BA (Hons) Politics and International Relations with Humanities Integrated Foundation Year

Skills and Scholarship in Humanities

This module provides you with an introduction to and practice of the key skills associated with the success in Humanities. Foregrounded areas will include: defining research questions; accessing research (using libraries, archives, galleries, and online sources); engaged reading of different materials (including a substantial range of sources); constructing arguments and developing structure in communication; communication in written and oral formats, including concise and longer formats.

This module is a toolkit for the skills and scholarship needed to thrive and to enjoy the humanities.

Understanding Ideas, Images and Creativity: Reading Humanities through concepts, objects and pictures

Humanities used to be primarily engaged with written materials and the production of analytical new research in written forms. This is no longer the case (in fact since about circa 1975).

Humanities engage with multiple non-text based sources including: paintings, objects, advertising, film and television, music and sound, posters, photography, graphic narratives, landscapes, and digital materials (including AI generated sources).

This module aims to introduce you to this space and support you to use it as part of your development as a scholar. It also consciously asks you to contextualize and explore non-text sources in their frequently changing multiple and global contexts.

Global Skills for the twenty-first century

Humanities scholarship today is no longer bound by national frameworks. Ideas of frontiers and borders no longer limit the questions we ask. However, what are the skills for understanding this ‘world’ and how are they practised in inclusive and reflective approaches that are democratic and thoughtful?

This module therefore explores: questions of translation, cultural influence and power; cultural intersections and cultural differences, framing the global north and the global south after empire, unpacking where experiences are globalizing and hybrid or that are valued for their specificity and localized meaning and value.

It will ask how did views of the world get things wrong (e.g. early anthropology) and how do scholars think of ‘the world’ today.

Engaging with the ‘Cultural Life’

This module prepares you for exploring and working with ‘culture’ – meaning all forms of public expression associated with the humanities.

It asks what it means to be interested in culture? How we learn to access and explore culture and what barriers may limit access?

It will offer you a chance to define and pursue your own form of cultural activity – ranging from engaging with a form (e.g. writing or blogging criticism) or making new culture (creative writing; curation).

Research Project or Making Humanities Work for You

This module allows you to engage in either an independent research project in any area of the Humanities (subject to staff approval) or to engage in an equivalent 10 days of work experience.

It offers you the chance to pursue your own interest in your preferred humanities area or explore work experience targeted to a future career.

EU Law I

This module introduces you to European Union law and the impetus behind the formation of the European Union. This provides an insight into the law-making institutions of the European Union, the different sources of EU law and the relationship between EU law and the law of member states. In addition, it shows you how to examine the impact of the different EU laws on the enforceability of an individual’s legal rights. Throughout, you will also continue to develop legal reasoning, research and referencing skills.

Introduction to Political Ideas

This module introduces you to the academic analysis of politics, where you will gain an understanding of politics both as an activity and as a discipline. The module also focuses on the space of politics, and the conceptual approaches, ideology, schools and methods in politics.

Introduction to Soft Power: Britain and its Cultural Diplomacy in the Twenty-First Century

This module examines the role of literature, arts and other cultural forms and processes in conducting international relations.

It is an introduction to the notions of soft power and cultural diplomacy and how Britain and other states, and intergovernmental organisations have used it to exert their power.

The module introduces students to the history and practice of organisations such as the BBC; BBC World Service; the British Council; UNESCO.

Research in Politics and IR

This module provides a general introduction to studying Politics and International Relations. You will examine some of the key research skills such as desk research (literature search, identifying existing datasets) as well as guiding you through different referencing styles, note-taking, how to present a coherent argument, and how to critique.

Russia and China: An Introduction to Post-Communism

This module introduces you to the contemporary politics of the two great powers, Russia, and China, and explores their comparative journeys into versions of post-Communism. You will understand the evolution and/or collapse of ‘communist’ ideology and practice in each state. It acknowledges the new state-society dynamics in each state, offering an introduction to politics and society in the twenty-first century Russia and China.

The United States: An Introduction (1763 – The Present)

This module analyses the distinctive origins of American political thought and constitutional practice, the structures and effects of slavery, the origins of the civil war, the evolution of popular culture with special reference to jazz, the pursuit of civil rights and the emergence of the United States as a world power.

War and Peace Twentieth Century Europe and Global Conflict

This module provides you with an overview of European political, cultural, and military history during the 20th century through the study of its major conflicts and global forces.

The central focus of the module is the international history of the major Great Powers between 1914 and 2000. You will examine of some of the common debates that often surround the origins of the First World War; the Second World War; the Cold War and debates on the ‘New World Order’.

Britain and Europe: Brexit – Before, During and After

This module explores the history and contemporary politics of Britain’s relationship with continental Europe. You will chart in place the reasons for European integration and the expansion of the ‘European Union’ from the 1950s to the present day. the module also investigates the rise of populist politics and the idea of Euroscepticism. In doing so, it highlights the processes associated with the ongoing ‘Brexit’ arrangements, as well as internal contemporary shaping of the EU itself.

Contemporary Issues in International Relations I: Global Security Challenges

This module focuses on the emerging global security challenges because of tensions between nations in recent years.

As part of this, you will consider the causes, consequences, and contemporary expressions of issues such as:

• terrorism
• cyber-security
• bio-security
• migration
• corruption
• trans-national crime.

You will also consider how western and non-western states engage with these challenges as you consider what models of global governance and power actually help model solutions to these key socio-political and economic problems in the twenty first century.

EU Law II

This module continues the study of EU law, which examines the substantive law of the European single market, focusing on free movement of goods, services and people. You will also look at individual rights under EU law, including the protection of fundamental rights linked to EU citizenship.

International Human Rights

This module examines different sources of human rights law, its impact on the English Legal System and considers different substantive areas of the law under the European Convention on Human Rights including absolute, limited and qualified rights.

International Organisations

This module provides a thematic and historical introduction to the idea of international organisations (inter-governmental organisations). It will introduce you to the core international institutions and their histories through the twentieth century, including:

• United Nations (UN)
• North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO)
• Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)
• World Health Organisation (WTO)
• UNESCO
• Red Cross
• Amnesty International
• and others.

You will be encouraged to rethink twentieth century history by not only developing a strong political understanding of these important bodies but also through original social history. The module will provide you with an in-depth understanding of the history and practice of some of the major international organisations and their role in international world politics.

Identity and Conflict in Russia and Eurasia

This module provides you with an understanding of contemporary Russia and Eurasia.

You will examine the recent conflicts across the region through the prism of nationalism and identity politics.

The module re-examines these conflicts by focusing on the sources of demand for national self-determination in secessionist conflicts in:

• Azerbaijan (Nagorno Karabakh)
• Georgia (Abkhazia/South Ossetia)
• Moldova (Transnistria)
• Ukraine (Crimea/Eastern Ukraine)
• Chechnya (Russian Federation)
• as well as causes of intra- and inter-ethnic violence in Central Asia.

Contemporary Issues in International Relations II: Climate Change and Activism

This module explores a key international relations question concerning environmental and climate change.

You will examine the various organisations and campaign groups involved and their perspectives on the issue and explore the role of diplomacy in global negotiations and initiatives on the topic.

Civil Society, NGOs and International Development

This module analyses the link between civil society/NGO sector and international development.

You will examine some of the main players within the charity sector development organisations (such as Oxfam), as well as some of the important international development NGOs.

In addition, you will explore the role and power of smaller local groups and individuals engaged in the so-called citizen journalism, social media protest and other forms of political engagement.

Globalisation and Its Malcontents

This module looks at key moments in the development of globalization focusing on moments in which the world came together, such as the Bretton Woods conference in 1944, when the terms of global trade were outlined after the rupture of the Second World War.

You will use these examples to contextualise the work of theorists like Arjun Appadurai to develop your understanding of how globalization has shaped 20th-century history and politics.

International Law

This module introduces you to international law: the body of law which governs the legal relations between or among states and nations.

You will study the theories, principles and processes of international law, including its sources, legal personality, jurisdiction, and realms of responsibility.

In addition, you will also be introduced to debates about the regulation of international activities, including the use of force, dispute settlement processes, human rights, and the role of the UN.

International Diplomacy, Sustaintable Growth and Cultural Heritage

This module explores how nation state actors, international organisations, NGOs and other global heritage institutions (e.g. British Museum/Guggenheim) work in a world of international heritage management. You will consider key questions of post-colonial power, diplomacy, agency, censorship, freedom of speech.

Multi-Media and Public Communications

This module develops your professional/creative non-fiction/journalism and related public communication skills.

It will provide you with the opportunity to test these skills in a context that considers: writing that requires different rhetorical paradigms and communication in English to ‘non-native’ speakers.

These core theoretical conceptual questions will underpin your training and practice in multi-media public communications.

The Politics of East Asia

This module explores the politics and international relations in East Asia through analysis of the interconnections between regional development and geopolitical contestation in history and today.

You will consider the legacies of the Imperial Chinese tributary system, through to the European and Japanese imperialism in East Asia and East Asia’s experiences during the Cold War, before finally examining the contemporary developments in the region.