You will study the following 3 core modules;

Research in Action (15 credits): You will look at how advanced research in the social sciences is designed and conducted. This module provides an in-depth and hands-on advanced introduction to research design and evidence gathering in the social sciences. It will provide you with an overview of different research designs and approaches to data gathering, ethical issues involved in conducting research, and will introduce you to examples of researchers currently engaged in work that uses a range of leading-edge research methods.

Advanced Approaches to Politics and International Relations (30 credits): This module provides an overview of the philosophies, assumptions and approaches underlying the study of Politics and International Relations topics. An an intensive workshop like approcah, 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.

A pathway specific module (15 credits): You will have the flexibility to choose one pathway specific module in either semester one or two. Examples of pathways specific to US Politics include:

The US Presidency and Public Policy: The US Presidency is a phenomenally high-profile institution, yet its power is constrained in a range of ways. This module considers how a Clinton, Bush or Obama 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, and intellectual?

Race and Justice: Civil Rights in the US: Despite the successes of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement, discrimination is still a top issue in the United States. This module examines discrimination, inequality and civil rights from the second half of the 20th Century. The module analyses 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 United States today.

Rethinking Fault-Lines: Beyond the East/West Divide in Global Politics: In the 21st century, the world seems to have become increasingly complex. This module embraces such complexity, challenging a number of mainstream perspectives such as Euro-centrism, neoliberalism, underdevelopment-ism, and brings a critical approach to the study of key structures, actors, dynamics, and processes that define global politics in the 21st century, and taking into account the multiple, fast changing and competing explanations about it.

You will choose two optional modules if you are taking the pathway specific module in semester 2 and three optional modules if you are taking the pathway specific module in semesterYou will choose two optional modules if you are taking the pathway specific module in semester 2 and three optional modules if you are taking the pathway specific module in semester 1. 

Optional modules may include:

The Theory Of Global Security: This module offers an introduction to the analysis of global security. It exposes students to the main theoretical traditions through which security has been understood since the end of World War 2 and focuses in particular in the post-Cold War period.

The Changing International Agenda: The Changing International Agenda offers an in-depth critical assessment of the development, change and nature of the international system since the close of the Second World War. This period has 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.

Comparative European Politics: Informed by classic and contemporary theoretical and empirical approaches to comparative politics, this module considers the nature and role of fundamental political structures in Europe (including electoral systems, political parties, executives and legislatures). It explores the ways in which these structures, and the actors within them, interact.

Diplomatic Law: This module understands diplomacy to be the means whereby states communicate and attempt to adjust their relations. Without such an arrangement, inter-state relations as we know them would not be possible. Accordingly, the course considers the nature of diplomacy, the environment within which it operates and the law that governs its conduct.

Equality, Discrimination & Minorities: Using the thematic of religion, race, ethnicity and caste/descent, the module examines and critiques particular inequalities in international human rights policy and practice such as geographical and governance inequalities, exploring equality issues through particular case studies. Examples could include UK and comparative perspectives on equality and discrimination.

Race & Justice: Civil Rights In The US: Despite the successes of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement, discrimination is still a top issue in the United States. 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 United States today.

Equality, Discrimination & Minorities (Law module): Using the thematic of religion, race, ethnicity and caste/descent, you will examine and critique particular inequalities in international human rights policy and practice. You will look at geographical and governance inequalities and equality issues through particular case studies. Examples could include UK and comparative perspectives on equality and discrimination. 

Foundations of Human Rights (Law module): 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.

Diplomatic Practice: The core tutorials in this module concentrate on analysing the role of diplomats in the making and execution of foreign policy. You will examine the evolution of diplomacy over the last century in the twentieth century and the major challenges that face it in the twenty-first century.

War, Memory and Popular Culture: This module frames the study of war around a number of critical interpretations of International Relations. It offers an opportunity for you to deepen your theoretical awareness of the conceptual and political problem of conflict. Through an analysis of influential writings and other media concerning the theme of war, the module promotes a self-directed study of critical International Relations theory.

Maritime Security: Recent technological developments, changes in international law, environmental concerns and the emergence of maritime economies has radically altered our understanding of sea space. 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. It foregrounds your study of maritime security through innovations in the fields of critical geopolitics, introducing you to novel analytical methods, which demonstrate how the political can be revealed through the study of space.

Environmental Public Policy: This module aims to provide students 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.

Human Rights and Global Politics (Law module): This module further develops the connections between global and local causes and responses to contemporary human rights issues. The overall focus of the module is on exploring evolving political and legal strategies to advance human rights in a global political framework. Key issues include the r2p, humanitarian interventions, aid and development, security in the post 9/11 era and more.