Undergraduate 2013

A place to inspire you / An approach to challenge you


Politics and International Relations

Key facts
Start year: 2013
Location: Canterbury
Award/s: BA (Hons)
Type: Full-time and part-time
Options: Year abroad

Politics and international relations is an exciting, fast-changing, broad-based discipline.

Our programmes are extremely flexible and offer extensive module choice, reflecting the research interests of our staff, including conflict resolution, federalism, comparative politics, European integration, ethnic conflict, terrorism, the theory of international relations, political theory, and the politics of countries such as China, Japan, Russia and the USA.

At Kent, we pride ourselves on our global outlook, offering an extensive range of fouryear programmes, which include the opportunity to study for a year in places such as Argentina, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Spain, where you study in the local language, as well as the Czech Republic, Finland, Hong Kong, Japan, Norway, Poland and Turkey, where the teaching is in English. We also offer the rare opportunity to gain dual British and French qualifications with our Politics and International Relations (Bi-diplôme) programme, offered in partnership with Sciences Po Lille.

We have an excellent and cosmopolitan community, with close to half our students coming from outside the UK.

Modules

Stage 1

Students on L258 take four core modules and choose from a range of options. Other programmes could include compulsory language modules.

Core modules
  • Introduction to Government
  • Introduction to International Politics
  • Introduction to Political Thought
  • Studying Politics and International Relations
Options

Depending on your degree, these could include:

  • Key Issues in British Politics Today
  • International History and International Relations
  • Politics and Popular Culture in Modern Japan
  • The Rise of China.

Stage 2/3

Students on L258 take three core modules and a choice of options. Students taking different subjects have slightly different choices.

Core modules
  • International Organisation: The UN System
  • Modern Classics of Comparative Politics
  • Political Research and Analysis
Options

Including, but not limited to:

  • Comparative European Politics
  • Conflict and Security in Africa
  • Contemporary Politics and Government in the USA
  • Contemporary Politics of Japan
  • East Asian Political Systems: An Introduction
  • East European Politics
  • Engendering Politics: Feminist Contributions to Political Theory
  • Ethics in International Relations
  • Europe and the World
  • European Security Co-operation since 1945
  • European Union Politics and Policy
  • Foreign Policy Analysis and Management
  • Governance and Politics of Contemporary China
  • International Conflict Analysis and Resolution
  • International Environmental Politics
  • International Organisation: The UN System
  • Introduction to Strategic Studies
  • Japan in the World
  • Market-States and Post-Democracy
  • Modern Political Thought
  • Political Behaviour in Britain
  • Politics in the Classroom
  • Politics of Trust (in the USA)
  • Politics of the Middle East
  • Post-Communist Russia
  • Research Methods of Peace and Conflict Studies
  • Rights, Freedoms and Individualism: Contemporary Liberalism in Question
  • Specialist Dissertation
  • State Failure: Causes, Consequences and Prospects
  • Terrorism and Political Violence
  • Theories of Conflict, Cohesion and Consent
  • Understanding Federalism
  • Understanding US Foreign Policy: War, Transformation and Terror
  • US and Latin America

Year abroad

You spend a year studying in one of our partner institutions in Berlin, Brussels, Buenos Aires*, Grenoble, Istanbul, Lille, Madrid, Montreal, Paris, Potsdam, Siena and Turin, where you study in the local language; or Oslo, Prague, Warsaw, Tampere, Hong Kong, Beijing, Okayama, Kyoto, Nagoya, or Tokyo, where courses are taught in English.

*Limited spaces.

Teaching and assessment

Our main teaching methods are lectures, seminars, working groups, PC laboratory sessions and individual discussions with your personal tutor or module teachers. Assessment is through continuous feedback, written examinations, assessed essays and oral presentations.

Politics Open Forum

We hold a weekly extra-curricular Open Forum organised by our School research groups, where students and staff have the opportunity to discuss and debate key issues of the day that affect higher education and politics in the world today.

Entry requirements

Passing the Kent IFP with an overall average of 60%, including passing all components and achieving 60% in the politics module, if taken, guarantees you entry onto the first year of this degree programme.

Not sure? How about...
  • Economics
  • European Studies
  • Law at Canterbury
  • Law at Medway
  • Social Policy

    • Offer levels

    ABB at A level, IB Diploma 33 points or IB Diploma with 16 points at Higher.

    Joint honours: 320 points inc AB at A level/ABB at A level, IB Diploma 33 points or IB Diploma with 16 points at Higher.

    L291: ABB at A level, IB Diploma 33 points or IB Diploma with 16 points at Higher, plus a two-part written test and an interview in English and in French.

    Required subjects

    • L291: A level French grade A
    • L271: A level German grade B.
    • L243, L273, L2R4: Good GCSE or A level in modern foreign language.

    Careers

    Through your study, you acquire many of the key qualities that graduate employers expect, including: the ability to plan and organise projects; to analyse and summarise complex material, and to express your opinions coherently and with sensitivity. Those students who choose to take advantage of our study abroad options find it gives them a definite advantage in the employment market.

    Recent graduates have gone into areas such as teaching, publishing, practical politics, local and central government, the diplomatic service, EU administration, financial services, nongovernmental organisations, journalism, international business or international organisations. Many have also gone on to postgraduate study.

    For more information on the services Kent provides to improve your employment prospects, visit www.kent.ac.uk/employability

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    Last Updated: 08/11/2011