Semester 1

On both the MA and the MRes programme, you must study the core Research in Action module.

• PIR-40095 Research in Action (15 credits)
  Setting the scene for your master’s programme, this module provides an in-depth and hands-on advanced introduction to the various ways in which advanced empirical research in the social sciences is designed and conducted. You’ll be given an overview of key research methodologies and the different approaches to evidence and data gathering, including interviews, focus groups, questionnaires, documents and texts, as well as the ethical considerations when carrying out such activity. Staff currently engaged in research will offer guidance about the suitability of certain design methods, sharing their experiences of good practice and potential pitfalls. Working in small teams, you’ll then design and conduct your own small-scale practical research project. Students on the international relations pathway have previously, for example, investigated how the British public viewed the handling of the Afghanistan withdrawal and how refugees are perceived by UK citizens.

Semester 2

On both the MA and the MRes programme, you must study the core Advanced Approaches to Politics and International Relations module.

• PIR-40132 Advanced Approaches to Politics and International Relations (30 credits)
  In preparation for your dissertation, this module provides an overview of the philosophies, assumptions and approaches underlying the study of Politics and International Relations topics. It aims to equip you with the knowledge and skills to handle different concepts, frameworks and methods (normative and analytical) and use these in the generation of knowledge for your research project. Adopting an intensive workshop approach, you will examine how scholars have approached the issues of what to study and how to study, and the ways in which these issues are bound up with historical and current power structures within the world. For example, considering the nature of social science knowledge or key trends in Politics and International Relations, such as rational choice theory, game theory, institutional theory chaos and complexity theory.

For the MA, you must study one core pathway-specific module in either Semester 1 or 2.

• LAW-40046 Human Rights and Global Politics (International Relations pathway)
  The overall focus of this module is on exploring evolving political and legal strategies to advance human rights in a global political framework. You will be introduced to the main debates on the ways that political structures shape human rights: the relationship between democratisation, development, human rights and violence; the possible emergence of a global civil society to understanding human rights practices; the expansion and role of transnational human rights monitoring and activism; and the need for an understanding of political violence and terror to assess and address causes of human rights violations. To deepen your understanding of the connections between global and local causes and responses to contemporary human rights issues, you will examine a number of key issues, such as the responsibility to protect (r2p), humanitarian interventions, aid and development, security in the post 9/11 era and more.
  
  
• PIR-40093 The Changing International Agenda (International Relations pathway)
  In the period since the end of the Second World War, we have witnessed radical shifts in the nature of the international system, such as the rise and fall of the Cold War, the birth of the UN, European decolonisation and the 'war on terror'. This module offers an in-depth critical assessment of the development, change and nature of the international system post-1945. Engaging with key themes in contemporary international relations, you will explore the reasons underlying these transformations: the policies made within states or non-state actors; how policy makers are constrained by the international system; why various actors behave in the ways that they do; and the implications of their actions. You will examine some of key debates that serve to question the contemporary nature of the international system, such as the legitimacy of humanitarian intervention, the meaning of the 'war on terror', and whether globalisation makes nation states irrelevant.
  
  
• LAW-40048 Foundations of Human Rights (International Relations or Politics pathway)
  Focusing on gender, sexuality, race, class, ethnicity, religion and power in relation to human rights, you will develop a practical and theoretical understanding of human rights law, politics and philosophy at domestic, regional and international levels. You will explore historical, philosophical and structural aspects of human rights, including Enlightenment perspectives, theories of rights/history of rights theory, universalism/relativism debates, sovereignty and non-intervention concerns and other ‘structural’ issues pertinent to international law and relations. This broad foundation module provides a background in which to study and critique human rights theory and practice.

On the MA, you will study four additional optional modules, choosing from the remaining pathway-specific modules (above) or the broader range of modules listed below. You can choose to study two optional modules alongside the core pathway-specific module in Semester 1 and the remaining two optional modules in Semester 2. Alternatively, you can opt to study three optional modules in Semester 1 and one optional module, together with the core pathway-specific module, in Semester 2.

• PIR-40096 Comparative European Politics (Politics pathway)
  You’ll explore the nature and role of fundamental political structures in Europe, including electoral systems, political parties, executives and legislature, and the ways in which these structures, and the actors within them, interact. Employing both classic and contemporary theoretical and empirical approaches to comparative European politics, you will examine the processes behind behind the socio-political and electoral changes that have taken place in Europe, such as declining political loyalty, falling turnout levels and decreasing trust in parties and democracy. In doing so, you will assess the consequences that these changes have had on European politics and democracy, and the challenges they pose to states, institutions and citizens.
  
  
• PIR-40131 Environmental Public Policy (Politics pathway)
  This module will provide you with an overview of key concepts, debates, processes and discourses in relation to environmental public policy in the UK. Issues such as GM crops, wind-farms and nuclear energy, which have provoked significant controversy and protest, will be analysed and unpacked.
  
  
• PIR-40119 Race and Justice: Civil Rights in the US (US Politics pathway)
  The 1960s American Civil Rights Movement is one of the most iconic protest movements for political and social equality in recent history. The fight for legal and social equality for black people in the United States (US) greatly influenced further fights for equality for other racial or ethnic groups, women, and the disabled. It continues to influence protest movements throughout the world. But, despite its successes, discrimination remains a major issue. On this module, you will examine discrimination, inequality and civil rights from the second half of the 20th Century. You will also explore the state of civil rights law and the extent to which the courts have effectively enforced social change, using legal cases and case studies to analyse the state of civil rights in the US today.
  
  
• PIR-40130 The US Presidency and Public Policy (US Politics pathway)
  The US Presidency is a phenomenally high-profile institution, yet its power is constrained in a range of ways. This module considers how a Bush, Obama or Trump should be studied by researchers. How much attention is the role of the individual worth? Can the institution's behaviour be understood regardless of which individual occupies the Oval Office? What forces shape presidential behaviour – systemic, electoral, partisan, intellectual? Using a swathe of contemporary research, you will consider the different ways of understanding the Office and its behaviour, particularly with reference to its policymaking powers. You’ll be given a broad introduction to researching the presidency with particular emphasis on the presidency's capacity to change public policy.
  
  
• PIR-40088 The Theory of Global Security (Global Security pathway)
  Engaging with key concepts like threat, risk, securitisation and vulnerability, this module offers an advanced introduction to the analysis of global security, from classical International Relations theory to what is known as Critical Security Studies. You will be exposed to the main theoretical traditions through which security has been understood since the end of World War II, focusing in particular on the post-Cold War period, and how shifting conceptions of security are allied to shifting understandings of the state, society, the economy, and culture. Through a range of seminar activities, including group discussion, you will engage critically with contemporary debates on security studies. Recently, for example, students have considered the nature of the history, language and space of security.
  
  
• PIR-40126 Maritime Security (Global Security pathway)
  Recent technological developments, changes in international law, environmental concerns and the emergence of maritime economies has radically altered our understanding of sea space. The sea is no longer a planar surface upon which wealth and naval power moves between states, it is now a place of wealth, a space ripe for commercial and scientific exploitation, a home in need of conservation. We have witnessed over the past few years the publication of maritime security strategies, an unprecedented territorialisation of sea space and an exponential increase in the quantity of ocean boundaries. This module takes you through the legal, historical and economic aspects of these developments and changes and explores the theory and practice of securing a vast, three-dimensional, fluid and dynamic environment. You'll be introduced to novel analytical methods, which demonstrate how the political can be revealed through the study of space.
  
  
• PIR-40126 War, Memory and Popular Culture (Global Security pathway)
  This module examines key issues in the study of war and memory. It examines reasons why states go to war, and considers interpretations as to how violence is perpetrated and why and how militaries train service personnel to kill. Using key historical examples, such as the Second World War, Vietnam War and Falklands War, you will examine how wars have been commemorated and represented in popular culture, how remembrance and commemoration work to foreground some experiences and silence others, how national identity relates to war and how ideas and practices of war are shaped by gender. You'll be introduced to critical interpretations of what war means and why it matters; and how understandings of war should be central to understandings of international relations today.
  
  
• PIR-40138 Crises, Conflict and Diplomacy
  This module critically analyses the role of diplomacy in addressing contemporary conflicts. Focusing on diplomatic practices, processes, the various diplomatic actors, their conduct and eventual outcomes, you will investigate the changing nature of diplomacy. In particular, you’ll consider how varied diplomatic actors – states, international and regional organisations – have attempted to resolve conflict through diplomacy, and how diplomacy shaped the outcomes of these crises. Using in-depth case studies, such as the Ethiopia Tigray Conflict and the effect of sanctions in the Kosovo conflict, you will explore diplomatic practice in a range of international settings, giving you practical insight into how negotiations and mediations evolve in different cases. To help you better understand the intricacies of negotiation, mediation and its effect on conflict resolution, you’ll participate in a simulation exercise to negotiate a peace agreement.
  
  
• PIR-40106 Dimensions of Environmental Politics
  You will be introduced to the main facets of environmental politics, gaining an broad overview of key concepts, debates, processes and discourses in relation to the political dynamics of ‘The environment’. You will explore three key questions in environmental politics: How did ‘The environment’ come to be seen as a political question? How have political institutions responded to what have been called environmental problems? What are the challenges such problems individually or collectively pose for existing political structures, institutions, and practices, and the theoretical presumptions underlying them. This module will provide you with a good general understanding across the field, should you wish to specialise in greater depth, for example, in your dissertation.
  
  
• LAW-40047 Equality, Discrimination and Minorities
  This module focuses on the main issues of equality and discrimination in international human rights policy and practice. Using the thematic of religion, race, ethnicity and caste/descent, you will examine and critique particular inequalities in international human rights policy and practice, such as geographical and governance inequalities. Exploring equality issues through particular case studies, you will analyse UK and comparative perspectives of global and regional norms on race discrimination, for example, rights of caste groups, minorities and indigenous peoples, and standards on prevention and punishment of genocide. You will reflect on the ways in which aspects of a person’s social and political identities combine to create different modes of discrimination and privilege, for example, the intersectional ties of gender and indigenous peoples/minorities, and gender and sexuality.
  
  
• PIR-40136 International Diplomacy
  The aim of this module is to provide an overview of the field of diplomatic studies, introducing you to the ideas and concepts of contemporary diplomacy and the ways this relates to the complex process of policy making, both domestic and international. Focusing on non-Western cases and non-traditional actors, it offers a cutting-edge approach to the study of diplomacy, examining the evolution of the field of diplomatic studies, diplomacy within states, between states and citizens. You will look at how diplomacy is conducted and regulated across a range of international transactions, including negotiation, multinational conferences, the creation of international organisations, the evolution of international trade, covert diplomacy and international norms and regulations.

Optional modules (MRes)

For the MRes, you study three optional modules in Semester 1. In Semester 2, you must study one of the following compulsory research-specific modules. You can choose the other as one of your optional choices in Semester 1, along with other other module options listed for the MA.

• GRT-40020 Quantitative Research and Data Analysis (15 credits)
  The module provides a comprehensive introduction to the principles and practices of quantitative social science research. You’ll become familiar with the different ways in which statistical, mathematical, or numerical data is collected and evaluated, through polls, questionnaires, and surveys, or by manipulating pre-existing statistical data using computational techniques. You’ll also learn to evaluate and appraise these methods to assess their suitability in relation to the question of causality, for example, or in addressing problems of operationalisation and theories of sampling. Practical work will include questionnaire design, data analysis and the writing of a quantitative research design. You’ll also gain hands-on experience of SPSS software, which is widely used in the analysis of quantitative data sets.
  
  
• GRT-40021 Qualitative Research Methods (15 credits)
  Through discussion of the principles and practices of qualitative social research, this module provides a solid overview of the wide range of qualitative methods used in social science research. You will examine how qualitative methodologies inform research design and learn to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of different forms of investigation, such as in-depth interviews, focus groups, participant observation, or visual (artistic) research. You’ll be introduced to associated methods of data capture, including field notes, audio and/or video recordings, and transcripts, gaining practical experience of the same NVivo software used by qualitative researchers in the management and analysis of qualitative data.

PIR-40105 Dissertation (60 credits)
Researching and writing a master’s dissertation provides an exciting opportunity to examine and investigate in considerable depth a specific topic, question or issue, working under the supervision of an expert in your chosen field of interest. In order to graduate with a degree in your chosen pathway, you must undertake a dissertation on a topic that falls within the subject remit of that pathway, in this case International Relations. You will design, conduct research and produce a dissertation of 15,000 words in length for the MA and 15,000-20,000 for MRes. Recent topics covered by students on this pathway have included: The Memory of Franco and the Spanish Civil War in Spain; Securitization of Cholera in Zimbabwe; and The Contribution of Framing to the Securitzation of Climate Migrants.