BA International Relations

Year 3

(Award available for year: Bachelor of Arts)

Learning outcomes

On completion of the programme students should have provided evidence of being able to:

- understand the nature and significance of politics as a global activity;
- demonstrate a knowledge and understanding of the origins and evolution of the international political system, including international institutions and contemporary changes underway;
- demonstrate a solid knowledge of the recent International Relations scholarship and an ability to critically engage with it;
- appreciate the uncertainty of and limits to knowledge in the International Relations discipline;
- demonstrate a solid grasp of the key International Relations concepts;
- apply concepts, theories and methods used in the study of International Relations to the analysis of political ideas, practices and issues in the global arena;
- evaluate different interpretations of world political events and issues; and
- design and carry out an extended self-initiated research project.

Transferable (key) skills

Students will have had the opportunity to acquire, as defined in the modules specified for the programme, the following skills:

- gather, organise and deploy evidence, data and information from a variety of secondary and some primary sources;
- identify, investigate, analyse, formulate and advocate solutions to problems;
- construct a reasoned argument, synthesise relevant information and exercise critical judgement;
- reflect on their own learning and seek and make use of constructive feedback;
- manage their own learning self-critically;
- communicate effectively and fluently in speech and writing and present an argument in a scholarly manner;
- use communication and information technology for the retrieval and presentation of information, including, where appropriate, statistical or numerical information;
- work independently, demonstrating personal responsibility, initiative, self-organisation and time-management;
- collaborate with others to achieve common goals.

Assessment

Achievement will be assessed by a variety of methods in accordance with the learning outcomes of the modules specified for the year/programme and will include:

- dissertation;
- reports, log books and short essays;
- individual and group presentations;
- assessment essays;
- examinations.

These assessments will include a demonstration of:
- independent and self-directed research;
- an ability to locate and use a wide range of sources;
- an ability to use wide-ranging knowledge;
- a solid grasp of concepts;
- an ability to understand and evaluate scholarly judgements;
- an ability to apply theory to practice; and
- an ability to construct a reasoned argument, draw conclusions and communicate those effectively in speech and writing.