International Relations with Modern Languages with a Year Abroad

As technology, transport, and a more complex and globalised economy make our world smaller, the value of peaceful and cooperative relationships between states and nations is increasingly important. At the same time, the threats that states, communities, and individuals face are increasing in intensity and breadth. How do states cope with the changing nature of conflicts and new threats to security? How do we maintain and strengthen peaceful relations between people and states? What role can international institutions play alongside state actors in a complex and interconnected world?

Our BA International Relations and Modern Languages degree provides you with an opportunity to investigate the impact of a globalised world on states and citizens, the role of digital communication in shaping understanding of events, and the evolution of global human rights. The drivers and forces behind international cooperation and conflict form part of our degree just as much as the impact of conflict on the relationship between states and people. You will learn how power, norms and institutions, as well as legal frameworks, affect our day-to-day lives and how historical events still have a noticeable impact on the global world order.

As part of your degree you will also study the rich diversity of your chosen language (French, Spanish or German) at a level suitable to your existing knowledge, with the opportunity to undertake a year abroad. This allows you a first-hand opportunity to gain cultural insights, to directly interact with other cultures and educational systems, and to further enhance your linguistic skills.

This programme includes opportunities to undertake a Year Abroad, enhancing your learning and offering invaluable life experience.

In Year 1, you will typically study areas including: International Relations in a Changing World; Interpreting Politics: The Faces and Uses of Power; War and Peace in the Nuclear Age; Disinformation, Ideology, and Bias: Researching and examining political data; The Colour Line: Race and Racism in World Politics; Beginners French 1; Beginners German 1; Beginners Spanish 1.

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; The Global First World War; A Matter of Life and Death: Exploring Existential Philosophy; Upper-Intermediate French 1; Upper Intermediate German 1; Upper-Intermediate Spanish 1.

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; Dissertation; Senedd Cymru/The Welsh Parliament; The Rise and Fall of Wales? Politics, Culture and Society, 1847-1939; French Translation Workshop 3; Translation Workshop (German/English); Translation Workshop (Spanish into English).

We are proud to provide an outstanding educational experience, using the most effective learning and teaching approaches, carefully tailored to suit the specific needs of your course.

Practical skills sessions, lab work seminars, and workshops predominantly take place in person, allowing for group working and demonstrations. We also operate virtual labs and Simulated Learning Environments which will facilitate greater access to training opportunities in the future. However, our approach also includes the use of some online learning to support and enhance traditional face-to-face teaching.

Lecture recordings also allow for more flexibility to revisit material, to revise for assessments and to enhance learning outside of the classroom. Some modules have extra resources in Canvas, such as videos, slides and quizzes enabling further flexible study.