Politics with Foundation Year

Study diverse subjects from across humanities, social sciences, language and linguistics on this Liberal Arts foundation year. This course will give you both the skills you need to succeed in your degree, and an opportunity to go beyond your chosen subject and explore other specialisms.

Through this interdisciplinary foundation year you can to develop skills and knowledge both within and beyond the degree you will progress onto. The course allows you to explore different aspects of your own subject area, as well as a wider framework of contexts, approaches and crossovers with other subjects.

The foundation year provides a welcoming and encouraging environment in which you can first encounter those key questions and challenges that will later inform your undergraduate study. This is the course for you if are excited about getting into higher education but don't want to dive straight into an undergraduate degree. This might be because you have been out of education for a while, you do not yet have the entry requirements for the course you want to do, or you just do not feel ready yet.

As well as building your academic skills, this course is designed to build your confidence and welcome you to the diverse and inclusive community at York St John University. We will make sure that you are fully aware of the resources and opportunities available to you both during the foundation year and throughout the rest of your studies, whilst also introducing you to York, a city steeped in history and culture.

On our Politics course you will address some of today's biggest political questions from local, national and global perspectives, and will gain a thorough understanding of the institutions and processes which drive modern states. This will include an investigation of the domestic government and politics of the UK, along with a wider global focus.

Some of the topics you will explore include:

How new communication technologies are changing the way we interact with politics
How democracies and authoritarian regimes function, thrive and fall in the 21st century
How states interact with each other, and the changing role of the state
How states respond to collective dilemmas such as inequality, threats to national security and climate change
You will learn to explain the historical drivers of social change and analyse the current political landscape. This will mean you are prepared to understand and respond to the challenges that will shape our political future.

We do everything we can to help you graduate into a great career, and you will study a specialist Work Related Learning module in your second year. This could involve:

Designing campaign materials
Analysing a current City of York Council policy proposal
Contributing to the Students’ Union elections
This degree will provide you with valuable skills which you can carry forward into a career either in politics or in many other exciting sectors.