BSc (Hons) Politics & Data Science

The study of Politics in this programme comprises: (1) political science – analysing the organisation of government and society; (2) political theory – examining normative questions, political ideas, and ideologies; and (3) international relations – the only disciplinary field specifically concerned with the international problems of war, peace, security, economy, globalisation, and the conflicting and cooperative engagement amongst states and between state and non-state actors.

The Data Science part of the programme focuses on the collection, storage, retrieval, and computational analysis of data in various forms (from images to text) and scales (from small to big data), covering key topics such as programming, machine learning and data mining, and information visualisation. The programme teaches the knowledge and techniques to program with data, learn from data, interpret, and visualise it in a way that solves real-world problems.

This degree programme combines a rigorous politics and data science syllabus with your choice of personalised elective pathway courses. 

This undergraduate degree equips students with a combination of technical data science skills and tools, and a broad range of knowledge relevant to institutional decision- and policy making, alongside the ability to manage complex information flows and networks, collect appropriate material from a broad range of sources, and undertake causal and applied projects to develop and promote critical thinking. These valuable and transferable skills open a wide array of career possibilities upon graduation.

Elective Courses include:

• Art & Design
• Business
• Computer Science
• Creative Writing
• Data Science
• Economics
• English
• History
• Law
• Philosophy
• Politics & International Relations
• Philosophy, Politics & Economics (PPE)
• Sociology
• Sustainability
• Technology & Ethics

Our academic staff selects the most appropriate pedagogy and contact hours for each individual course in order to support students to develop and succeed in their studies. This means that within your undergraduate Politics & International Relations degree you are likely to experience a combination of scheduled lectures, workshops, seminars and tutorials. The exact balance of these types of learning and number of contact hours will depend on the specific electives and optional courses you choose.

Most lectures and seminars will have a maximum of 40 student participants, while tutorials will typically have five or fewer students, and may sometimes be one-to-one. This personalised approach to teaching allows everyone to participate and thrive. 

By the time you graduate, you will have taken courses fulfilling the following three competencies:

1. Writing Across Audiences and Genres
2. Integrating Knowledge and Skills Through Experience
3. Demonstrating Thought and Action in a Final Project (can be dissertation)

You will also have taken courses inculcating a minimum of four of these additional competencies, depending on your learning pathways:

• Engaging with the Natural and Designed World
• Exploring Creative Expression and Innovation
• Interpreting Culture
• Conducting Formal and Quantitative Reasoning
• Understanding Societies and Institutions
• Analysing and Using Data
• Engaging Differences and Diversity
• Employing Ethical Reasoning