Global Politics and International Relations with Foundation Year

Our BA Global Politics and International Relations provides you with a strong foundation in international politics and an in-depth understanding of pressing global challenges of our time. You will explore contending approaches to international relations as well as evolving regional and global political dynamics. You will also develop essential verbal and analytical skills to help significantly expand your career options.

Why choose this course?

• Our academics in this field are outstanding researchers publishing in major academic journals and contributing to public debate in the wider arena.

• The diversity of our staff and student body provides you with a unique learning environment to gain insight into political and economic dynamics around the globe.

• We have built a strong reputation for more than 50 years for the excellence of our teaching and research in politics and international studies.

What you will learn

This course focuses on political changes that are sweeping the globe, transforming politics across countries as well as relations between states.

You will receive a grounding in key concepts and theories and study the core institutions and processes of the international political and economic system, and challenges posed by global problems including:

• the climate crisis

• the rise of new powers and intensified inter-state tensions

• transformations in the nature of warfare

• new policy directions in response to shifts in the world economy.

How you will learn

Teaching is delivered via lectures, seminars and workshops in small groups.

You can study this course full- or part-time and choose your own timetable for the core/compulsory modules selecting whether to study them in the daytime or evening. Foundation Year classes are available in the evening only.

Foundation Year

If you opt for the Foundation Year route, this will fully prepare you for undergraduate study. It is ideal if you are returning to study after a gap, or if you have not previously studied the relevant subjects, or if you didn't achieve the grades you need for a place on your chosen undergraduate degree.

Highlights

• Some of the world’s most famous libraries are on our doorstep in Bloomsbury, and you can walk down to Whitehall, where Parliament and the UK’s most influential and important think-tanks and centres of political research and analysis are located.

• Our courses are designed to encourage independent thinking and hone your argumentative, analytical and critical skills, while our teaching uniquely moves across boundaries between subjects, encompassing, among others, economics, history and sociology.

• Our affiliated research centres, the Centre for British Political Life, the Centre for the Study of Internationalism, and the Centre for Political Economy and Institutional Studies, serve as important platforms for exchange within a community of scholars with shared interests.

Careers and employability

On successfully graduating from this course you will have gained an array of transferable skills, including:

• a robust understanding of contending perspectives on global affairs

• advanced ability to comprehend, evaluate and communicate qualitative and quantitative information

• critical analytical thinking and independent research skills to convey complex arguments in a concise and effective manner.

Graduates can pursue career paths in academia or roles in:

• local and national government

• the diplomatic service

• international organisations

• the voluntary sector in NGOs

• media and journalism

• the private sector in corporations, banks, or research and consultancy.