studies together as a class (teacher might talk about a particular example, or you might watch a video, or get something from the textbook, or another student might offer to make a presentation on something that they know a bit about etc., etc.), so that when you go into the SAC or exam, it's likely that the entire cohort will use similar examples to address questions. You certainly won't be given a case study for the first time for a SAC! More likely you'll be given a broad question that you can tackle a number of different ways, and you just saturate the essay/short answer questions with examples.
That being said, at my school (so I don't know if this applies across the board), there's usually one political cartoon in each SAC, which does refer to a specific case study (usually worth 1/2 marks to explain the meaning of the image). You'll have looked at it as a class, so it shouldn't be too throwing.
Of course, you're well within your own rights to find examples of your own (it's encouraged, in fact). So long as you know them in sufficient detail, it can only help to do independent research.
Good luck!

[maddimarvel]

Politics is an interesting subject, but be sure that your school has a good teacher! The worst thing is going into a content heavy subject with a teacher who doesn't know how to convey the info.

If I was to do year 12 again I wouldn't pick the subject. I should have picked up English and done both Lit and English.

But, if you're dedicated, you can do it. I've applied myself 100% throughout this year and have been getting top marks, however, the exam is a bit of a killer due to the amount of case studies you need to memorise.

Good luck! I can pass on my notes if you want them.