MSc International Relations

This class covers key research design issues and enables you to evaluate alternative research designs and create appropriate research proposals. The class is designed to help you decide a research topic and a design that you will use for your dissertation. Topics covered include formulating research questions, developing concepts, and how to select cases to study.

The purpose of this class is to provide students with a comprehensive overview of the concepts and theoretical approaches central to understanding and analysing the role of international institutions and regimes in the contemporary world.

This class will survey a variety of international institutions and regimes, exploring how they shape global interactions in a number of cross-cutting issue areas such as security, trade, human rights and the environment. The overall analysis will contribute to the understanding of the theories, practices and processes through which global politics are organised and to an assessment of the future of international institutions and regimes in global governance. 

This class introduces students to the literature and research agendas related to conflict and cooperation in international relations studies.

We will cover a wide array of approaches that relate to interstate and intrastate (civil) conflict, cooperation and other contemporary security topics such as post-conflict peace, peacekeeping operations, terrorism, and human rights violations.

The concept of national security has expanded to incorporate not only ‘traditional’ threats from hostile actors, but also a host of issues ranging from the impact of climate change, natural disasters and resource security to recession.

Security has become increasingly globalised and interconnected in threat and response while also increasingly recruiting the populace to be ‘secure citizens’. This class will examine the relevant theories underpinning these developing trends, alongside the key institutions and actors.

This class surveys contemporary theories of international relations, showcasing both positivist, rationalist approaches and post-positivist, critical alternatives. Intended to explore the points of convergence as well as disagreement between these different views, the class will also encourage students to reflect on the strengths and weaknesses of the rival frameworks and on their application and purpose.

This class will begin by learning about context, in terms of the expansion and institutionalisation of the feminist movement on a global scale and the emergence of a feminist voice in the International Relations discipline.

We'll then discuss conceptual, theoretical and methodological convergences and differences in feminist International Relations. A final seminar will reflect on the impact of feminism on both world politics and International Relations, and focus particularly on engagements and critique from the mainstream of the discipline.

This class introduces participants to the use of quantitative methods in social research; in particular, the logic and language of empirical analysis, the principal types of quantitative data (official statistics and surveys), and the use of software packages for statistical analysis.

This class trains participants in the design, application, presentation, and critical evaluation of quantitative political research using relevant software packages for statistical analysis.

This class provides an overview of the ever-expanding field of qualitative methods in Political Science, International Relations and Policy Studies. A variety of data collection/generation and analytical methods will be examined, and situated within different traditions/paradigms of social research.

Throughout this class, we'll examine how these methods can be applied in students’ own research projects.

The European and global orders are at a crossroads, confronting mounting economic and political challenges. This class surveys the political economy agenda after the crisis. The general idea is to critically examine the origins, implications and legacy of the Great Recession. More specifically, the class covers core issues in post-crisis political economy: the austerity debate, the rethinking of growth models, the gender and green revolutions, the inequality and tax puzzles, the power of central banks, the future of the euro, trade dilemmas, Brexit and the rise of economic populism. By engaging these themes, students will develop a better understanding of the diversity, complexity and direction of European and global capitalism.

The evolution and the future of EU integration is of particular contemporary relevance. This class examines processes of decision making and policies at the European Union level. It also evaluates the quality of governance through the lenses of democratic principles such as representation, legitimacy and efficiency.

The spectre of globalisation brings sustainable development and international trade together and this class explores the legal and policy elements of such linkage. In particular, students will critically analyse the interaction between World Trade Organisation (WTO) law and policy and non-trade concerns, such as environmental protection (climate change and water in particular), human rights, labour standards and development.

Students taking this class will discuss the international legal frameworks applicable to transboundary and international environmental problems. They will also look at the effectiveness of international litigation in dealing with global environmental challenges. Climate change will be used a key case study throughout the class.

This class introduces students to the 'real world' shifts which have led to a growing interest in global health. Particular attention will be paid to the recognition of health as a development issue. The class will also address current issues of global concern with respect to health, such as the threat posed by avian flu (H5N1) and the recent recurrence of Ebola in West Africa.