BSc (Hons) Politics & International Relations

The BSc (Hons) Politics & International Relations degree 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 curriculum appraises the relationship between the individual and the state, the sources of authority, and forms of governance with significant implications for policy-making, policy choices, and policy outcomes. It fosters an understanding of agency through the study of power, justice, anarchy, order, conflict, legitimacy, accountability, obligation, sovereignty, mediation, security, governance, and decision-making at different levels of governance (e.g. local, regional, and global). 

This degree programme combines a rigorous politics and international relations syllabus with a personalised elective pathway. Students can choose to either deepen their focus on politics and international relations through elective courses, or they can further contextualise and broaden their studies with courses that align with interests and goals further afield.

Students develop a broad range of skills and knowledge relevant to institutional decision- and policy-making. Graduates can 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. Students acquire the ability to contribute to debates on topical issues of great currency, and apply theoretical and methodological tools of policy, institutional, and behavioural analysis. These valuable and transferable skills open up a wide array of career possibilities upon graduation. Such career opportunities include for example working in the public sector’s governmental and intergovernmental institutions and agencies; in the private sector – in risk analysis and management within security and financial outfits, and in journalism; in the third sector – public policy analysis and review in think tanks and charities; and in the hybrid sector – towards sustainable development, social value accounting, etc.  

Focus on one subject or study multiple subjects.

Flexible Elective Pathway courses will enable students to choose to either:

• Deepen focus in their degree subject
  or
• Combine their studies with courses in a particular second subject
  or
• Explore a broad range of subjects, developing agile thinking across disciplinary boundaries

Discipline Pathways

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

Thematic Pathways

• Sustainability
• Technology & Ethics

Focus on one one subject or study multiple subjects 

Elective courses enable students to either deepen their focus on Politics & International Relations, or to combine their studies with courses in a particular second subject, or to explore a broad range of subjects, developing agile thinking across disciplinary boundaries.

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