Politics and International Relations (BA)

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.

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 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.

Within modules, the requirements and expectations of learning and assessment will be explained carefully by the module leader in the class and through supporting materials available on Learning Central. This will include a weekly ‘module map’ to provide detailed instruction of the following week’s learning activities.

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 will receive written feedback on all coursework.

A range of staff are available to provide further support, including a specialist librarian. A member of academic 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 the 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 within first year provision, specific research training in the second year, and longer research essays, primary research exercises and, if selected, a dissertation at third year.

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

The optional final-year dissertation provides you with the opportunity to investigate a specific topic of interest to you in depth and to acquire detailed knowledge about a particular field of study, to use your initiative in the collection and presentation of material and present a clear, cogent argument and draw appropriate conclusions. There is also the opportunity to undertake more group-focused extended research projects.

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.
• 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.
• Select political and international relations-related information and data in a critical and discerning manner, and use, manage, synthesise that information and data effectively and ethically.

Professional Practical Skills:

• Design and conduct independent research projects, using a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods, to investigate complex international and political issues and present them in a dissertation or project.
• Effectively communicate complex international and political concepts and analyses to both specialist and non-specialist audiences through presentations, reports, and/or policy briefs.
• Collaborate with peers to simulate domestic issues, international negotiations, diplomatic strategies, or crisis management, drawing on practical knowledge of politics and/or international relations.
• Demonstrate an awareness of the ethical considerations and challenges faced in political and international relations research and practice, such as human rights and global justice.

Transferable/Key Skills:

• Exhibit effective leadership and teamwork skills by participating in group projects, including the negotiation of complex political and international challenges.
• 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, to support political and international relations-related research projects.
• Demonstrate adaptability and resilience by responding to changing national and international political environments, and the evolving nature of domestic and global challenges.