This module looks at key political ideas that are fundamental to our world today, but also how those ideas have changed, especially with recent contributions in gender studies, postcolonial research and queer theory. Studying this module introduces you to theory – not as a distant, abstract exercise, but as a reflection of contemporary politics. Have big ideas on sovereignty been fundamental to establishing political order, or a tool to justify colonisation? Is John Locke’s theory of property fit to answer questions about who owns our data? Can the tradition of human rights incorporate non-human species? Is gender performative, and how does this represent the struggles of LGBTQ+ communities? Theory can get us thinking more deeply about empirical events, but empirical events can also get us critiquing theories for falling short.

This module addresses the significance of journeys and places as key concepts in your studies. You will attend lectures with students from across the School of Creative Industries and Culture and gain an insight into the value of interdisciplinary study whilst engaging with concepts that include place, migration and travel, belonging, identity, intercultural spaces, and sustainable living.

Assessment One (30%) and Assessment Two (70%)

What are today’s major global challenges? Inequality and poverty, sustainable development, climate change and environmental crisis, rise of authoritarianism, rights struggles, transnational social justice movements? Contemporary politics and international relations are marked by an acceleration of these social and political challenges associated with the pace and nature of capitalist development. This module introduces the material drivers of contemporary challenges, from colonialism and colonial legacies, classed, gendered, racial hierarchies and the role of state. It introduces students to these challenges from a critical political economy perspective. Students learn about different contemporary challenges, as well as constraints and opportunities for their resolution. The students will also be supported in academic writing, reflective thinking, communication and writing skills during the workshops in preparation of the module assessment.

Assessment: portfolio 100% (20% critical reflection (written or audio) and 80% written essay)

There are vivid debates about the health and future of contemporary democracy, which is perceived to be under threat from secular developments in global politics and economics, leading to authoritarianism and declining trust in democratic processes. Different forms of democracy have, however, existed throughout the history of human societies – and democratic governance has been transformed, often in response to social and political crisis and changes in social systems. This module introduces students to the concept of democracy, and examines different forms of democracy, using historical examples to understand the drivers of the expansion and retrenchment of different kinds of democracy. It then considers the contemporary state of democracy, analyses the challenges it faces, and the potential for further democratisation in the 21st century. You will study the potential for the diversification and expansion of democratic processes from the perspective of different theories of democracy, and engage with a variety of contemporary issues, including competing democratic theories, the impact of economic crises, migration and cultural conflict, authoritarian populism and democratic backsliding as well as the impact of new technologies on democracy.

Assessment: portfolio 100% (oral presentation and written report)

The world is made up of ideas. Brexit hinged on a narrative of sovereignty, yet people disagreed on what sovereignty meant. Equality is the watchword of many political movements, but what are the different types of equality and which ones do we prioritise? What is the fundamental relationship between nation states? Are international relations solely inter-state relations or there is more to them? What is intersectional politics? Is the personal political, or should we keep politics out of some things? Who owns your data? When do natural disasters become human-made?

These, and many other questions, are asked in this module. The reason for this is simple: theory starts with the question, ‘how should we organise our political communities’, or more simply: ‘how should we live together?’ This immediately leads to more questions. Who is the we in this, and who isn’t? What is a ‘political community?’ Who is included in the ‘international community’ and who isn’t? What is the ‘political’ and the ‘international’?

Big Ideas Matter, because they have shaped the present and will shape the future. This module teaches you to think analytically, critically, and creatively about the principles and ideas that lie behind our laws, politics, structures, systems and institutions. You will learn the connection between theory and ‘the real world’, and how it applies to different spaces and people.

Assessment: 2000 word written essay (50%) and a 20 minute presentation (50%)

This module is designed to prepare and support you towards the pursuit of post-degree pathways. It will focus on the specific skills, capabilities and knowledge needed to adapt and flourish in professional environments and contexts. There will be an emphasis on enhancement of core attributes, competencies and transferable skills as well as developing familiarity with the world and politics of work. The module will prepare you for diverse and dynamic working environments beyond university by introducing reflective practices to support your long-term professional development.

You will be introduced to the UN Sustainable Development Goals and invited to engage critically around themes including race, gender, identity, and geopolitical issues, to conceptualize a more equitable society, and environmentally sustainable world, as relevant to your career aspirations.

Supported independent learning activities may include responding to real-world briefs, placements/shadowing, engagement with community projects or initiatives, creating proposals for projects or initiatives in a professional setting.

Security is considered as a human need operating at varying levels of analysis – global, international, regional, national, societal and individual – with each having a set of specific concerns. The module explores the transformation of war in the contemporary era due to the disintegration of the state’s monopoly on organised political violence. On the module, you will examine a diverse assortment of conflict constellations, including civil wars, counterinsurgencies and counterterrorist campaigns, along with information, cyber and hybrid warfare. What is the relationship between changes in military technology and the way particular wars are fought and justified, or conflicts managed and pacified? How do we measure violence and conflict? Who has a responsibility to protect, and for whom are peace and security for? ‘Humanising security’ is also considered on the module.

Assessment consists of a Policy Paper (2000 Word, 50%) and a Reflective Essay (2000 Word, 50%)

This module critically introduces the approaches and methods that shape the creation of empirical knowledge in politics and international relations. The module advances the significance of the relationship between empirical knowledge and the methods used for investigation. The module provides students with an up-to-date understanding of research methods, and the ways these methods are applied in contemporary politics and international relations research. The module considers the characteristics of quantitative and qualitative approaches, and the comparative strengths and limitations of these approaches. It teaches students practical skills in research methods that can be applied in their future academic and professional work, thereby enhancing their employability.

Assessment: Portfolio (100%).

This module takes a thematic approach to the study of politics across the Americas, offering a political, historical, social, cultural and international focus, which enables you to engage and consider government and the governed from a range of perspectives. It seeks to challenge US-centric perceptions of the continent, by drawing on aspects of trans-continental relations as well as UK relations across the Americas.

From bureaucratic corridors of power to activism and street protests, all levels of political participation are discussed via a theoretical and practical lens.

You are encouraged to consider different and sometimes conflicting participants in the political process: from national leadership at times of foreign policy crisis, to subregional political coalitions, to grassroots and international activism, this module will engage the study of American politics, broadly conceived, to provide you with useful expertise in international politics, and develop a set of key research and presentation skills that will be applicable in your post-graduation careers.

The module affords you the opportunity to participate in and hear from external research experts, politicians and/or practitioners, for example, via University research seminar series and events.

Assessment: Portfolio 100% (presentation and report)

This module focuses on the growing canon of work around decolonising politics. The module will address legacies of empire and imperialism and their continued impact on politics today. The module draws on and critically examines the contemporary intersections of colonialism and colonial legacy on the experiences of marginalised communities with increasingly diverse societies, and the bodies of theory associated with these often-politicised lived realities, including queer theory, disability theory, black feminisms and intersectionality, and critical race theory.

The module will continue to draw on common themes throughout the programme, such as the centrality of place in the decolonisation of politics through the explicit focus on national case studies and the ways in which these address the lasting impacts of colonialism both inside and outside of the former colonial metropole. The module also problematises notions of decolonising within the frame of current political, social and cultural debates.

Additionally, the module invites you to develop critical understandings of the ways in which colonial legacies impact political representation of minorities and policies around minoritised communities across a range of political settings, both at the structural and interpersonal level.

The module links to DMU initiatives such as Decolonising DMU, EDI groups and the extracurricular student-led anti-racist reading group. The module will afford you the opportunity to speak with leading scholarly experts and practitioners in the field of decolonising politics.

Assessment: Presentation 40% and Essay 60%

This module examines global capitalism as the dominant socio-economic system shaping contemporary societies across the world. It situates the historical development of global capitalism within a broad, comparative context, drawing on global histories and engaging with debates that challenge Eurocentric interpretations. Particular attention is given to the uneven and diverse trajectories through which capitalist development has unfolded across different regions and periods. You will engage with major theoretical approaches used to analyse and critique capitalism, including Liberalism, Statism, Marxism, Feminism, Postcolonialism and Anti-racism. These perspectives inform the exploration of a range of key issues and debates surrounding global capitalism today.

Topics addressed include international trade, debt and development, global finance and financial crises, labour and global production networks, and the role of social reproduction. The module also considers the governance of and resistance to capitalism at the global level, environmental pressures and climate change, the role of the state, migration and borders, poverty and global inequality, and the rise of new powers and geopolitical competition. By working through these themes and applying concepts and theories in the investigation of global capitalist social relations, students will build on the earlier modules in the programme to develop a grounded and advanced understanding of the dynamics, structures, and contemporary challenges associated with global capitalism.

Assessment: 3000 word Essay (60%) and 15 Minute Presentation (40%)

This module offers a capstone experience, culminating in an individual final year project. It comprises an extended piece of work conventionally seen as a dissertation. Other forms of extended coursework could be applied, for example, a politics or international relations real-life project. You are encouraged to work with a supervisor to develop, negotiate and agree on an area of focus and project feasibility. This relationship and scoping work develop during Block 3 and culminates in the final project delivery in Block 4. If you wish to pursue a traditional dissertation, are required to undertake a research project, which may form the basis of an extended essay, or include primary research, subject to ethical approval. Other options for real-life learning projects are possible on the module. These also need to be informed by academic literature and evidence. This final module is the culmination of the degree and offers opportunities to support you in your next steps beyond the qualification, for example, further study and/or working in politics and international relations careers.

Assessment: Coursework 10% and Dissertation 90%