Global Politics and International Relations

Our BA Global Politics and International Relations provides you with the knowledge and skills to understand questions that are at the heart of concerns about international politics today. For instance, what ties the following events together: the rise of China as a superpower, the storming of the US Capitol, the international responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, COP26 and the Russian invasion of Ukraine?

Why choose this course?

• Our academics in this field are outstanding researchers publishing in major academic journals, and contributing to discussions in the wider arena, including engaging with politicians and others who play a key role in today’s political landscape.

• We have built up a strong reputation over more than 50 years for the excellence of our teaching and the international significance of our research in politics.

• Birkbeck is a distinguished centre of research and teaching excellence in politics. Our central London location puts us at the heart of UK political life and at the centre of academic London.

What you will learn

This course focuses on political changes that are sweeping the globe, transforming politics across countries and regions, as well as relations between states in the international system. It is not the first time in human history that global political relations have undergone such extensive change, and an important aspect of this degree is developing your understanding of this history.

You will receive a grounding in the key concepts and theories that inform the study of global politics and international relations. You will also study the core institutions and processes of the international political and economic system, as well as the challenges that are posed by the central political problems of the present including:

• climate change

• transformations in the nature of warfare

• social conflicts and exclusions centred around class, gender and race.

How you will learn

This course is designed to encourage independent thinking and hone your argumentative, analytical and critical skills, while our teaching via lectures and seminars uniquely moves across the boundaries between subjects, encompassing, among others, economics, history and sociology.

You can study this course full- or part-time. You can also choose your own timetable for the core/compulsory modules selecting whether to study them in the daytime or evening. Please note that Foundation Year classes are available in the evening only until you progress on to the main degree.

Foundation Year

If you opt for the Foundation Year route, this will fully prepare you for undergraduate study. It is ideal if you are returning to study after a gap, or if you have not previously studied the relevant subjects, or if you didn't achieve the grades you need for a place on your chosen undergraduate degree.

Highlights

• Some of the world’s most famous libraries are on our doorstep in Bloomsbury, central London, and you can walk down to Whitehall, where Parliament and the UK’s most influential and important think-tanks and centres of political research and analysis are located.

• Our building was once a key location for members of the Bloomsbury Group, so you could be studying in rooms that hosted distinguished visitors, including T.S. Eliot, George Bernard Shaw and Maynard Keynes.

Careers and employability

On successfully completing this BA you will have gained a range of valuable transferable skills including:

• the ability to work effectively as part of a team

• high-level oral and written communication skills in English

• research skills

• skills in evaluating and assessing types of information

• the ability to present yourself and an argument.

Graduates can pursue career paths in government, pressure groups, journalism and research. Possible professions include:

• civil service fast-streamer

• journalist

• diplomatic services operational officer

• social researcher.