International Relations

The world of the future is globalised. Our planet is shared, our economy is interconnected, and the challenges we face demand co-operation — but international politics remains divided. This is the fundamental problem that students of International Relations (IR) must unravel, by confronting the critical issues we face as global citizens: from war and conflict, to climate change, global poverty, gender violence, and racial injustice.

Whatever your interests, IR@NTU is all about personalisation. After establishing the essentials in Year One, you’ll be designing your degree to reflect the things you want to explore. Maybe that’s political violence and terrorism, or the global politics of pop culture, or perhaps a regional focus on Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. You might want to consider a career in diplomacy or the media, or maybe you`re passionate about feminism or postcolonialism — IR@NTU has it all. The whole course culminates in a dissertation project where you’ll choose your topic, study it in real depth with the support of a specialist supervisor, and then become an IR expert yourself.

This course does IR differently by disrupting the discipline, developing innovative approaches to teaching, and encouraging more creative ways of learning. You’ll build the key transferable skills for a career in project management, diplomacy, the media, NGOs, logistics, multinational corporations, national security, and so much more. The jobs of the future are globalised, and nothing will prepare you better to succeed in that environment than our IR degree.

IR@NTU – The World is Yours.

Why study International Relations at NTU?

• Work on real-world collaborations, projects and simulations on topics which matter to you and develop core skills such as digital literacies and data visualization throughout.

• Study in the heart of the vibrant and multicultural city of Nottingham, with a proud political history steeped in community activism.

• You will have the opportunity to undertake an optional year-long placement and/or study abroad in your second year, with one of our international partners across the world.

• Learn a language as part of your degree with optional modules in your second and final year. Choosing between Arabic, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin or Spanish, a new world of opportunities will open for you with beginner to advanced classes.

Course Modules

There’s no denying that the 21st Century world is a complex place.

We’ve all lived through a global pandemic that transformed everyday life, and we are now seeing a period of war in Europe, secessionist movements in Africa, sectarianism in the Middle East, populism in Latin America, and economic crisis in Asia. It’s a time of almost unprecedented flux and upheaval, but it’s also an urgent and exhilarating time to be studying international relations.

IR can be about the very big things happening in the world — the impact of the war in Ukraine on the global economy; the migratory flows stemming from the conflict in Syria; the rising powers of Asia; the decline of the United States; or the crisis of the European Union — but it can also be about our everyday lives: from the clothes you wear and the music you listen to, to the components of the mobile phone in your pocket. All these things establish international relationships with people around the world.

That’s why IR@NTU is about seeing the world differently. It’s about identifying the connections, understanding the conflicts, viewing issues from different perspectives, and asking fundamental questions. We’ll dare you to be different, whether that’s in the classroom, out on placement, studying abroad, taking part in our huge range of student-led political clubs and societies, or even by learning a brand-new language. Ultimately, you’ll customise your own degree to reflect your own interests, designing your dissertation to explore in-depth a topic that you are personally passionate about. Your IR@NTU degree puts you at the centre of this complex and tumultuous world.

Here’s a breakdown of the core and optional modules you’ll be studying across your course:

Year One modules include:

• An Introduction to International Relations

• International Relations and Global History

• Politics and International Relations in Practice

• UN and Global Governance

• Media Power and Truth.

• Study and Research Skills

Year Two modules are:

• Global Political Economy of Everyday Life

• Careers and Experience in Politics and International Relations

• Applied Social Research

• Optional modules include Security Studies; Global Politics of Post Colonialism; Environmental Politics and Policy; The Politics of Art, Film and Literature; Understanding Foreign Policy; and Intercultural Communication at Work.

You may choose to take an optional year-long placement in Year Three, either in the UK or overseas. You will be supported by our experienced Employability Team to source a suitable placement. You can apply for this course using UCAS Code L259.

Final year modules include:

• Dissertation

• Leadership, Activism and Campaigning

• Optional modules include Negotiating in International Contexts; Politics of the Global South; Feminist Thought and Praxis; Globalisation in Crisis; Global Politics of Pop Culture; The International Relations of the Middle East and North Africa; East of the West: Eurasian Geopolitics; Political Violence & Terror; and Emerging Powers of Asia.

The International Relations team use a variety of assessment practices. These include, coursework-based essays, reports, textual analysis, oral presentations, written examinations and a final year research-based dissertation.

In response to student feedback, the University has introduced a policy ensuring marked work is returned to you electronically within three weeks of submission.