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International Relations
(2018 Entry)
BA (Hons)
International Relations at Keele: Learning from the Experts. International Relations is not merely the study of current affairs or foreign places: it is a distinctive way of looking at the world that will enable you to understand complex global political events.
UCAS code: L254
Course Overview
The study of International Relations covers key issues of conflict, human rights, environmental change and globalisation, and provides a solid understanding of international organisations such as the UN and the European Union. It also develops a range of analytical skills to help you interpret and explain the processes at work in unfolding current events. In a world of complex interdependence, such skills are of increasing relevance to many areas of business, industry and government.
Keele has long been known as a pioneering centre of International Relations scholarship, as it was one of the first universities in the UK to offer a degree in the subject in the 1970s. Today, you will find one of the principal concentrations of International Relations specialists in the UK, and our current staff have internationally recognised teaching and research expertise in the areas of security studies, international history, international political economy and development, regional politics of Europe, Eurasia and the Middle East, feminist and postcolonial approaches to global politics, and political and International Relations theory and regional politics of Europe, Eurasia, the Middle East and Africa.
What will this mean for my future?
This course provides an invaluable lens through which to see and approach the world, which appeals to many employers. You might work in journalism, the civil service or the European Parliament or as a political researcher for an MP or thinktank. You might join international organisations such as aid and development agencies, charity foundations or businesses.
About 25% of graduates from this course study for higher degrees. Some of our well-known graduates include Laurence Mann, the political private secretary to David Cameron, Farah Faisal, Higher Commissioner for the Maldives, and Paul Rimmer, Director at the Ministry of Defence.
Indicative modules
First Year
- Introduction to International Relations
- Choice of modules inside or outside of International Relations
- The Changing World: International Relations since 1945
- Securing Global Order
- Introduction to Global Political Economy
Second Year
- Peace Conflict and Security: Theories and Practice
- International Relations of the Environment
- International Organisation: Mitigating Anarchy
- The Politics of the European Union
- Russian Politics and Society
- International Relations of Eurasia
- US Government and Politics
Third Year
- Dissertation
- The Modern Middle East
- Politics of Development
- Arms Control and Disarmament
- Policing International Order
- African Politcs
- The Falklands War
Course structure
Our degree courses are organised into modules. Each module is usually a self-contained unit of study and each is usually assessed separately with the award of credits on the basis of 1 credit = 10 hours of student effort. An outline of the structure of the programme is provided in the tables below.
There are three types of module delivered as part of this programme. They are:
- Compulsory modules – a module that you are required to study on this course;
- Optional modules – these allow you some limited choice of what to study from a list of modules;
- Elective modules – a free choice of modules that count towards the overall credit requirement but not the number of subject-related credits.
Modules Summary
Students may choose to study elective modules which are offered as part of other programmes in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences and across the University. These include:
- Modules in other subjects closely related to International Relations.
- Modules in other subjects in which they may have a particular interest such as History
- Modules designed to help students for whom it is not their first language to improve their use of English for Academic Purposes.
- Modern foreign languages modules at different levels in French, German, Spanish, Russian, Japanese and Chinese (Mandarin).
- Free standing modules related to the development of graduate attributes, student volunteering, and studying abroad as part of the University’s exchange programme.
A summary of the credit requirements per year is as follows, with a minimum of 90 subject credits (compulsory plus optional) required for each year.
Year |
Compulsory |
Optional |
Electives |
||
Min |
Max |
Min |
Max |
||
1 |
30 |
60 |
90 |
0 |
30 |
2 |
30 |
60 |
90 |
0 |
30 |
3 |
30 |
60 |
90 |
0 |
30 |
Modules - Year One
Year 1 (Level 4)
The two compulsory first year modules provide students with a thorough grounding in the study skills needed for International Relations and an introduction to the nature and scope of International Relations as a discipline. They expose students to the various traditions or schools of thought that have tried to make sense of international politics and familiarise them with many of the problems addressed by, and concepts employed in, the discipline of International Relations. These include war and peace, order and intervention, the balance of power, diplomacy and international organisation, territoriality and the sovereign state, equity and justice, territoriality and governmentality. International Relations students may also learn about the workings of the global political economy, gain a solid background in the main developments in international history throughout and beyond the Cold War, or examine aspects of the study of Politics.
Compulsory modules |
Credits |
Optional modules |
Credits |
Introduction to International Relations |
15 |
The Changing World: International Relations |
15 |
Securing Global Order |
15 |
Introduction to Global Political Economy |
15 |
Why Politics Matters |
15 |
||
Justice, Authority and Power |
15 |
||
Debates in American Politics |
15 |
||
Modern Democracies |
15 |
Modules - Year Two
Year 2 (Level 5)
In the second year students build on the foundations laid in the first year. The two compulsory modules cover core aspects of contemporary international politics: the roles and functions of international institutions, organisations and regimes in mitigating anarchy; the contending perspectives on international relations and contemporary developments in theoretical approaches to the IR discipline. Students have the opportunity also to study a number of specialised aspects of International Relations such as the International Relations of Eurasia, the Modern Middle East, African Politics or the Politics of the European Union or to take modules offered in the Politics programme. They may also take the Work Experience module offered by the School of Politics, Philosophy, International Relations and Environment.
Compulsory modules |
Credits |
Optional modules |
Credits |
Contemporary International Relations |
15 |
The International Relations of Eurasia |
15 |
International Organisation: Mitigating |
15 |
The Politics of the European Union |
15 |
African Politics |
15 |
||
The Modern Middle East |
15 |
||
US Politics |
15 |
||
Russian Politics and Society |
15 |
||
Electors, Voters and Public Opinion |
15 |
||
Environmental Politics and Policy |
15 |
||
British Government and Politics |
15 |
||
Freedom and Equality |
15 |
||
Why Policy Changes |
15 |
||
The Practice of Politics |
15 |
||
Work Experience in Politics, International |
15 |
Modules - Year Three
Year 3 (Level 6)
In the third year students deepen their knowledge of selected topics in International Relations by choosing to study two or more modules in a range of subjects which vary from year to year but reflect the specialist expertise and active research interests of members of staff. Students taking Single Honours International Relations must write a research dissertation in International Relations, working under the guidance of a Supervisor who is a member of the academic staff of the School with expertise in the topic chosen by the student.
Compulsory modules |
Credits |
Optional modules |
Credits |
Dissertation in Politics and International |
30 |
The Northern Dimension |
15 |
Proliferation |
15 |
||
The Missing Dimension |
15 |
||
Politics of Development |
15 |
||
Israel-Palestine: Key Debates and Issue |
15 |
||
Policing International Order |
15 |
||
Britain and War since 1945: War, Cold War |
15 |
||
Gendering Global Politics |
15 |
||
Understanding Terrorism and Counter- |
15 |
||
Russia and Europe |
15 |
||
The Extreme Right in Western Europe |
15 |
||
The Left in Modern Politics |
15 |
||
Debating the Future of the European Union |
15 |
||
Environmental Politics in the USA |
15 |
||
Modern Russia |
15 |
||
Environmentalism, Environmental Movements and Protest |
15 |
For further information on the content of modules currently offered, including the list of elective modules, please visit: www.keele.ac.uk/recordsandexams/az