International Relations and Languages BA (Hons)

You'll hone your abilities in writing, analytical thinking, research, public speaking and networking alongside your fellow students and supported by your personal tutor, alumni and experts in your field.

You'll develop an awareness of conceptual frameworks and methodologies, and learn how to find and analyse sources and data to support your ideas.

You'll begin to explore key themes, such as the making of the modern world, war and peace, security, diplomacy, sovereignty, climate change and development, as well as the various ways to conceptualise and analyse these issues.

By the end of the module, you'll have developed a critical understanding of International Relations, gained insights into the historical foundations of the modern world, and engaged with a range of contemporary global issues.

This comprehensive introduction prepares you for further studies and encourages you to question and analyse the complex dynamics of world politics.

You'll explore ideas of human nature, the relationship between individuals and societies, the authority of the state, duties and rights, liberty and freedom, social justice, ethics, war and political violence.

By looking at the ideas of both historical and contemporary thinkers, you'll develop knowledge and understanding of the social and political contexts within which these ideas were developed as well as how they continue to inform our thinking about central issues in politics and international relations today.

You’ll focus on speaking and writing for tourism, travel and business, and learn through films, songs, conversations and cultural tips.

You’ll build language accuracy and confidence by presenting information and ideas, helping you become an independent and collaborative language learner.

You’ll focus on speaking and writing for tourism, travel and business, and learn through films, songs, conversations and cultural tips.

You’ll build language accuracy and confidence by presenting information and ideas, helping you become an independent and collaborative language learner.

You’ll focus on speaking and writing for tourism, travel and business, and learn through films, songs, conversations and cultural tips.

You’ll build language accuracy and confidence by presenting information and ideas, helping you become an independent and collaborative language learner.

You’ll focus on speaking and writing for tourism, travel and business, and learn through films, songs, conversations and cultural tips.

You’ll build language accuracy and confidence by presenting information and ideas, helping you become an independent and collaborative language learner.

You’ll focus on grammar, writing, reading and listening. Through listening, you'll obtain information on familiar and unfamiliar topics from audio sources. You'll learn to use formal and informal French with accuracy and cultural competence in conversations.

You’ll also produce writing that describes and comments upon present, past and future events.

You’ll focus on grammar, writing, reading and listening. Through listening, you'll obtain information on familiar and unfamiliar topics from audio sources. You'll learn to use formal and informal German with accuracy and cultural competence in conversations.

You’ll also produce writing that describes and comments upon present, past and future events.

You’ll focus on grammar, writing, reading and listening. Through listening, you'll obtain information on familiar and unfamiliar topics from audio sources. You'll learn to use formal and informal Mandarin with accuracy and cultural competence in conversations.

You’ll also produce writing that describes and comments upon present, past and future events.

You’ll focus on grammar, writing, reading and listening. Through listening, you'll obtain information on familiar and unfamiliar topics from audio sources. You'll learn to use formal and informal Spanish with accuracy and cultural competence in conversations.

You’ll also produce writing that describes and comments upon present, past and future events.

Through seminars on authentic texts, you'll develop skills for comprehending written and spoken French on diverse topics. Building grammar, vocabulary, and fluency, you'll discuss current events, share opinions, and present ideas - all in French.

Engaging with specialist academic texts boosts your academic literacy, and by reading complex materials, writing accurately, and expressing yourself orally with nuance, you'll gain practical French abilities.

Through seminars on authentic texts, you'll develop skills for comprehending written and spoken German on diverse topics. Building grammar, vocabulary, and fluency, you'll discuss current events, share opinions, and present ideas - all in German.

Engaging with specialist academic texts boosts your academic literacy, and by reading complex materials, writing accurately, and expressing yourself orally with nuance, you'll gain practical German abilities.
 

Through seminars on authentic texts, you'll develop skills for comprehending written and spoken Spanish on diverse topics. Building grammar, vocabulary, and fluency, you'll discuss current events, share opinions, and present ideas - all in Spanish.

Engaging with specialist academic texts boosts your academic literacy, and by reading complex materials, writing accurately, and expressing yourself orally with nuance, you'll gain practical Spanish abilities.
 

Supported by independent study and a series of language seminars, you'll develop a journalist article in French.

You’ll use diverse French source material for your project, from written to audio-visual, and take part in individual and group presentations on French cultural, social or current affairs.

Supported by independent study and a series of language seminars, you'll develop a journalist article in German.

You’ll use diverse German source material for your project, from written to audio-visual, and take part in individual and group presentations on German cultural, social or current affairs.

You'll explore International Relations theory, international political thought, as well as critical approaches including post-structuralism and post-colonialism.

You'll compare mainstream ideas with historically marginalised ideas, considering their diverse understandings of the nature of order, as well as how these should be studied.

You'll build skills in evaluating global affairs, learning how to apply wisdom when assessing rights, responsibilities and reforms.

Explore academic, official and journalistic sources and learn how to form your own coherent arguments.

You'll develop your research skills and understanding of research methodologies while sifting through various answers, identifying those that are credible versus those based on unfounded or misleading information.

You'll learn how to assess competing truth claims and information, and gain the practical know-how to ask your own questions, offer your own answers and conduct your own research.

Through films, news reports and texts from across the Francophone world, discuss engaging topics from travel adventures to current affairs.

You’ll learn to communicate naturally in academic, professional and social situations while appreciating linguistic nuances. You’ll also deepen your understanding of diverse French-speaking societies through lively classes and seminars.

Through films, news reports and texts from across the German-speaking world, discuss engaging topics from travel adventures to current affairs.

You’ll learn to communicate naturally in academic, professional and social situations while appreciating linguistic nuances. You’ll also deepen your understanding of diverse German-speaking societies through lively classes and seminars.

Through films, news reports and texts from across the Mandarin-speaking world, discuss engaging topics from travel adventures to current affairs.

You’ll learn to communicate naturally in academic, professional and social situations while appreciating linguistic nuances. You’ll also deepen your understanding of diverse Mandarin-speaking societies through lively classes and seminars.

Through films, news reports and texts from across the Spanish-speaking world, discuss engaging topics from travel adventures to current affairs.

You’ll learn to communicate naturally in academic, professional and social situations while appreciating linguistic nuances. You’ll also deepen your understanding of diverse Spanish-speaking societies through lively classes and seminars.

You’ll hone your French speaking through debates, presentations and interviews, and refine your formal and informal writing across diverse genres.

You’ll also deepen your cultural understanding through exposure to sociolinguistic nuances and conventions, ready to communicate effectively in French-speaking communities worldwide.

You’ll hone your German speaking through debates, presentations and interviews, and refine your formal and informal writing across diverse genres.

You’ll also deepen your cultural understanding through exposure to sociolinguistic nuances and conventions, ready to communicate effectively in German-speaking communities worldwide.

You’ll hone your Mandarin speaking through debates, presentations and interviews, and refine your formal and informal writing across diverse genres.

You’ll also deepen your cultural understanding through exposure to sociolinguistic nuances and conventions, ready to communicate effectively in Mandarin-speaking communities worldwide.

You’ll hone your Spanish speaking through debates, presentations and interviews, and refine your formal and informal writing across diverse genres.

You’ll also deepen your cultural understanding through exposure to sociolinguistic nuances and conventions, ready to communicate effectively in Spanish-speaking communities worldwide.

Moving beyond everyday French, you'll analyse complex texts from media, literature, and academia and with class discussions in French on specialist topics related to living abroad you’ll hone your verbal fluency.

Building on your existing abilities, you'll communicate confidently, express opinions, and present ideas. This module provides the advanced language abilities, critical thinking, and intercultural competence to thrive in diverse French-speaking contexts.

You'll learn how to discuss specialist topics in a variety of subject areas by analysing a range of authentic written, audio and visual media and expand your verbal fluency.

By learning to write confidently in formal and informal styles, you'll build your understanding of complex German across diverse contexts and sharpen your ability to express yourself confidently.

Seminars on grammar, reading, writing, listening and speaking provide a toolkit to thrive in German-speaking communities.

You'll learn how to discuss specialist topics in a variety of subject areas by analysing a range of authentic written, audio and visual media and expand your verbal fluency.

By learning to write confidently in formal and informal styles, you'll build your understanding of complex Spanish across diverse contexts and sharpen your ability to express yourself confidently.

Seminars on grammar, reading, writing, listening and speaking provide a toolkit to thrive in Spanish-speaking communities.

You’ll deepen your understanding of workplace culture and practices in French-speaking countries, boosting your communication and intercultural competence through activities like job interviews, team reports, and presentations.

Gain insights into French job opportunities, company structures, products and services through research, and produce a multimedia report on a company using specialised vocabulary and software.

You’ll deepen your understanding of workplace culture and practices in German-speaking countries, boosting your communication and intercultural competence through activities like job interviews, team reports, and presentations.

Gain insights into German job opportunities, company structures, products and services through research, and produce a multimedia report on a company using specialised vocabulary and software.

You’ll deepen your understanding of workplace culture and practices in Spanish-speaking countries, boosting your communication and intercultural competence through activities like job interviews, team reports, and presentations.

Gain insights into Spanish job opportunities, company structures, products and services through research, and produce a multimedia report on a company using specialised vocabulary and software.

You'll learn diverse perspectives on formulating and presenting policy, taking into account key variables like leadership, security, and global dynamics.

You'll deploy theories to critically analyse major decisions and their outcomes, strengthening your understanding through case studies of milestone events.

You'll also debate and discuss how policy intersects with national interests and global security, and build skills to explain and evaluate policies coherently.

You’ll begin by exploring how countries like Argentina, Chile and Brazil transitioned from military dictatorships to democracies towards the end of the 20th century.

You’ll also learn about the dramatic public protests and negotiations that eventually toppled these dictatorships in the late 20th century as part of the "Third Wave" of democratisation.

However, installing democratic systems has not been easy - you’ll also analyse the political, economic and social challenges that societies across the region are grappling with in the 21st century. To what extent have the region's new democracies been able to challenge deep seated inequalities in class, gender and race/ethnicity? And what do ordinary people think about development and democracy across the region?

You’ll explore ideas around modernisation, colonialism and nationalism and how they shape education, gender roles, ethnicity, class, sexuality and everyday life in this part of the world.

By comparing the experiences of different countries when it comes to industrialisation, democratisation and conflict, you’ll learn how to appreciate complex regional dynamics.

On this module, you’ll get an introduction to translation skills to open new worlds.

You’ll learn practical techniques while translating authentic texts, explore different genres and languages and discuss real-world translation challenges. You’ll develop professional skills for potential careers in this field.

In this module, you’ll explore European colonisation of Africa, asking questions like - how did they justify colonial rule, and how did African peoples respond to these colonisers?

You’ll learn how, after World War II, colonial rule was increasingly challenged from both within the empire, by growing African demands for political rights, and in the international arena, with the global trend towards trusteeship, development and self-determination.

You’ll also explore European relations with Africa in the post-colonial era, looking at themes which may include ideas about civilisation, universalism and race, modern attempts to 'rehabilitate' empire in the media, and the legacies of colonialism in Britain, Europe and Africa.

You’ll collaborate with students on other courses to explore and address societal and environmental challenges faced by local and global communities. You’ll choose projects from a range of topic areas aligned with the university's Civic Strategy.

With input from local organisations, you’ll think about your topic from multiple perspectives, developing your interdisciplinary thinking and ability to work with others.

You’ll analyse the essence of security, exploring how security needs are addressed around the world and on a national level, down to a community and even an individual basis.

You’ll explore different forms of societal risk and insecurity, and approaches to dealing with security threats, taking into account the nature and impact of economic and political developments.

You'll learn how to think critically about the key concepts that link language, culture and communication, considering the benefits and limitations of these ideas.

You'll explore the different ways in which communication intersects with culture across themes such as identity, education, gender, and the media.

Alongside what you learn, you'll improve your skills in analysis, research and intercultural awareness.

You'll learn about consumer behaviour and brand strategy, and spend time examining real-world marketing campaigns. You'll also think about how social, political and technological forces can affect the way businesses approach marketing their products and services.

Skills you'll develop include carrying out market research and learning how to use what you learn, crafting targeted messaging across different marketing channels, and presenting your ideas verbally and in writing.

You'll learn about major economic, political and cultural changes in Western Europe over the nineteenth century, and how these affected the rest of the world as time went on.

You'll explore the big ideas that have shaped the modern world, and weigh up the benefits and perils of globalisation. Skills you'll develop on this module include independent research, critical thinking and effective communication.

You'll also learn to understand the opportunities and challenges of today's world from an informed, global perspective.

You’ll look critically ideas of nationalism historically and today with a focus on the everyday, intimate and embodied boundaries of nation-states and how these shape our lives, including those of us living in the most privileged parts of the world.

You’ll explore real-world cases to understand the individual and societal impacts on human lives, developing your analytical skills and imagining more compassionate alternatives.

You’ll unpack the language of tabloids, broadsheets and online news, analysing how journalists shape public understanding of current events.

Develop your critical thinking by confronting moral panics and polarised politics in reporting.

Create your own news stories and gain real insight into mass communication in a rapidly changing landscape.

You'll analyse major cases of economic crime and weigh up their wider societal implications.

You'll also learn how to recognise disciplinary perspectives, become familiar with the key investigating organisations, identify investigative techniques, and gather and analyse real case information.

You’ll analyse American texts against the backdrop of intellectual, social and political change, evaluating how writers grappled with emerging ideas around national identity, race, gender and more.

By honing skills for contextual analysis and independent thought, you’ll form your own interpretations of iconic works that reflect the American experience.

Through interactive lectures with academics, speakers and professionals, you'll discuss, debate and complete practical exercises exploring wildlife crime alongside your classmates.

You'll spend time examining wildlife crimes and the factors behind them, as well as environmental justice and sustainability.

You’ll explore the rise of the US across the twentieth century from a regional power to a global superpower and the domestic and international pressures upon the USA that caused it to go through alternating periods of isolationism and global engagement.

You’ll also delve into the two global wars and why the US entered them later than most other nations, the isolationist interwar years, the start of the Cold War, the Vietnam Conflict and the War on Terror.

With a minimum 80-hour commitment, you’ll apply what you’ve learned so far on your degree to real-world professional settings within our community of local businesses, social enterprises, and third-sector organisations.

You’ll have support from interactive workshops, tutorials, and guest speaker events, encouraging you to set achievable professional goals and evolve your professional identity.

You'll understand how this region is a crucial nexus of competing global powers while assessing the impacts of post-communist transformation.

You'll also delve into the tug-of-war between European democratic and Russian neo-imperial states through analysing current affairs.

Finally, you'll develop the critical thinking skills to forecast future implications of regional events for international relations.

You'll assess the strategic control of space and resources alongside economic competition, and examine Africa's rich potential alongside its enduring struggles, from human security to gender equity and beyond.

You'll develop a nuanced understanding of the continent as a crucial nexus of cooperation and conflict between foreign interests.

You’ll analyse diverse transitional justice approaches balancing community healing and judicial accountability after mass atrocities.

Comparing mechanisms like war crimes tribunals, truth commissions and reparations programmes, you’ll evaluate effectiveness in restoring dignity and preventing recurrence.

With case studies from Europe to Africa, from Latin America to Asia, you'll examine tensions between western models and local cultural perspectives, assessing what ‘justice’ means to vulnerable peoples.

Throughout, you'll trace incremental human rights legislation advances, assessing global institutions’ roles protecting civilians from authoritarian regimes and wartime abuses.

You’ll explore the professional aspects of these services, learning about opportunities, challenges and training requirements. You’ll also try the core skills for yourself, from post-editing translations to voiceover work.

Living and learning in your chosen country where your language of study is spoken, you'll improve your language skills and develop your cross-cultural understanding.

With international experience, you'll develop your subject knowledge, analytical abilities and self-confidence.

Fresh perspectives and a global outlook will mean you'll return home prepared for the next steps in your degree and your career.

You'll learn how to analyse various genres of source texts, apply translation techniques and translation theory in a way that helps you to achieve clear meaning, and produce commercially acceptable translations.

Working with your fellow students, you’ll simulate real-world translation agency environments and learn how to produce translations as a team.

You'll also work on your skills in written and verbal communication, critical analysis and intercultural awareness, all of which are essential for a career in the language services sector.

You'll get to grips with some of the most pressing security challenges currently facing policy makers, reflecting on new debates in security studies while critically examining the enduring relevance of strategic thought in the face of contemporary challenges.

You'll consider a range of contemporary events and issues, analysing the various modes and causes of contemporary global threats and the options and responses of those security actors tasked to deal with them.

By understanding authentic texts and media in diverse tones and registers, you'll gain broad exposure to regional variations.

Through dynamic discussions and academic presentations in advanced French, you'll build your verbal fluency on current issues and hone your writing skills across formal and informal styles, as your express nuanced ideas with accuracy.

Graduate with the advanced French proficiency, analytical abilities, and cross-cultural competence to communicate effectively across your degree and career.

By understanding authentic texts and media in diverse tones and registers, you'll gain broad exposure to regional variations. Through dynamic discussions and academic presentations in advanced German, you'll build your verbal fluency on current issues and hone your writing skills across formal and informal styles, as your express nuanced ideas with accuracy.

Graduate with the advanced German proficiency, analytical abilities, and cross-cultural competence to communicate effectively across your degree and career.

By understanding authentic texts and media in diverse tones and registers, you'll gain broad exposure to regional variations.

Through dynamic discussions and academic presentations in advanced Mandarin, you'll build your verbal fluency on current issues and hone your writing skills across formal and informal styles, as your express nuanced ideas with accuracy.

Graduate with the advanced Mandarin proficiency, analytical abilities, and cross-cultural competence to communicate effectively across your degree and career.

 

By understanding authentic texts and media in diverse tones and registers, you'll gain broad exposure to regional variations.

Through dynamic discussions and academic presentations in advanced Spanish, you'll build your verbal fluency on current issues and hone your writing skills across formal and informal styles, as your express nuanced ideas with accuracy.

Graduate with the advanced Spanish proficiency, analytical abilities, and cross-cultural competence to communicate effectively across your degree and career.

You’ll demonstrate intellectual and transferable skills appropriate for your field, and do independent research. You’ll design a viable project proposal using existing studies in your field, and critically discuss assumptions, arguments and data to make judgements, pose questions and identify solutions.

Finally, you'll write up your project tailored to a specified academic or workplace audience.

Working in groups with other taking your language combination (French/English, German/English, Mandarin/English or Spanish/English), you’ll complete exercises and tasks aimed at developing and improving your skills in public speaking, speech analysis and synthesis, memory and note-taking techniques, vocabulary reactivation, speech reformulation and communication.

You’ll also create and maintain a blog to review your own practice, your peers' practice and how theory underpins practice.

You’ll work again in groups separated by language combination to undertake interpreting training supported by speech analysis and delivery, memory and note-taking, vocabulary, reformulation and communication exercises.

Specifically, you'll demonstrate actively listening to general and specialised speech and show well-developed, real-life communication skills.

You'll tackle questions such as, what is capitalism and in whose interests does it work? Do some models of capitalism work better than others? Can we reconcile capitalist modes of production and consumption with protecting our environment?

Examine relevant political economy theory and open up debates about power, multinational capital, gender, identity and climate crisis.

You'll investigate grassroots campaigners alongside major international NGOs - evaluating their tactics, contributions and accountability.

By probing the relationships between volunteer networks, businesses and government, you'll develop new ideas on what can and cannot be achieved by public advocacy. Do civil society organisations challenge or reinforce the prevailing world order?

You'll learn about the job application process from the perspective of both candidates and recruiters, thinking about what employers look for in graduates and how you can optimise your own professional profile.

Through mock interviews and assessments, you'll hone your skills and learn how to communicate your achievements and career goals, ready to take the next step after you graduate.

You'll critically examine the concepts of ethnicity, race and culture historically and theoretically, using regional case studies from Latin America, Africa and those of indigenous peoples.

You'll consider these regional case studies alongside recent developments at the international level regarding cultural and indigenous rights and struggles around racial inequality and violence.

You'll complete the module with a major project on a region of the world of your choice.

It's up to you what your project is about - this will be your chance to showcase your passion for international relations by choosing a subject area or topic that most interests you.

You'll draw on everything you've learned so far to investigate, analyse, craft and refine your project, using existing texts, sources and artefacts to support your arguments and give them context.

You'll have the support of a dedicated tutor to guide you throughout this module.

You'll gain critical insight into the colonial foundations shaping today's world politics, from notions of human rights to capitalism itself.

Explore how legacies of colonisation manifest in different ways, across development to democracy.

Equip yourself to rethink Eurocentric perspectives and address systemic inequities in international relations.

You'll explore France's foreign policies, defence strategies and power dynamics within Europe and beyond.

Spend time thinking critically about its international influence and motivations, and learn how other regions of the world view its actions, from 'special' ties with former colonies to controversial stances on key issues.

This module will help you develop the skills to unpack complex geopolitical questions. You'll gain a deeper understanding of France's bid to remain an influential force in our rapidly changing world.

You'll get an overview of the power politics in the region, including China's resurgence, Japan's constraints and the United States' rebalancing.

You'll examine both traditional and non-traditional security issues across the region, from tension on the Korean peninsula, to the human costs of illiberal politics in Southeast Asia.

With a minimum 80-hour commitment, you'll apply what you've learned so far on your degree to real-world professional settings within our community of local businesses, social enterprises, and third-sector organisations.

You'll have support from interactive workshops, tutorials, and guest speaker events, encouraging you to set achievable professional goals and evolve your professional identity.

You'll evaluate diverse cases of religion intertwining with critical issues like nationalism, peacebuilding, violence and more.

Discussing the perspectives of policymakers to extremists, you'll tackle intriguing questions head on.

How do religious ideas still drive political agendas worldwide? How does faith unite communities yet fuel divisions? And could rediscovering religion's role in human life hold keys to solving global problems?

You'll rethink European (market) integration from the perspective of state, non-state, and regional actors across the globe, focusing on the question of how and to what extent EU institutions and policies have contributed to shaping international economic governance.

Tackling different interpretations of the EU as a regional and global power, you'll explore though-provoking questions: As the EU negotiates new trade deals and economic partnerships, who really benefits? Does the EU attempt to use its global market power to create a safer world? And to what extent have colonial legacies shaped the EU as an economic superpower?