Politics, International Relations and Sociology (BA)

You’ll learn from scholars who are shaping the future of their fields. Our courses reflect both the core ideas of the disciplines and contemporary debates, theories and research.

You’ll mostly be taught through a combination of lectures, seminars and workshops.
Lectures take a range of forms, but generally provide a broad structure for each subject, introduce key concepts, and convey relevant up-to-date information.

Seminars provide an opportunity to ask questions and discuss key ideas in a small group environment. This helps you to integrate the information and ideas you receive from lectures and readings and to explore issues critically and in depth. Set questions and readings form the basis for discussion by directing your attention to relevant aspects of the subject matter and to various types of sources of information. Giving presentations develops your capacity to gather, organise and synthesise relevant information and ideas and to communicate these in a logical and concise manner. Tutor-led and student-led discussion hones logical skills and gives you practice in applying different concepts, theories and methods to the subject-matter at hand. It also exposes you to different interpretations of political ideas and events. Group problem-solving will help to develop collaborative skills. Workshops are like seminars, but they tend to involve more structured activities and the involvement of more students and staff.

From year 2 in there will be opportunities to participate in practical, research-led activities in sociology alongside your theoretical learning.

Our in-person, face-to-face teaching and learning is supported and complemented by various digital tools. Each module makes extensive use of Learning Central, which is the university’s Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). On Learning Central, you’ll find discussion forums, pre-recorded videos, links to relevant web-based resources, multimedia materials and course materials.

How will I be supported?

You’ll be allocated a personal tutor who will help you reflect on your performance on the programme and provide advice and guidance on your academic studies, advise you on study techniques, module selection and career planning (in conjunction with the University’s careers support). They will also provide a first point of contact if you experience any difficulties. Additionally, all teaching staff keep set office hours when you can meet with them and discuss any learning queries arising from the module or from your studies in general. If you wish to study through the medium of Welsh, you’ll be designated a Welsh-speaking personal tutor.

All modules within the programme make extensive use of the University’s Virtual Learning Environment, Learning Central, where you can access discussion forums and find course materials including multimedia materials, presentations, lecture handouts, bibliographies, further links, electronic exercises, discussion groups, etc. You’ll also be able to reflect on your progress and on the skills that you will develop through a section on the University’s Central Learning site called Planning Personal Development.

Modules include forms of assessment that are designed, in part, to monitor progress and to provide feedback before more substantial assignments later in the module. You’ll receive written feedback on all coursework.

A range of staff are available to provide further support, including specialist librarians. A member of staff acts as a designated Disability and Diversity Officer and ensures that reasonable adjustments are made for students with disabilities.

Additionally, the University offers a range of support services located in the Centre for Student Life, including Student Futures (careers advice and guidance), money advice, counselling and wellbeing services, disability and dyslexia support, and student mentoring. You’ll also have access to excellent libraries and resource centres.

Feedback

Assessments are not used solely for marking purposes. They are mainly used to provide advice and written feedback to help you to achieve the learning outcomes on each module and to help explain what is required to improve your work in future. This is known as formative feedback.
Formative feedback helps you to:

• Identify your strengths and weaknesses and target areas that need work;
• Address problems identified with targeted strategies for improvement. This is sometimes called ‘feedforward’.

The marking dimension of assessment also has a name: summative assessment. It is summative feedback that contributes to progression and degree classification decisions. The goal of summative assessment is to indicate how well you have succeeded in meeting the intended learning outcomes of a module or programme. All feedback should link to assessment criteria that is readily available for you to consult.

Beyond comments on work submitted (which is sometimes in the form of audio feedback), feedback is also given in seminars, personal tutor meetings, and other learning environments.

How will I be assessed?

The programme structure is intended to progressively develop skills of academic study and independent research. This is delivered through a carefully designed teaching programme, which is supported by bespoke study skills sessions in the first year, specific research training in the second year, and longer research essays and primary research exercises.

Forms of teaching and assessment across the 3 years of the programme include a wide range of methods and approaches. These include essays, individual and group projects, written examinations, portfolios, primary document analysis, presentations, writing briefings, and learning diaries.

What skills will I practise and develop?

The Learning Outcomes for this Programme describe what you will achieve by the end of your programme at Cardiff University and identify the knowledge and skills that you will develop. They will also help you to understand what is expected of you. 

On successful completion of your Programme you will be able to:

Knowledge & Understanding:

• Demonstrate a critical understanding of core concepts and theories in both politics and international relations. Examples of these concepts and theories include sovereignty, power, governance, justice, human rights, and diplomacy.
• Analyse the evolution and functions of various political institutions across a range of settings.
• Examine how globalisation and transnational issues (e.g., climate change, migration, terrorism) influence both domestic and international political agendas.
• An understanding of the key ideas, theories and concepts used in sociology their relationship to themes, theories and findings from cognate disciplines.
• An understanding of the main research methods used within the social sciences and the philosophical issues that inform their application and use in research settings.
• A critical and in-depth understanding of research and theory in selected sub-fields of sociology and the relevance of this work to contemporary social debates, issues or problems.
• An understanding of the role empirical evidence plays in the creation and constraint of theory, and how theory guides the collection and interpretation of empirical data.
• Demonstrate an understanding of political and policy-making processes and their impacts both within individual states and/or the international relations between states and non-state actors.

Intellectual Skills:

• Evaluate international relations theories and apply them to real-world global political issues.
• Apply the appropriate methods of analysis to examine the political systems, ideologies, and institutions across different regions of the world.
• Interpret complex global political events and trends by synthesising diverse political, economic, and cultural perspectives.
• Assess the impact and legacy of historical events and processes on contemporary politics and international relations.
• Critically evaluate existing knowledge, scholarship and research in sociology and use this knowledge to reach a balanced judgement about the merits and relevance of competing claims and theoretical perspectives.
• Critically evaluate the use of evidence in social science disciplines and policy debates, drawing on both broad methods training and subject specific knowledge.
• Utilise knowledge and skills to understand and explain social phenomena of interest to sociology and apply this understanding to new or novel questions.
• Gather, organise and deploy evidence, information and data from a variety of sources in a critical and discerning manner, and use, manage, synthesise that information and data effectively and ethically.

Professional Practical Skills:

• Design and use a range of data collection instruments needed to explore and understand the social world.
• Effectively communicate complex international and political concepts and analyses to both specialist and non-specialist audiences through presentations, reports, and/or policy briefs.
• Critically evaluate, synthesise and interpret primary and secondary data generated using different methods, using specialist software where necessary.
• Work both collaboratively and individually on theoretically informed and empirically-grounded projects that draw on appropriate and relevant research evidence.
• Demonstrate an awareness of the ethical considerations and challenges faced in political and international relations research and practice.

Transferable/Key Skills:

• The capacity for problem-solving and originality in thinking by using knowledge and skills to tackle familiar and unfamiliar problems.
• Develop intercultural awareness and communication skills by engaging with diverse political viewpoints and perspectives from around the world.
• Utilise appropriate digital and IT skills, including data visualisation and online collaborative tools.
• Develop communication skills through a range of opportunities to communicate ideas and understandings in different ways and through different means.
• Demonstrate adaptability and resilience by responding to changing national and international political environments, and the evolving nature of domestic and global challenges.