Course Syllabus Connectivity and Combat: War, the Media and the Contemporary Information Ecology

Officer’s degree or Bachelor’s degree in War Studies composed of 180 credits, of which 90 credits are in War Studies or equivalent.
English proficiency equivalent to English B or English 6 is also required.

The purpose of the course is to facilitate the student’s ability to analyze and problematize ‘the modern information ecology’: the revolution in how information is created and spread in contemporary warfare. The degree to which the world is presently connected has transformed how information is transmitted from the battlefield and made everyone a potential – if distant – participant in war. How can we analyze this relationship between the spread of information and resulting military practices? In the course we study how this radical transformation affects both how wars are fought and how we perceive war in the 2020s. Through studying the wars in Syria, Iraq, and Ukraine, the student will analyze how military organizations function on the battlefield and how reporting, propaganda, and disinformation shape the conduct of war. Through lectures and self-study the student builds an understanding of the contemporary relationship between the information ecology and war. This relationship is analyzed and problematized in the seminars with a focus on how military practices and our understandings of war are affected. The course ends with an independently written assignment where the student synthesizes the literature using a critical and analytical approach.

Upon completion of the course, the student should be able to:
Knowledge and understanding
- systematically map out the relationship between war and the information ecology, as well the effects of this relationship,
Skills and abilities
- analyze the central arguments and concepts about war within the framework of the information ecology,
- communicate how the relationship between war and the information ecology affects military practices, in both written and oral form,
Judgement and approach
- assess contemporary and recent historical examples as well as theories about modern information ecologies through the application of relevant conceptual frameworks, theories, and methods or empirical examples.

Presentation

Scope: 7.5 Higher education credit

Grading takes place through a three-point grading scale: Fail (U), Pass (G) and Pass with Distinction (VG).
To earn a grade of Pass (G), the student must earn a grade of Pass on the independently written assignment and on oral presentations, and active participation in the mandatory seminars.
To earn a grade of Pass with distinction (VG) the student must, in addition to the demands for a Pass (G), earn a grade of Pass with distinction on the written assignment as well as a grade of Pass with distinction on his or her oral presentations.
Grading criteria are reported at the latest at the start of the course.

There is no limit on the total number of examination opportunities.

The course cannot be included in a degree with another course whose content fully or partially corresponds to the content of this course.

When the course is no longer offered or when the course content has changed substantially, the student has the right to be examined once per semester during a three-term period in accordance with this syllabus.

If the Swedish Defence University has formally decided that the student is entitled to receive special educational support due to a disability, the examiner may decide on alternative forms of examination for the student. The course director will conduct an evaluation on the completion of the course, which will form the basis for any changes to the course.