BA (Hons) International Relations and Social Policy

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How You Study

As the course progresses, students can expand their knowledge and choose from a range of optional modules that match their individual interests. Topics include intelligence and national security, international relations in the Middle East, war crimes, community and policy-making, families, and human rights. Students can take this further in their final year, where they are expected to produce an independent research study in an area of their choice.

First Year

• Applying Research (Social Sciences) (Core)
• Global Conflicts and Contexts (Core)
• Key Social Science Concepts (Core)
• Social Issues and Social Justice (Core)

Second Year

• Comparative Politics and Policy (Core)
• Ideology into Practice (Core)
• Model United Nations (Core)
• Thinking International Relations (Core)
• Challenges of European Politics (Option)†
• Conceptualising Sex Work (Option)†
• Debating Welfare States (Option)†
• Foreign Policy Analysis (Option)†
• Governing America (Option)†
• Intelligence and Security Law (Option)†
• Internationalising Cultural Studies (Option)†
• Nations and Nationalism (Option)†
• Policing Crime and Deviance (Option)†
• Political Parties (Option)†
• Researching in Social Science (Option)†
• Researching Politics and International Relations (Option)†
• Social Engagement (Option)†
• Sociology of Education (Option)†
• Strategic Studies (Option)†
• The Politics of Sex and Sexuality (Option)†
• The Vigilant State: intelligence and national security (Option)†
• Thinking Politics (Option)†
• Transnational Security Studies (Option)†
• Understanding the City (Option)†
• Understanding the European Union (Option)†
• Welfare Policy and Work (Option)†
• Work and Society (Option)†
• Youth Justice (Option)†
• Youth, Culture and Resistance (Option)†

Third Year

• Analysing the Policy Process (Core)
• Global Civil Society (Core)
• Global Governance (Core)
• Understanding the Policy Process (Core)
• Body Politics (Option)†
• Care or control? Welfare institutions in Britain before the welfare state (Option)†
• Children, Families and the State (Option)†
• Counselling and Guidance Skills (Option)†
• Counter-Terrorism Studies (Option)†
• Crimes of the Powerful (Option)†
• Family Law (Option)†
• Gender and Violence (Option)†
• Human Rights (Social Sciences) (Option)†
• Independent Study (Politics and International Relations) (Option)†
• Independent Study (Option)†
• International Law (Option)†
• International Relations of the Middle East (Option)†
• Multiculturalism and Britishness (Option)†
• Parliamentary Studies (Option)†
• Penology and Penal Policy (Option)†
• Police Studies (Option)†
• Race and Racism (Option)†
• The Developing World (Option)†
• The Politics of Energy (Option)†
• The Politics of Global Health (Option)†
• The Politics of Masculinity (Option)†
• The Politics of Migration in the UK and Western Europe (Option)†
• War Crimes and Genocide (Option)†
• Working in Education and Children's Services (Option)†
• Working With People in Adult Social Care Settings (Option)†

† Some courses may offer optional modules. The availability of optional modules may vary from year to year and will be subject to minimum student numbers being achieved. This means that the availability of specific optional modules cannot be guaranteed. Optional module selection may also be affected by staff availability.

How You Are Assessed

This degree uses a variety of teaching and learning methods including lectures and seminars, group projects, and workshops. In an average week, students are expected to attend a lecture in each of their modules, with a follow-up seminar. Seminars are usually more informal, to enable students to discuss the topic with their tutor in a smaller group and they sometimes involve students working together in groups to prepare presentations or reports.

Assessment is by a combination of continuous assessments in the form of essays, reports, presentations, reviews, and examinations. Assessment varies from module to module depending on the subject of study.

How You Study

As the course progresses, students can expand their knowledge and choose from a range of optional modules that match their individual interests. Topics include intelligence and national security, international relations in the Middle East, war crimes, community and policy making, families, and human rights. Students can take this further in their final year, where they are expected to produce an independent research study in an area of their choice.

Graduates have gone on to positions in a a diverse range of areas, including roles in intergovernmental organisations, non-government organisations (NGOs) and banking and accounting services.