Discover the world through two powerful lenses: global politics and American influence. Our combined degree in International Relations and American Studies offers you the chance to explore how nations interact, why power matters, and how U.S. culture and policy have shaped and continue to shape the international stage. From diplomacy and security to literature, film, and identity, you will gain critical insights into today’s most pressing global challenges, while developing the analytical and communication skills that employers value.
Our Joint Honours BA degree covers International Relations with its focus on global politics, security, human rights, and international cooperation as well as American Studies exploring U.S. history, culture, politics, and its role as a global power. You will have the chance to study American history, literature, politics and culture, from colonisation to the present, and a range of international relations topics from globalisation, international security, to peace and conflict management, or human rights and political economy. Together, they provide a holistic view of how the U.S. shapes, and is shaped by, the international system, which is highly relevant in today’s interconnected world.
You can shape the degree to your own interests, whether in US popular culture and political protest or political theory and international peace and conflict. You also have the chance to study for a year or a semester in the United States, discovering the subject first-hand.
We offer varied and flexible course content, so you can shape your American Studies and International Relations degree to your own interests.
Topics include American film, music, race, gender, migration and urbanization, social, economic and military history, intelligence studies, or civil rights and political protest, globalisation and human rights, political economy, peace and conflict, and security studies.
Teaching is informed by our world-leading interdisciplinary research in a wide range of subject areas, from civil rights, US foreign policy, and the Cold War to the American Civil War, contemporary US fiction, and the Harlem Renaissance.
During your time at Swansea University, you will have the opportunity to get involved in a wide range of clubs and societies. The American Studies Student Society organises a range of social and cultural events. The Politics and International Relations Student Society (PAIR) provides another network to get involved with for social and career related events, including talks by guest speakers from practice.
This programme includes opportunities to undertake a Semester or Year Abroad in the United States, enhancing your learning and offering invaluable life experience.
In Year 1, you will typically study areas including: Locating American Studies; International Relations in a Changing World; Forging a Nation: US History and Politics; War and Peace in the Nuclear Age; Making Modern Europe, 1789 to the Present; Who Sings America? Literature and Culture of the United States; Politics and the People; Disinformation, Ideology, and Bias: Researching and examining political data; The Colour Line: Race and Racism in World Politics; Critical Reasoning.
In Year 2, you will typically study areas including: Anarchy and Order: Theories in International Relations; Global Justice and Human Rights in the Age of Globalisation; Disunited Kingdom? Class, Race, Gender and Social Division in Twentieth-Century Britain; Philosophy of the Enlightenment; The State and Political Institutions; Investigating Gender; Race and Ethnicity: American Perspectives; American Word / American Image.
In Year 3: Modules will be dependent on which partnership University you choose to study at.
In Year 4, you will typically study areas including: Researching Politics 1; American Studies Dissertation; Dissertation; Senedd Cymru/The Welsh Parliament; The Russian Civil War; Philosophy, Mental Health and Illness; Parliamentary Studies; Capitalism and Justice; Genocide; The Rise and Fall of Wales? Politics, Culture and Society, 1847-1939; African American Literature 1910-1940: The Harlem Renaissance; Clear and Present Danger: America and Terrorism; The Great Depression and New Deal America, 1929-1941.
Throughout your undergraduate International Relations and American Studies with a Year Abroad BA (Hons) degree, you will develop excellent research and analytical skills and learn to present your ideas effectively both verbally and in writing.
We offer a variety of assessment methods within our programmes. In addition to traditional examinations and essays, examples of alternative assessment include:
• Reading diary
• Literature/ article review
• Case study
• Critical review
For a full breakdown of course structure and assessment please visit our course page https://www.swansea.ac.uk/undergraduate/courses/social-sciences/politics-philosophy-international-relations/ba-international-relations-american-studies-year-abroad/ or get in touch with us at study@swansea.ac.uk
The following entry points are available for this course:
If you are an International Student, please visit our International pages for more information about entry requirements: http://www.swansea.ac.uk/international/students/requirements/
Discover what it's like to study International Relations and American Studies with a Year Abroad at Swansea University: insights on the course, making friends, personal statement tips, uni prep, and recommended books, podcasts, and videos.
Access to Humanities Course
International students will also require a score of 4 at Higher Level English Language or Literature, or 5 at Standard Level English Language or Literature.
Swansea University accepts the Advanced Skills Baccalaureate Wales as fully equivalent to x1 A-Level.
Swansea University will accept the Welsh Baccalaureate - Advanced Skills Challenge Certificate as fully equivalent to one A-Level.
We recognise the EPQ as an excellent indicator of success.
If you are predicted a grade B or above in the EPQ, you will receive an offer with a one
grade reduction, to include your EPQ with a grade B.
GCSEs: English/Welsh Language Grade C
English Language Requirements at Swansea Universityhttps://www.swansea.ac.uk/admissions/english-language-requirements/
UK applicants who meet course requirements are guaranteed a conditional offer. We assess applications on individual merit. We consider making reduced offers, eg. to Care Leavers or students with extenuating circumstances. We encourage you to disclose any relevant circumstances.
The Advanced Skills Baccalaureate Wales is considered as equivalent to one full A-Level and students can take x2 A-levels alongside this. EPQ students predicted Grade B or above will receive a one-grade offer reduction.
This section shows the range of grades that students who received offers were previously accepted on to this course with (learn more).
It is designed to support your research but does not guarantee whether you will or won't get a place.
Admissions teams consider various factors, including interviews, subject requirements, and entrance tests. Check all course entry requirements for eligibility.
We are unable to show previous accepted grades for this course. This could be because the course is new, it's a postgraduate course, there isn't enough historical data, or the provider has opted out of sharing their entry grades data for this course - learn more.
No fee information has been provided for this course
Tuition fee status depends on a number of criteria and varies according to where in the UK you will study. For further guidance on the criteria for home or overseas tuition fees, please refer to the UKCISA website.
For the latest fee information, please check the individual course page on our website. Our full range of programmes are listed here: https://www.swansea.ac.uk/undergraduate/courses/
Further information on tuition fees can be found here: https://www.swansea.ac.uk/undergraduate/fees-and-funding/tuition-fees/
You may be eligible for funding to help support your study.
To find out about scholarships, bursaries and other funding opportunities that are available please visit the University's scholarships and bursaries page https://www.swansea.ac.uk/undergraduate/scholarships/
Academi Hywel Teifi at Swansea University and the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol offer a number of generous scholarships and bursaries for students who wish to study through the medium of Welsh or bilingually. For further information about the opportunities available to you, visit the Academi Hywel Teifi Scholarships and Bursaries page https://www.swansea.ac.uk/academi-hywel-teifi/learn/scholarships/
Ask us a question - undergraduate enquiries.
Email:study@swansea.ac.uk
Phone:01792 295111
Email:study@swansea.ac.uk
Phone:01792 295111
Fax: 01792 295110
Singleton Park
Swansea
SA2 8PP
At Swansea University
