PMINTRLN - MA International Relations

A key motivator of this course is to provide students with the skills to think about crucial international challenges, engage in reflective practice, and to identify possible solutions to some of the most pressing issues the world faces. The course has built within it vocational and multidisciplinary skills that will encourage students to consider solutions at the local, regional, national and international level.

This course seeks to offer a rounded view of the development and operation of the international system that encompasses the interconnecting worlds of international politics, law and economics. Thus, students are offered a set of modules covering international relations theory, international politics and the development of states, international law and legal institutions as well as security studies.

In addition, there is an opportunity to focus on specific areas or actors within international politics. There are modules covering US foreign policy, the developing issues of human and state security as well as human rights. Finally, the dissertation component offers students an opportunity to formulate research questions relating to international relations and to seek to answer it through a sustained piece of analysis. This also provides students with an opportunity to specialize in a specific area of the discipline.

In order to achieve these educational goals, key concepts are introduced and analysed via a number of core as well as optional modules. Core modules deal specifically with International Relations theories and concepts; provide definitions as well as context which is then built upon by a number of optional modules.

Staff research specialisms are an essential component of the International Relations curriculum. Students will benefit from being taught by specialists. It ensures that the degree reflects the contemporary nature of the subject, keeping pace with trends and developments, and meeting the demands of employers. It also supports teaching through the transferring of staff research skills and knowledge to enhance the student learning experience.

The course has a growing reputation for pedagogical innovation. Students will learn through engaging activities, such as simulations and workshops, and novel approaches to assessment, with lectures demonstrating the use of concepts and seminars providing opportunities to investigate issues in depth. Within this a combination of whole group and small group activities, student-led and tutor-led teaching occurs, with an emphasis on ensuring a combination of discussion-based, skills-based and knowledge-based teaching and learning.

Inclusiveness is at the centre of this course, both in terms of delivery and in the content matter. By their very nature, International Relations modules deal with issues concerning inequality, justice, international law and human security. This strongly fits in with London Metropolitan University’s commitment to social justice and change, using the power of education to transform lives.

Students are seen very much as partners on this course, working with staff to develop and demonstrate the essential academic skills and knowledge sought by employers and higher education institutions (for further postgraduate study).

The modules and delivery frameworks we use are designed to support our students in their learning and seek to reflect the extraordinary diversity of our students’ lives and experiences. Through a diverse range of assessments and methods used in the classroom, combined with the support from the teaching staff, students are encouraged to become confident, creative and resilient learners.

In sum, the degree aims to provide a combination of teaching methods and learning methods approaches designed to strengthen the employability of students in a range of occupations, preparing them in particular for a variety of international careers.

The MA is designed with two main ambitions in mind:

1. First, to equip students who do not necessarily have an undergraduate background in International Relations with the capacity for independent research and reflection on contemporary international relations and with the competences necessary for pursuing a wide variety of careers related to international relations;

2. Second, to offer a programme which is not confined to the study of international politics, but offers students grounding in international law as well, thus enabling them to engage in interdisciplinary work.

Our intention is that the MA will enable our students to combine their understanding of the core modules of the MA (International Relations: Theories and Challenges and International Law and International Order) in interdisciplinary research – a wider and more inclusive framework for understanding international relations and one which corresponds more closely to the interconnectedness of the real world.

On successful completion of this course students will be able to:

1. Apply methods and techniques appropriate to their own research or advanced scholarship in International Relations

2. Apply knowledge with originality, based on a practical understanding of how established techniques of research and enquiry are used to create and interpret knowledge in International Relations

3. Evaluate critically current research and advanced scholarship in International Relations

4. Deal with complex issues both systematically and creatively, make sound judgements in the absence of complete data, and communicate their conclusions clearly to specialist and non-specialist audiences

5. Exercise self-direction and originality in tackling and solving problems, and act autonomously in planning and implementing tasks at a professional or equivalent level

6. Advance their knowledge and understanding, and to develop new skills to a high level

7. Exercise initiative and personal responsibility, including decision-making in complex and unpredictable situations

8. Learn independently for the purposes of continuing professional development.

9. Demonstrate confidence, resilience, ambition and creativity and will act as inclusive, collaborative and socially responsible practitioners/professionals in their discipline.

To accommodate research leave for academic staff and to ensure that modules are viable in terms of student numbers, the Politics and International Relations subject group may withdraw one or more optional modules for a year. Students will be informed in advance so any necessary adjustments can be made.

Students are assessed by a mix of methods, including essays, examinations, presentations, a research design project, a regional report and a 15,000 word dissertation. Different modules have different mixes. A diversity of assessment is regarded as intrinsically desirable, testing and developing different skills and abilities, including research, analytical, communication, practical, team-work and employability-related skills. Many components – e.g. case studies, regional reports and the dissertation – give students a large degree of flexibility in designing and researching their own projects, choosing their own topics and utilising methods and approaches of their own devising.

Formative Assessment Opportunities are also available throughout the programme as all staff are available to provide feedback on written plans and engage with students during seminars and office hours thereby directly supporting students in enhancing the quality of their summative assessments and making them aware of how academic judgements are made.

In the case of the Dissertation, students are allocated with a supervisor early during the programme who engages with individual students throughout the research and writing phases. Full-time students who start in September will normally complete the dissertation in one calendar year. Full-time February students will normally complete it in three semesters across two academic years.

Students are provided with timely feedback on their assessments in line with University guidelines. This ensures that they remain well informed of their ongoing progress and forthcoming responsibilities. Students are encouraged to discuss the feedback with their tutors to build on the constructive and developmental content of the comments they have received, enabling feedback to feed-forward into future assessments and to encourage personal skills and knowledge development.

In addition, extra classes are arranged for all students to further their understanding of skills necessary to ensure good academic practice. Library sessions detailing university research and database resources provide relevant and current information on research facilities within the university and elsewhere in London. Dedicated dissertation classes build on this information and also provide students with vital information on conducting research and writing lengthy academic papers.

Further advice on good academic practice and discussions on relevant subject-specific literature are carried out by staff within the classroom. Documents pertaining to good academic practice such as avoiding plagiarism are disseminated to all students and available on WebLearn sites.

Combined, these approaches ensure that assessment and feedback practices are informed by reflection, consideration of professional practice, and subject-specific and educational scholarship.

All students are required to submit assignments via relevant WebLearn sites through Turnitin. These are marked and made available to second markers and external examiners in all cases and all students are informed of these procedures through module discussions as well as during induction undertaken by the Course Leader.

Part-time students take two modules per semester during the first year of study and one per semester and the dissertation in the second year.

• For a Masters award students will need to pass 180 credits. This will comprise 120 credits gained from the six taught modules (i.e. two core 20 credit modules plus four optional modules chosen by the student) and 60 credits from passing the dissertation.

• For the PG Diploma, students must pass 120 credits. This will include both 20 credit core modules plus four other 20 credit options.

• For a PG Certificate, the students must pass 60 credits. This will include at least one core 20 credit module plus two 20 credit options.

The course is designed to enable students to appreciate a critical approach to knowledge and understanding whereby ideas relevant to international relations are examined in a reflective manner that promotes linkages between the various modules.

The Core (GI7048), for instance, introduces students to a variety of theoretical approaches to International Relations which can then be used to reflect on the subject matter in the other of the modules. Practically, students are confronted with particular interests, problems, conflicts, structures and processes of international relations which demand judgment as well as reflection.

Indeed, throughout the emphasis will be on empowering students to make critical decisions, focused on reflective practices, to seek practical solutions to the challenges facing the international community.

Reflective learning will be encouraged both in class-based activities and assessment. For example, presentations and simulations will involve in-class feedback and reflection, while feedback on written assessments and follow-up feedback from module leaders will facilitate reflective learning both in and outside the classroom.

Students will be encouraged to engage positively with all feedback opportunities, and to reflect and learn from these, resulting in the development of further learning strategies.

This is a valuable course for those planning careers as diplomats, journalists, and officials in international organisations, and also for those with career paths in the voluntary and private sectors. Those working for government departments may find the MA a useful route to enhanced promotion or a move into foreign office work.

This degree is designed to produce skilled and equipped individuals who understand the complexities of the international system and who have developed good communication and problem solving skills. The demand for such graduates will only grow as the expected challenges of mass migration, ongoing and new conflicts, the proliferation of violent non-state actors, the impact of climate change, and a myriad of other problems continue to develop this century.

As the Millennium Project has noted, humanity faces a large number of challenges in the future including:

Global ethics
Energy challenges
Transnational Organised Crime
Mass Migration
Gender inequalities
Sustainable Development and Climate Change
Democratization
Health Challenges
Population Pressures
Poverty

There are an increasing number of organizations that seek to identify and offer solutions to these challenges. These include a range of organisations at the United Nations, the security services, diplomacy and conflict resolution. Other important possibilities include positions that offer experience in tackling climate change, international development, internationally-focused non-governmental organisations (NGOs), as well as multilateral donor organisations, partners in non-profit and private sectors, and institutions such as the European Union.

Finally, it will also be very useful for those pursuing further education, including a PhD, as well as for those who wish to write about state, regional, security or development concerns – such as journalists or advisors/consultants on international and security issues.

Students who have taken this course have progressed to an array of careers such as the public sector, Non-Governmental Organisations and international companies. The course has proven particularly beneficial for those who are seeking work in organisations operating in a transnational environment.

You will be required to have:

• an undergraduate degree of second class honours or above in a relevant discipline

Candidates with other qualifications may be considered in exceptional circumstances.