International Relations with History BA (Hons)

The module introduces candidates to the interesting challenges that ICT presents today and covers many anchor points that may serve as a bridge to their interests and lifestyles.

It also means you understand the value of scholarships, allowing you to move on to postgraduate programs at the University of Portsmouth.

You'll explore theories of international relations, the nature of the international system, and factors like conflict, globalisation, and international organisations. You'll also dive into key global issues such as climate change, gender, and human rights.

You'll learn to conduct research using both qualitative and quantitative methodologies. You'll also enhance your ability to understand and construct arguments, evaluate the rationale and evidence behind claims, assess the credibility of sources, and deliver well-structured, critically reasoned arguments and opinions both verbally and in writing.

You'll gain an appreciation for the interdisciplinary nature of people and their environment, understanding how people, politics, and place are intertwined. You'll also be introduced to criminology, analysing urban crime from a sociological perspective, its causes, and its effects on society.

You'll get an overview of key areas like observation, interpretation, and critical analysis. This module helps you appreciate the interdisciplinary nature of anthropology and intercultural studies.

You'll appreciate how these fields intersect and impact each other, gaining insights into the connections between people, their environment, and societal practices. Additionally, you'll be introduced to technological innovations and examine how they are applied in society from a sociological perspective.

The module will explore the judiciary and other legal practitioners, including judgments, law reporting, and sentencing, as well as barristers and solicitors. You'll gain an understanding of local courts such as magistrates, county, and crown courts, and delve into legal research techniques focusing on the language and discourse of statute and common law.

You'll gain an overview of the history of legal scholarship. By the end of the module, you'll have a solid understanding and the ability to apply essential legal knowledge and skills. This will prepare you to progress onto degree level study at the University of Portsmouth.

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 study the changing relationships between the different organisations involved in international aid and development, including multilateral and bilateral development organisations and nongovernmental actors.

You'll also look at trends in development thinking and place development within the wider context of global capitalism.

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.

On this module, you'll discover how this 'Global South' came to be, building on different disciplinary approaches.

You'll look issues that affect a range of regions and countries including Africa, South East and South Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, as well development related challenges making an impact in the Global North, such as social movements, political violence and terrorism, social cohesion, discrimination and racism.

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.

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 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.

You’ll analyse the powers of key institutions like the Presidency, Congress and Supreme Court, and examine federal-state relations and the influence of lobbies and civil society groups.

You’ll also explore hot-button issues like gun control, abortion and capital punishment to see political divides up close.

On this module, you’ll explore the evolving power of media to represent reality, sway opinion and shape identity from the age of empire through swelling post-war pop culture.

Examining sources like newspapers, propaganda films, early TV and more, you'll investigate questions like: What “truths” did the British public consume during wars and upheavals? How did entertainment and advertising convey visions of leisure, lifestyle and “the good life”? And who was included or excluded from depictions of Britishness across eras?

Discover how the media we ingest informs how we envision ourselves, our communities and aspirations - both past and present.

You’ll evaluate sources such as legal records, cheap print, newspapers and novels, to discover what was considered a crime during this period and explore changing approaches towards ‘deviant’ behaviour.

You’ll see how behaviours we now consider private were publicly policed, and how this involved religion and the community. You’ll analyse changes from corporal punishment and torture towards modern ideas of policing.

You’ll also consider debates about the impact of urbanisation on patterns of crime, and the use of criminal prosecution as a means of social control, for example in relation to enforcing gender roles and controlling the poor.

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 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.

On this module, you’ll explore key areas of the history of slavery in the Atlantic World, and highlight significant themes and debates.

Themes you’ll think about include the intersection of ideas of race, gender, and slavery, the inherent violence of the institutions of slavery, the persistent forms of resistance by the enslaved, and the development of anti-slavery thought and practices, including revolutionary action and mass campaigning.

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.

Led by a subject specialist, you'll study how the practice and ideas related to empires and/or identities shaped the lives of people in a specific time period, and how they themselves resisted or negotiated the impositions of forms of inequality.

Example topics include:

The Opium War, 1839-1842

Explore how two empires – Great Britain and China – came into direct confrontation for the first time in the nineteenth century and how the military campaign has been remembered by successive regimes in generations afterward.

Reformers, Rebels and Refugees: Religious Identities in Elizabethan England

Investigate how a range of people supported, resisted or conformed to a period of profound religious and political change, and how identities and communities were formed and reformed in late 16th century England. 

Racism and Anti-Racism in Post-war Britain

Discover how questions of migration, race, identity, and belonging were being understood and negotiated as Britain transitioned away from its role as an imperial power. Examine the various ways in which people experienced racism, and as well as the myriad means by which this discrimination was challenged. 

The Making of the German Nation: Germany during the Nineteenth and Twentieth Century

Examine the fluid concept of German national identity across a turbulent history spanning war, empire, division and crisis. You’ll discover how Germans defined themselves and their nation from the early 19th century through Nazism's ascent and the difficult rebuilding of broken post-war societies. 

Led by a subject specialist, you'll study a specific example of how a society was transformed by the forces of revolution: the political, social, and cultural pressures that fomented a revolutionary response leading to new ways of conceiving and ordering society.

Example topics that you may study include:

Britain in Revolution: the impact of the British Civil Wars, 1637-1662

Explore a defining event in the history of the British Isles: a violent and traumatic struggle which affected the lives of everyone who lived through it, and which unleashed ideas which transformed British society and had a profound influence worldwide.

Civil Rights USA

What makes a successful civil rights movement?  This module explores and contrasts a range of social movements, from African American, second-wave feminism, Native American, Asian American, Hispanic, LGBTQ+ and youth movements.

The French Revolution, 1789-1799 

Study the events and individuals that drew France into the great Terror of 1793-94, assess the political ideals and social goals that brought such deadly conflict, and consider the complex question of the Terror's legacy to the politics of radicalism and revolution throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

It's up to you what your dissertation or 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 dissertation or project, using existing texts, sources and artefacts to support your arguments and give them context. You'll have the support of a dedicated dissertation tutor to guide you throughout this module.

This real-world, project-based module lets you address an identified need or gap by designing an innovative product, service or resource.

With support from university staff and external partners, you'll demonstrate critical thinking, ethical awareness and project management abilities.

Your final project and presentation will showcase your employability and capacity for high-impact solutions.

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 analyse how history, geography, culture, economics and politics converge to impact wellbeing in specific countries and worldwide.

You'll weigh up interventions on issues from malnutrition to maternal mortality, and consider how ethical, evidence-based recommendations can advance health equity, drawing on statistics and on-the-ground experiences.

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?