UDINTRFY - BA (Hons) International Relations (including foundation year)

Through the study of International Relations, students will explore the nature of contemporary world politics, making use of theories of international relations and analytical frameworks to examine and explain dynamics and developments at both global and regional levels, incorporating a variety of actor perspectives, including individuals, states, international and transnational organisations. Students will cover the variety of pressing issues facing the world today, from matters of war and peace to environmental crises, tracing their origins and evolution.

Students will be able to follow designated pathways through the course, focusing on either diplomacy, the Global South, peace and conflict, or languages, enabling them to enhance their skills and knowledge in one of those areas and leading to a named degree with that pathway.

The Teaching and Learning strategy of the BA International Relations (with Foundation Year) degree has at its heart questions of diversity and inclusivity; ensures that the subject content meets, and improves, on the benchmark set out by the QAA; encourages students’ acquisition and understanding of knowledge by engendering an enthusiasm for the subject and life-skills learning; facilitates students to develop independent skills and responsibilities for their own learning; and incrementally strengthens students’ subject specific knowledge and skills, in combination with the awareness and application of skills needed to successfully thrive in an increasingly internationalised workplace.

The initial foundation year of this four-year degree programme is designed for students who wish to enter Higher Education and may have non-traditional qualifications, lower UCAS points or are mature students. It exemplifies the university strategies of inclusive learning, widening participation, the aims of the Education for Social Justice Framework and of serving our community. Students will explore a wide range of social science and current affairs themes, whilst also developing the academic and digital literacies that will be of benefit to them in the following three years of study.

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.

Students will be supported in their learning by accessible and encouraging academic staff, providing assistance with both course content and academic skills, as well as extensive use of blended learning. Students will be able access support and learning materials online, via a combination of lecture recordings, electronic library resources including an extensive collection of ebooks, blogs and podcasts, and conveniently consult staff online, in addition to face-to-face. This is all designed to open up the learning space for students to enable them to access the degree 24/7, improving the student learning experience, whilst increasing cost-effectiveness and efficiency.

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.

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. To gauge the number of students on optional modules at levels 5 and 6 in the following academic year, module conferences will take place in the spring semester on the core modules GI4059 and GI5077, to ensure that students are informed about their options, are able to select their modules at the next level of study, and to enable the subject group to make adjustments for any modules which need to be temporarily withdrawn.

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 BA in International Relations (with Foundation Year) aims to provide students the opportunity to develop both their academic literacies and understanding appropriate to undergraduate study. From level 4, the course provides a broad perspective on the political, economic, historical and cultural aspects of international relations, underpinned by International Relations theory and concepts. This is designed to enhance students’ abilities to understand the complex forces shaping contemporary global politics. In particular, the course aims to:

1. place questions of international order and decision-making at the centre of analysis;

2. ensure that students acquire knowledge and understanding in areas of International Relations theory and analysis;

3. enable students to understand and use the concepts, approaches and research methods and methodologies of the discipline and develop an understanding of its contested nature and the problematic character of International Relations inquiry;

4. develop in students the capacity to think critically about events, ideas and institutions;

5. encourage students to relate the academic study of International Relations to questions of public concern;

6. assist students to develop a range of cognitive and social skills relevant to their intellectual, vocational and personal development, with a particular emphasis on employability, e.g., students can apply the knowledge gained from the course in a work experience situation through work-based learning modules;

7. provide a curriculum supported by scholarship, staff development and a research culture that promotes breadth and depth of academic inquiry and debate.

Accordingly, the syllabus seeks to develop students’ understanding of the key issues of global politics whether matters of security and peacekeeping, conflict and competition between states, the diplomacy and foreign policies of major powers, the attributes and activities of international organisations, the international political economy, and issues such trade and relations between the developed world and the Global South, terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, feminism, cyberspace, regional problems (such as the conflicts in the Middle East), or the salience of ethical issues such as environmentalism, democratisation and human rights.

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

1. deploy accurately established techniques of analysis and enquiry within the discipline of International Relations;

2. devise and sustain arguments, and/or to solve problems, using ideas and techniques, some of which are at the forefront of International Relations;

3. describe and comment upon particular aspects of current research, or equivalent advanced scholarship, in International Relations, recognising the uncertainty, ambiguity and limits of knowledge;

4. manage their own learning, and to make use of scholarly reviews and primary sources (for example, refereed research articles and/or original materials appropriate to International Relations);

5. apply the methods and techniques that they have learned to review, consolidate, extend and apply their knowledge and understanding, and to initiate and carry out projects;

6. critically evaluate arguments, assumptions, abstract concepts and data (that may be incomplete), to make judgements, and to frame appropriate questions to achieve a solution - or identify a range of solutions - to a problem;

7. communicate information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialist and non-specialist audiences;

8. exercise initiative and personal responsibility, including decision-making in complex and unpredictable contexts;

9. undertake appropriate further training of a professional or equivalent nature.

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

Politics and International Relations (2023)

The BA International Relations (with Foundation Year) embeds central aspects from the Education for Social Justice Framework within its assessment strategy. Students will experience diverse and inclusive forms of assessment throughout the course, in many cases being able to tailor assignments to cover the actors, issues or areas they want to learn more about.

The course combines both formative and summative assessment opportunities, embracing a variety of methods including: essays, briefing papers, portfolios, blogs, policy documents, seminar performance, seminar presentations (both individual and group), and book reviews. The majority will be tutor assessed, but a number will be peer-reviewed in seminars. Through online assessments, such as blogs, and in-class preparations for assessments, students will be encourage to provide each other with formative feedback (or ‘feedforward’), to assist and support each other in their summative assessments.

At each level of the course, assessment and feedback practices are informed by reflection, consideration of professional practice, and subject-specific and educational scholarship. Staff and students are encouraged to engage in dialogue to promote a shared understanding of the basis on which academic judgements are made, and students are provided with opportunities to develop an understanding of, and the necessary skills to demonstrate, good academic practice. For example, through the use of specimen assignments in classes devoted to assessment, students learn how to better understand and apply the assessment criteria.

The volume, timing and nature of assessments is designed to enable students to demonstrate the extent to which they have achieved the intended learning outcomes. Indeed, with an emphasis on progression, formative assessment is structured to support students in their summative assessment, with feedback being both constructive and developmental.

Throughout, the strategy is designed to maximise the development of subject-specific skills and employability skills appropriate to each level of the degree.

Enhancing students’ future career prospects is a central aspect of the degree programme. All modules, for example, have aspects of employability embedded within them.

In terms of more explicit work-related learning, students have the opportunity to take the 30 credit module Placement 1 Year at level 6. Work experience has frequently led to students gaining employment after graduation in the host or related organisations, including nongovernmental organisations, interest groups, government departments and diplomatic services.

Students will have opportunity to study-abroad for a semester (or, in exceptional circumstances two semesters). International Relations students can gain an international experience at partner institutions throughout the world, including continental Europe, the USA, the Caribbean and Japan.

Part-time students are able to take modules at each level in a combination and order which is most convenient for them. At each level, there is no requirement for them to take the modules in a particular order.

Default optional and alternative core options are as follows:

Level 5: GI5051, GI5052, GI5053, GI5054, GI5076, GI5066
Level 6: GI6P01, GI6050, GI6051, GI6052, GI6053

To graduate with a pathway title degree award, the following modules need to be taken, in addition to the core modules on the BA International Relations:

BA International Relations with Diplomacy: GI5051, GI5052, GI6050 and GI6051
BA International Relations with Languages: At least one language module at level four and 60 credits of languages modules across levels 5 and 6 (30 credits at each level)
BA International Relations with Peace and Conflict: GI5053, GI5054, GI6052 and GI6053
BA International Relations with the Global South: GI5050, GI5063, and at least two of the following modules: GI6064, GI6065 and GI6070

Embedded within every module on this course are reflective learning components and personal development planning relevant to the year of study. They will be encouraged in lectures, workshops and seminars, and through the variety of methods of assessment. For example, following simulations, students and tutors will engaging in debriefings and students will be able to deepen their reflections through written assignments.

Students will be directed to reflect on knowledge-specific learning, as well as personal and employability-related skills development. Students will be encouraged to engage positively with all feedback opportunities, be they with their course leader, module tutors, academic mentor or in peer-review situations, and to reflect and learn, resulting in the developing of further learning strategies.

The practical skills and knowledge students develop on the course prepare them for a variety of international and national careers. Graduates progress to careers in: government departments, including diplomatic services; organisations like the European Union and the United Nations; NGOs specialising in the aid, human rights and the environment; research and teaching; journalism; and international business. Many of our students go on to be successful in postgraduate study, either with us or at other institutions, including King’s College, London, Oxford University, and SOAS.

Our graduates have progressed into careers within international relations, politics and related disciplines. They now work for companies including Muslim Aid, the American Cultural and Educational Centre of Bahrain, the UK Department for International Development and the United Nations.

The course is also excellent preparation for postgraduate study should you go on to study any of our international relations or politics courses at a higher level.

In addition to the University's standard requirements, you should have:

• at least one A level (or a minimum of 32 UCAS points from an equivalent Level 3 qualification, eg BTEC Subsidiary/National/BTEC Extended Diploma)
• English Language GCSE at grade C (grade 4) or above (or equivalent)

If you are a mature student with significant work experience, you are invited to apply for this course on the basis of the knowledge and skills you have developed through your work.