Politics and International Relations BA(Hons)

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We can help you meet our English language or academic entry requirements.

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Why choose this course?

• Learn in a vibrant, progressive city with a reputation for radical, environmental, and LGBTQI+ activism. 

• Your lecturers are internationally recognised on issues including populism, gender studies, the Middle East, environmentalism, migration, housing and political theory. 

• Apply to spend a semester studying abroad at a partner university in your second year.  

• You can work with the Centre for Applied Philosophy, Politics and Ethics which hosts talks, seminars, workshops and conferences, as well as offering research internships and an annual undergraduate research prize.

• Guest speakers have included Caroline Lucas and Sue Shanks (Green Party), Yousef Eldin (BBC documentary producer), Nancy Hawker (Amnesty International), Prof Angie Wilson (ex-Chair of the Political Studies Association, researching sexuality and politics) and Daniel Harris (Brighton and Hove Housing Coalition), as well as representatives from Make the Shift, The Free West Papua Campaign and Brighton and Hove Community Land Trust. 

• Assignments don’t just mean essays, you'll be assessed in lots of different ways including films, podcasts, data visualisations, political speeches, social media campaigns; the types of projects that will be valued by employers. 

• Graduate with both theoretical and practical knowledge. Our courses offer practical skills and real-world experiences to prepare you for your future careers, with opportunities to undertake placements, design a campaign for a political organisation and learn digital communication skills. 

• The university’s commitment to addressing global challenges is the lens through which you will learn and issues such as climate change, equality and inclusivity, and sustainability are embedded in all teaching on our politics courses.

• Our decolonised approach to teaching and learning emphasises lived experience, recognising that knowledge is held in communities not only in academic institutions.

• You will be studying in a thriving community alongside students taking related degrees which informs our delivery.

Year 1 

In your first year, you will study six modules that introduce you to politics and international relations and help you to develop the skills central to your course.

Modules

• Comparative Political Systems

  On this module you will be introduced to some of the key features of politics including institutions, political actors and political processes. You'll identify the most important political hallmarks, for example: the legislature, the executive, political parties, and electoral processes, in at least two contemporary states that illustrate democratic, partially democratic, or/and authoritarian political systems. You'll also be introduced to political concepts, such as power and the state, in order to analyse and compare those political systems.

• Foundations in World Politics

  This module will introduce you to a critical historical perspective on the modern international political system. You will examine how the peoples and governments of the world came to be linked through an imperial system by exploring major world events and processes of global history. By taking a long view of modern politics, the module is an opportunity for you to place world politics in its historical context. The key topics you will explore include the origins of the international political system, slavery, imperial and colonial expansion, anti-colonial resistance and liberation, global governance, controversy and historiography.

• Globalisation, Conflict and the Environment

  This module introduces key concepts, theories and questions in international relations and global studies. You will interrogate and evaluate the political implications of different approaches for the study of key aspects of our contemporary world. You will explore how concepts and theories are applied to contested global issues, such as environmental sustainability and war/conflict. 

• Introduction to the  Global Challenges Lab

  Supported by a tutor, you'll design and conduct a research project that addresses one of the global challenges identified by the UN’s sustainable development goals. You'll learn how to create blogs, podcasts and short films to communicate your research and ideas to a non-academic audience.

• Political Ideas

  This module gives a broad overview of the academic study of politics. You'll focus on core concepts of political science and political theory, and then apply those to political processes, institutions, ideologies and the nature of political change. You'll cover the core conceptual material needed for more advanced study in politics, and also be introduced to ideas and approaches that can be applied in other social sciences.

• Politics in Practice

  This module introduces ideas about how politics is practiced by state and non-state actors at local, national, and international levels. You'll take part in field trips, Q+As with political actors and engagement with political communications. You'll also be introduced to methods of data collection, as well as forms of qualitative and quantitative analysis.

Year 2

In year two, you build your knowledge of the subject, exploring British politics and theories of government and policy, and focusing on international relations theories and key international institutions like the UN and the EU. You'll begin to specialise in the subjects that interest you most through choosing option modules.

The community engagement module is an opportunity to undertake a voluntary work placement with a local not-for-profit organisation. You'll gain practical work experience while contributing to the wider community.

Modules

• Colonialism in the Contemporary Global Order
• Researching Politics
• Debating Contemporary International Relations
• International Institutions

Options*

• UK Politics
• Community Engagement
• Authority, Justice and Democracy
• Nations and Nationalism
• Global Resistance: Social Movements and Mobilisation

*Option modules are indicative and may change, depending on timetabling and staff availability.

Final year

In your final year you will further develop your knowledge, skills and specific interests in politics and international relations through options.

You also write a dissertation on a topic in politics, international relations or both. The dissertation is an opportunity for you to develop an idea independently, with the support of an academic supervisor throughout.

Modules

• Race and International Relations
• Dissertation

Options*

Choose two from:

• Radical Political Economy and Anarchist Politics
• Global Social Policy
• Global Environmental Politics

Choose two from:

• Human Rights and Humanitarian Intervention
• Politics in the Middle East
• Feminisms
• The Politics and Ethics of Global Society

*Option modules are indicative and may change, depending on timetabling and staff availability.

Lab facilities

Mithras House is home to all our School of Humanities and Social Science courses. It has a series of ‘labs’, which may be used for teaching on your course or in your independent research work.

Life lab
A comfortable space with lounge furniture intended for qualitative research with larger groups. Due to its relaxed layout and naturalistic environment, the space is suited to research using focus groups, research using observation-based methods and child research.

The space is also used for teaching on some social science courses, as well as for dissertation research for projects.
 
City lab
A space designed for collaborative student learning. It is used by students and staff involved in the university’s Global Challenges programme, our collective mission to contribute towards solutions to tackling the pressing issues facing our world.

Design lab
A space housing our extensive collection of historic dress and textiles, which are used in some teaching on our History of Art and Design courses. It has the space and equipment to work on textile projects. Displays created by students on these programmes are on view in the social spaces of the building.

Stats lab
A specialist workspace with computing equipment for statistical analysis and projects involving video and audio editing software. The lab is accessible as a study space to students on psychology courses. 

It is also available to students studying courses involving video and audio recording and editing, such as politics degrees and our creative writing programmes. The stats lab contains eight soundproof booths for recording or transcribing interviews undertaken as part of dissertation research.  

VR and eye tracking lab
This lab is used for psychological research, specifically eye-tracking research and virtual reality research. Equipment includes an electroencephalography (EEG) headset and Electrodermal Activity (EDA) equipment.

Meet the team

Dr Francesca Burke, course leader

Francesca's research and teaching centres on politics and international relations in the Middle East and, in this regional context, in particular on: activism in repressive contexts; student movements and the political role of universities; and transnational solidarity.

She teaches on modules focused on citizenship and nationalism, as well as teaching research methods in the social sciences. Her research-led teaching engages students not only through published academic research but also through extensive use of primary sources including political graffiti and posters, manifestos, political speeches, materials from citizen assemblies, interview transcriptions, archived news footage and televised government statements.

Francesca leads the University of Brighton's Centre for Applied Philosophy, Politics and Ethics' Social Movements and Radical Global Politics strand. Read Francesca's full profile.

Other staff who teach on the course include: Dr Clare Woodford, Dr Heba Youssef, Dr Chris Wyatt, Prof Mark Devenney, Dr Robin Dunford, Dr German Primera Villamiza, Dr Chrystie Myketiak and Dr Zoe Sutherland.

Course fees

The fees listed here are for the first year of full-time study if you start your course in the academic year 2024–25.

You will pay fees for each year of your course. Some fees may increase each year.

UK undergraduate and some postgraduate fees are regulated by the UK government and increases will not be more than the maximum amount allowed. Course fees that are not regulated may increase each year by up to 5% or RPI (whichever is higher).

If you are studying part-time your fee will usually be calculated based on the number of modules that you take.

Find out more

• Fees, bursaries, scholarships and government funding info for UK and international undergraduate and postgraduate students
• Student finance and budgeting while studying
• About the university’s fees by checking our student contract and tuition fee policy (pdf).

Campus where this course is taught

Accommodation

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Support and wellbeing

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