Undergraduate courses in International Politics

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Undergraduate

courses in

International

Politics

BSc

International Politics

BSc

International Politics and Sociology

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BSc International Politics

UCAS Code:

L240

Entry Requirement:

AAB

Page:

1 BSc International

Politics and Sociology

UCAS Code:

LL23

Entry Requirement:

AAB

Page:

2

Course descriptions Page: 1

Module descriptions Page: 3

Study format Page: 6

Reading list Page: 7

Career paths Page: 8

Academic proﬁles Page: 10

Application procedures Page: 12

Why choose City University London Page: 14

The degree in International Politics at City

is signiﬁcantly different from the traditional

International Relations degrees in the following

ways: we focus on contemporary global issues;

you study international organisations as

policy-making structures in each year of the degree;

we cover not just the diplomatic relations between

governments, but also the economic, social and

political relations between societies undertaken

by companies and private groups; you will

engage in theoretical debate about how we can

understand global politics in today’s world.

International Politics does not just mean knowing about other countries, but studying politics at the level of the global system, which inﬂuences all governments and all societies. The skills of International Politics graduates are of direct relevance to all those who need to know how their organisations ﬁt into the world as a whole. This includes not just governments and intergovernmental organisations such as the United Nations, but also international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and multi-national companies.

Detailed course

and module descriptions

BSc

International Politics

UCAS CODE: L240

ENTRY REQUIREMENT: AAB 2012-13 FEES

UK/EU FEES: £9,000

INTERNATIONAL FEES: £9,500*

YEAR 1

Core modules:

•Actors in global politics •Contemporary issues in global

politics – 20th and 21st century (see p4 for more detail) •Theories of global politics. Elective modules:

•Contemporary issues in media studies

•History and theory of psychology •Introduction to microeconomics

and macroeconomics •Introduction to sociology •Media, history and politics •Understanding the modern world.

YEAR 2

Core modules:

•Change and transformation in global politics (see p5 for more detail) •Theories and research in global

politics (see p4 for more detail). International Politics elective modules: •Global conﬂict and security

•International political economy •Political change in Europe •Religion in global politics •Transnational, social movements. Sociology elective modules:

•Identities and personal relationships •Interpreting news and documentary •New media challenges

•Race and ethnicity in Britain •Television and sport •Understanding social change.

YEAR 3

Core modules: •Global Governance

(see p5 for more detail) •International politics project

(see p5 for more detail).

International Politics elective modules: •American foreign policy

•International politics of the Middle East

•The global politics of development •Political displacement.

Sociology elective modules: •Gender and society •Global migration process • Media, conﬂict and terrorism •Social movements and political action •Sociology of human rights

•Sociology of the margins •Transnational communication

in Europe.

*International fees listed are for 2011/12. Fees for 2012/13 will be listed on our website in due course.

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Core First Year Modules

for both degrees

THEORIES OF GLOBAL POLITICS This module raises the theoretical questions that underpin understanding and analysis of international politics. The ﬁrst part of this module establishes a basic understanding of what politics is and how it is studied, and sets up the debates surrounding the political concepts of power, freedom, democracy, justice, gender, and the State.

ACTORS IN GLOBAL POLITICS The aim of this module is to introduce you to a range of actors that can be found in global politics – such as the United Nations, the World Trade Organisation and non-governmental organisations – that will form the basis of your conceptual and empirical study of international politics. At the basis of this course are questions as to what constitutes a political actor, how power is organised, and what “agency” is within international politics.

Core First Year Modules

BSc International Politics

and Sociology

INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY This module provides a broad introduction to some of the main areas of research and debate in contemporary sociology. It does not presuppose any previous knowledge of sociology. UNDERSTANDING THE MODERN WORLD This module explores social changes that have occurred in the period known as ‘Modernity’ through the lenses of social institutions (family, religion, the market) and social cleavages (gender, class, ethnicity etc).

Module descriptions

This joint degree combines the main

core modules from both Sociology

and International Politics.

International Politics at City includes not just

intergovernmental relations, but also inter-society relations of non-governmental organisations (such as the Red Cross and Amnesty International) and transnational corporations (such as Ford, Shell and Microsoft) in its work. You will gain a unique approach to each subject and a broad understanding of local, national and global social relations. As with the single honours degree in International Politics, the joint degree is of direct relevance to all those who need to know how their organisations ﬁt into the world as a whole and the role of social forces in governing them.

YEAR 1

Core modules:

•Actors in global politics (see p3 for more detail) •Introduction to sociology

(see p3 for more detail) •Theories of global politics

(see p3 for more detail)

•Understanding the modern world (see p3 for more detail).

YEAR 2

Core modules:

•Sociological research methods (see p4 for more detail) •Theories and research in global

politics (see p4 for more detail). International Politics elective modules: •Change and transformation in

global politics

•Global conﬂict and security •International political economy •Political change in Europe •Religion in global politics •Transnational social movements. Sociology elective modules:

•Identities and personal relationships •Interpreting news and documentary •New media challenges

•Race and ethnicity in Britain •Television and sport •Understanding social change.

YEAR 3

Core modules:

•International politics project (see p5 for more detail).

International Politics elective modules: •American foreign policy

•Global Governance •International politics

of the Middle East •Political displacement

•The global politics of development. Sociology elective modules: •Gender and society •Global migration processes •Media, conﬂict and terrorism •Social movements and political action •Sociology of human rights

•Sociology of margins •Transnational communication

in Europe.

Detailed course

and module descriptions (cont.)

BSc

International

Politics and Sociology

UCAS CODE: LL23

ENTRY REQUIREMENT: AAB 2012-13 FEES

UK/EU FEES: £9,000

INTERNATIONAL FEES: £9,500*

_{Please note module}

availability may

change slightly

from year to year.

*International fees listed are for 2011/12. Fees for 2012/13 will be listed on our website in due course.

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Core Second Year Module

for BSc International Politics

CHANGE AND TRANSFORMATION IN GLOBAL POLITICS

This module examines the issue of transformation in international politics. You will discuss the origins of the Westphalian system and the transformations in the state and global politics associated with capitalism, nationalism and revolution. You will explore two different forms of political authority – empire and hegemony – ending with the emergence of American hegemony after World War Two. You will then focus on contemporary processes of transformation in three areas: the global economy, identity and cosmopolitanism, encompassing the emergence of human rights, humanitarian intervention and cosmopolitan democracy.

Core Third Year Module

for both degrees

A SUPERVISED PROJECT This module aims to expand your knowledge on subject-speciﬁc research methods in International Politics gained from your ﬁrst and second years and to encourage methodological application and focus on your third year projects.

Core Third Year Module

for BSc International Politics

GLOBAL GOVERNANCE

You will examine the problems and possibilities of governing issues and process in global politics. In the ﬁrst term we map the emergence of international organisations and instruments (international regimes and international law) involved in

governing global life, and theoretical debates of how we can explain and understand global governance. You will consider the relationship between processes of globalisation and regionalisation, as well as the function of global civil society in addressing the democratic and representation concerns of global governance. In the second term these issues are pursued through a series of case studies – HIV/AIDS, corruption, internal displacement, and the Rwanda genocide – which examine the origins, operations, practice, and effectiveness of attempts at global governance.

Core First Year Module

for BSc International Politics

CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN GLOBAL POLITICS – 20TH AND 21ST CENTURY These modules introduce you to major developments in international politics during the 20th and 21st century. It begins by providing an overview of approaches to studying historical developments in international politics. We then guide you through major 20th and 21st century developments, including the origins of two World Wars, the Cold War, decolonisation, conﬂict in the Middle East, and the evolution of globalisation. We will emphasise that each of these developments involve politics within countries, between countries and at the transnational level. In each case, a state-centric strategic analysis will be compared with analysis of a diversity of actors and issues.

Core Second Year Module

for both degrees

THEORIES AND RESEARCH IN GLOBAL POLITICS

This module looks at what theory is for in the study of global politics. It then reviews the contending theoretical approaches to global politics, exploring their assumptions and examining the ways in which they try to explain and understand international political life. You will also examine contemporary international normative theory and explore the ‘metatheoretical’ arguments that have been had in International Relations paying particular attention to the question of how we might start to choose between these contending theories.

Core Second Year Module

BSc International Politics

and Sociology

SOCIOLOGICAL RESEARCH METHODS This module provides a basic and practical introduction to the ways in which sociologists collect and analyse research evidence. It aims to enable you to critically appraise the reported results of social research; observe and enquire about the world around you more systematically; and select a method of research that you can use and take further in your third-year project.

Module descriptions (cont.)

Former International Politics undergraduate student TOP TIP

View the staff as your friends because in our department we are lucky to have many kind and generous people that are open to suggestions.

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Sample

reading list

HOW WILL I LEARN?

We teach through a combination of lectures, interactive sessions, practical workshops and small group seminars, supported by a personal tutorial system. Lectures provide commentary on and explanation of key content areas. Small group seminars develop your understanding by inviting you to raise questions and participate in the debate and by providing guidance for further study. HOW WILL I BE ASSESSED? Assessment is by coursework (assessed essays and assignments), unseen examinations and your ﬁnal year project.

DURATION:

Full-time – three years.

Study format

MINGST, K AND ARREGUIN-TOFT, I. ESSENTIALS OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS. (5TH EDITION). EDKINS, J AND ZEHFUSS, M. GLOBAL POLITICS: A NEW INTRODUCTION. (EDS). FRIEDEN, J., LAKE, D AND SCHUTZ, K.

WORLD POLITICS: INTERESTS, INTERACTIONS AND INSTITUTIONS

HAY, COLIN.

WHY WE HATE POLITICS

You will be sent

a full reading list

before you join.

Former International Politics

undergraduate student TOP TIP

I would recommend new students to actively pursue part-time internships or part-time jobs alongside their degree as this stands you in better stead once you have graduated.

Find out more now at city.ac.uk/ intpol/ug Phone enquiries +44 (0) 20 7040 8502 Email enquiries socsciug@ city.ac.uk

INDUCTION FOR NEW STUDENTS 17-21 SEPTEMBER 2012

AUTUMN TERM 24 SEPTEMBER-7 DECEMBER 2012

WINTER BREAK 10-28 DECEMBER 2012

(ASSESSMENT PERIOD) (7-18 JANUARY 2013)

SPRING TERM 31 DECEMBER 2012-22 MARCH 2013

SPRING BREAK 25 MARCH-12 APRIL 2013

(ASSESSMENT PERIOD) (15 APRIL-10 MAY 2013)

Provisional University term dates for 2012/13 –

Please note dates may be subject to change

and some courses have different term dates.

Find out

more now at

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81.8 per cent of City International Politics

graduates (2010) were in employment

or further study within six months of

completing their course.

As a graduate of these two International

Politics courses you would be suited to

a wide range of career options, from the

civil service, NGOs, journalism, teaching

to international law, international

organisations and the corporate sector.

A recent BSc graduate is moving to Malawi in a few months to work for a farming company running their development strategy. She volunteered with them during her time at City and her research project was funded by them. She says her City tutors are the reason she got the placement.

A recent BSc graduate went back to his home country, Palestine, after completing his studies. One month after arriving in Palestine he was hired as the Monitoring and Evaluation Oﬃcer for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) funded, AMIDEAST implemented, Model Schools Network (MSN) Programme.

One of our third year BSc students is currently an intern in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Cyprus.

Career paths

Here’s a sample of what some of our students are doing...

_{Recent BSc graduate} City was an amazing place to study and grow and I am envious of people starting the course now with more choices and options than there were 3 years ago!

Examples of job titles 0f recent graduates:

Manager, informal educator, company owner, market researcher, insolvency advisor, parliamentary campaigner, assistant headhunter

Recent employers include:

Blackwood Group, Conservative Party, Department for Business, ESA Market Research, London Borough of Islington, Securemycontacts.com

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DR TOM DAVIES

LECTURER

Dr Davies joined the department in September 2007. His main research interests are transnational non-governmental politics and the contemporary history of international relations. His DPhil research was awarded the 2006 British International History Group Thesis Prize and his ﬁrst book, The Possibilities of Transnational Activism, was published in 2007. He is currently working on a variety of projects on the formation, evolution and representativeness of international non-governmental organizations. Prior to joining City University London, Dr Davies was a junior research fellow at St Antony’s College, Oxford, and a lecturer at St Catherine’s and New Colleges in the University of Oxford.

DR GEMMA COLLANTES-CELADOR

LECTURER

Dr Collantes-Celador (MSc LSE, PhD Aberystwyth) joined the department in September 2008. She was previously a postdoctoral research fellow at the Barcelona Institute for International Studies (IBEI), Spain. Her main research interests lie in the field of post-conflict peacebuilding, institutional regionalism within externally-assisted security sector reform in failing and failed states, human security and the Western Balkans. She is preparing a monograph on the relationship between police reform and statebuilding processes in post-conflict scenarios. She has previously published in International Peacekeeping, Crime, Law and Social Change and Revista CIDOB d’Afers Internationals and has participated in various edited volumes and projects with the Swedish National Defence College, Chr. Michelsen Institute, CIDOB Foundation, EuroMeSCo and the Human Security Study Group. DR SOPHIE HARMAN

UNDERGRADUATE COURSE DIRECTOR

Dr Harman joined the department in September 2008. Prior to this she was a research fellow at the Centre for the Study of Globalisation and Regionalisation (CSGR), University of Warwick as part of the joint CSGR-UNDP Governance of HIV/AIDS project. Dr Harman’s principle areas of academic interest are Global Governance, the World Bank, HIV/AIDS, East Africa, and feminist political economy. She has published three books, The World Bank and HIV/AIDS: Setting a Global Agenda

(2010), Governance of HIV/AIDS Response: Making Participation and Accountability Count(2009) and

Global Health Governance(2011) and is currently working on two more:

Governing the World?(with David Williams) and The New Political Economy of Global Health. Her current research focuses on conditional cash transfers as a means of governing individual behaviour and rationality.

DR DAVID WILLIAMS

HEAD OF DEPARTMENT

Dr Williams joined the department in 2006. Prior to this he was a lecturer in the Department of Politics and International Relations at Oxford University. His main research interests are in international development and global politics and liberal political theory. His most recent book is

International Development and Global Politics: History, Theory and Practice. He has previously published The World Bank and Social Transformation in International Politics: Liberalism, Governance and Sovereignty. He is currently working on Governing the World?(with Sophie Harman) and a project on liberal thought and international politics.

Academic profiles

See the full list of

International Politics

academic staff at

city.ac.uk/intpol/ug

Dr David Williams, Head of Department TOP TIP

Keep apace of contemporary political developments by reading The Economist, Foreign Policy, Open Democracy and listening as much as possible to the BBC World Service or Radio 4’s The World Tonight at 10pm each week night.

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ENTRY REQUIREMENTS

A-Level grades: AAB 340 UCAS tariff points IB: 35

GCSE: Grade C or equivalent in English language and maths or statistics.

ENGLISH LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS:

•Grade B in GCSE (or International GCSE) •Cambridge ESOL CPE

grade C or above •IELTS 6.5

•TOEFL (internet based): 100 – 105

•TOEFL (computer based): 250

•TOEFL (paper based): 600

HOW TO APPLY Applications to our undergraduate courses open on mid-September and close on the 15th January (30th June for international students). Late applications after this date will still be considered at our discretion.

All applications to our undergraduate degree courses, including those from mature students, must be made through UCAS. You can apply through your school or college using the UCAS online system ‘Apply’ which enables you to apply directly through the UCAS website

(www.ucas.com).

Independent applicants such as mature and international students can also use UCAS Apply. The institution code for City University is C60, the UCAS course codes are provided in the individual course descriptions within this brochure, as well as within the UCAS handbook and website.

If you are still at school or college when you make an application, staff there should be able to assist with this process offering you help and advice. If you are outside the UK when you make an application your local British Council Oﬃce should be able to provide assistance.

FOUNDATION PROGRAMMES FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS Foundation programmes offering guaranteed entry onto our International Politics degrees are offered by our partners at:

• City and Islington College • INTO

• Kaplan International College

For more information on these programmes, please see our website or contact our undergraduate admissions administrator: •socsciug@city.ac.uk •+44 (0) 207 040 8502

Application procedures

How to prepare for an International

Politics degree at City University London...

Dr David Williams,

Head of Department,

oﬀers the following advice

to prospective International

Politics students:

“Before undertaking your studies in International Politics at City you

would gain a head start by becoming lightly familiar with the international

politics literature by dipping in to one or two of the classic texts and

theorists: Thucydides, Machiavelli, Hobbes or Rousseau; or trace liberal

thought through Kant; and glance at the English School with Grotius;

or tackle Marxist and postmodern approaches.

At the same time keep apace of contemporary political developments by

reading The Economist, Foreign Policy, Open Democracy and listening as

much as possible to the BBC World Service or Radio 4’s The World Tonight

at 10pm each week night. Finally, download the prospectus and familiarise

yourself with the interests of international politics staff and their publications.”

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0.6 miles

distance from City to the nearest NGO, Amnesty International

10

th

for graduate employability, according to the Times Good University Guide (2011)

SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

City University London Northampton Square London EC1V 0HB

98

%

of International Politics students say the course is intellectually stimulating, according to the 2011 National Student Survey

57

%

International Politics undergraduates at City are from outside the UK

The information in this leaﬂet is correct at the time of going to press. The University reserves the right, arising from unforeseen events or circumstances beyond our control, to add or remove courses and to make changes in regulations, syllabuses, course options and modules, fees etc without prior notice. Fees quoted are for

D E S IG N : P S L O N D O N w w w .p s lo n d o n .c o .u k