International Relations BA (Hons)

In year two, you will continue to develop the skills and knowledge you’ve learnt. We do this by embedding the following four principles into the curriculum and developing your:

• Technical skills – digital fluency, backed with the right academic knowledge
• Study skills – to be an adaptive, independent and proactive learner
• Professional skills – to have the behaviour and abilities to succeed in your career
• Global awareness – the beliefs and abilities to be a resilient, confident and motivated global citizen

You will develop more advanced knowledge and skills to do with: global security, foreign policy, and the far right in contemporary Europe, amongst others.

Modules

• Contemporary Global Security - 20 credits

  This module will introduce you to the study of security in International Relations. It will examine conflicts and contemporary security threats like terrorism, crimes against humanity, genocide, and war as well as other threats to security, involving questions of global health and climate change. It will discuss potential pathways to settle these conflicts peacefully and find solutions to these global threats.

  Compulsory

• Foreign Policy Analysis - 20 credits

  The module focuses on foreign policy analysis through theories and practice. The module assesses the ways in which national political systems experience and cope with challenges arising from their involvement in international affairs. Insights will be applied to foreign policy in general and to particular foreign policies in depth including the United States; China; Russia; the European Union; and Britain.

  Compulsory

• Emerging Powers and Global Order - 20 credits

  This module examines the power shifts in the international system and their implications for global order as the centre of gravity in global politics increasingly shifts away from the United States and Europe to so-called emerging powers such China, India, Brazil and South Africa.

  Compulsory

• Ethics and International Relations - 20 credits

  In this module, you will aim to develop a vital understanding of key ethical problems in contemporary international politics as well as the most recent and traditional moral frameworks for thinking about how to approach and evaluate potential ways to resolve these issues.

  Compulsory

• Humanity and the Natural World - 20 credits

  This module explores the human relationship with the natural world, examining the ways in which an emerging Western worldview has affected humanity's impact on its surroundings. It covers topics from the dominant views of nature emanating out of the Scientific Revolution of the Renaissance to the birth of the modern environmental movement and organisations like Greenpeace and the nascent political ideology of Ecologism.

  Compulsory

• The Far Right in Contemporary Europe - 20 credits

  This module focuses on the rise of Far-Right political parties in West European countries. The focus will be on the different explanations put forwards for their success or failure to acquire electoral support, their influence on the behaviour of mainstream political parties and politics in general in the case study countries.

  Compulsory

There’s no better way to find out what you love doing than trying it out for yourself, which is why a work placement² can often be beneficial. Work placements usually occur between your second and final year of study. They’re a great way to help you explore your potential career path and gain valuable work experience, whilst developing transferable skills for the future.

If you choose to do a work placement year, you will pay a reduced tuition fee³ of £1,250. For more information, please go to the fees and funding section. During this time you will receive guidance from your employer or partner institution, along with your assigned academic mentor who will ensure you have the support you need to complete your placement.

Modules

• UK Work Placement– 0 credits

  This module² provides you with an opportunity to reflect upon and gain experience for an approved placement undertaken during your programme. A placement should usually be at least 26 weeks or equivalent; however, each placement will be considered on its own merits, having regard to the ability to achieve the learning outcomes.

  Optional

• International Study/Work Placement – 0 credits

  This module² provides you with an opportunity to reflect upon and gain experience for an approved international study/work placement undertaken during your programme. A work/study placement should usually be at least 26 weeks or equivalent; however, each placement will be considered on its own merits, having regard to the ability to achieve the learning outcomes.

  Optional

Year three aims to bring you to the level to enter the world of work by consolidating your knowledge and skills from year one and two. You will have the chance to develop your interests and choose from a wide range of optional modules. For example, you could choose modules on the Middle East, the United States, or China to enhance your intercultural and political awareness. You will be asked to choose optional modules to total 120 credits in your final year.

Modules

• Independent Project - 20 credits

  This module is designed to enable you to develop, enhance and put into practice the research and analytical skills acquired in your previous years of study in order to pursue an in-depth analysis of a subject of your own choosing within the context of your programme of study. This can take the form of an extended piece of writing, or a media project such as a documentary film.

  Optional

• United States' Foreign Policy since 1945 - 20 credits

  The aim of the module is to examine in detail a number of major themes and developments in post-1945 US foreign policy. These are examined both for their intrinsic importance and interest, and for the light they throw on the foreign policy making process in the US system and on the development of the international system.

  Optional

• Chinese Politics, Foreign Relations and Security - 20 credits

  This module sets out to explore China’s domestic political institutions and political culture; deconstruct the country’s regional and global foreign relations; and define the military and non-military security challenges for the regional and global systems. It explores the challenges at home and overseas facing the leadership in Beijing and the way that China engages with the international community including the U.S., Japan, Southeast Asia and, perhaps most controversially, Africa.

  Optional

• International Relations of South Asia - 20 credits

  This module introduces you to the region of South Asia and, in particular, to the dynamics of conflict, violence and cooperation in the region and their wider implications for global politics. South Asia consists of eight countries, namely India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Nepal, Bhutan and Afghanistan.

  Optional

• Global Organised Crime - 20 credits

  The module will examine the recent evolution of the traditional criminal organisations in comparative perspective (Sicilian mafia, American Cosa Nostra, Japanese Yakuza and Chinese Triads), the growth of the new wave of organised criminal groups (with a focus on the Balkans, Eastern Europe, Africa and the South American Cartels), the nature of criminality behind the human trade and piracy, the emergence of youth gangs and the evolution of organised crime in the UK.

  Optional

• Politics of the Middle East - 20 credits

  This module aims to introduce you to the contemporary history, politics and international relations of the Middle East since 1948. Topics include the process of European decolonisation since the 1940s, the rise of Zionism and national independence movements, the emergence of the Palestinian question, the revival of political Islam, the Western Wars against Iraq in 1991 and 2003, and the Arab Spring Revolutions of 2010-11.

  Optional

• Nationalism and Democratisation in Post-Communist Europe - 20 credits

  This module aims to introduce you to the political challenges facing the countries of Central and Eastern Europe since the end of Communism, especially the unresolved clash between liberal democratic and ethnic nationalist norms. You will be introduced to key debates in both theories of nationalism and theories of democratisation as well as particular events and case study countries.

  Optional

• Race and Resistance in the Americas - 20 credits

  This module will examine the ways in which ethnic minorities have stood up to corrupt, racist power structures across the Americas.  It will pay particular attention to the ways in which suppressed people have empowered themselves and fought to resist white supremacy and the socio-cultural systems that support it. 

  Optional