International Relations (Taught)

Situated between mountains and sea, our Department of International Politics is ideally located to nurture ambitious thinking. For over 100 years, this unique position has encouraged International Relations scholars to open their minds and expand their intellectual horizons. As a student on the MA International Relations, you will join our tight-knit community of scholars who have all come to Aberystwyth University to grapple with the big ideas that shape our nations, our world and our planet.

On our MA International Relations course, you’ll be exposed to the cutting edge of IR thought, including post-Western thinking, planetary politics, gender approaches and the politics of knowledge in international practice. We take foundational concepts like anarchy, sovereignty and power and unpack them through decolonial ideas, feminist approaches, or Anthropocene thinking. We investigate the agendas and power relations served by conventional IR thinking, and debate whether it is fit for purpose in our increasingly uncertain world.

At this moment, international politics stands on the edge of multiple and intersecting crises. Your MA studies at Aberystwyth will provide the theoretical and empirical tools to help you understand this precarious global situation. You will apply your own independent thoughts and ideas to issues like conflict and security, climate change, international negotiations, and the global refugee crisis. Benefiting from our expert guidance, your MA studies will culminate in an independently researched dissertation, an opportunity for you to combine your critical skills and conceptual knowledge to explore the most urgent questions facing our world today.