International Relations and History (Professional Placement Year)

• Apply your understanding of the past to some of the most pressing challenges we face today

• Make a difference: join the debate, identify solutions, act on your insight and understanding

• Make connections: from your community to the world around you

Explore the complexities of the contemporary world through an examination of the mechanisms for, or absence of, international governance; security, economics, and globalisation; and the relationships between different states. You'll examine the structures and practices of international relations – from the high ideals of the post-1945 settlement to the different realities of local and national politics, governmental ambitions, and corporate power, and their impact internationally.

Beyond concepts of the state and the formal interactions between governments and government agencies, you’ll also be able to consider the interplay of local, regional and international events and perspectives, and the ways in which ‘international relations’ are shaped as much on the ground as they are in the UN Security Council or the International Court of Justice. This might encompass the work of NGOs or the impact of ‘soft diplomacy’, or the interconnected communities of writers, artists and performers and their contribution to campaigns against international inequalities and injustices.

The course has been designed to enable you to acquire specialised subject knowledge, develop practical and professional skills and apply both to contemporary challenges, issues and debates. Learning how to do is as important to us as learning about, and you’ll be able to work on a series of projects which look out from the University and into the city, the region and the wider world. We want you to be able to develop demonstrable skills and experience, which may include leading a project team, evaluating and acting on alternative responses to a defined challenge, or pitching an idea to one of our many partner organisations, and wherever possible following this through to implementation.

You'll may already be studying History, and know that you want to develop your expertise in it, and your ability to make connections across different disciplines. You might be interested in environmental politics and the need to develop new ways of living and working. You'll want to make a difference, and to develop the skills you'll need to do that - working with others, communicating effectively with different audiences, planning and managing projects.

More about the Professional Placement Year
A Professional Placement Year (PPY), traditionally known as a sandwich year, is where you undertake a period of work with an external organisation for between 9-13 months. The placement occurs between your second and final years of undergraduate study. You can engage in multiple placements to make up the total time and are required to source the placement(s) yourself, with support from the Careers team.

An interdisciplinary first year introduces you to the study of International Relations and to a wide range of ideas, approaches and concepts which will underpin and inform your work. Throughout, you'll be developing the skills and insight you'll need to apply your learning to solving problems, working with others, developing your own voice.

There is a focus in the second year on the mechanisms of foreign policy, intelligence and diplomacy and the connections that come from informal collaborations and creative action - the soft power of art, culture or education.

Year three is your professional placement year.

Your final project in your final year brings together your theoretical and practical knowledge and enables you to apply this in a variety of ways. You'll be able to devise, plan and implement your own piece of work, and set this alongside a wide range of optional modules through which you can develop your knowledge and understanding.

Formal essays, project portfolios, campaign documents and context papers, podcasts and blogposts.