International relations

Introduction to International Relations

Module code: L2008
Level 4
15 credits in autumn semester
Teaching method: Seminar, Lecture, Class
Assessment modes: Coursework, Essay

What is international relations?

In this module, you will be introduced to the study of International Relations (IR), exploring some of the core questions that define it as a discipline, as well as its most pressing political questions. In particular, we examine the contested historical and conceptual terrain of international relations. While the discipline has traditionally traced a path from idealism via realism towards a more pluralist methodological position, you will also engage alternative ways of historicising and conceptualising. Understanding these debates, the circumstances that have given rise to them, and the ideas that they have generated will give you a good orientation in the disciplinary terrain of IR that will help to contextualise the ideas you will encounter in the international theory modules in Years 1 and 2.

Module learning outcomes

• Understand the reasons for IR as a separate social science.
• Develop an initial understanding of the main IR paradigms and subfields.
• Understand the relationship between theory and practice in IR.
• Produced, in an academically acceptable manner, an essay in which they have demonstrated the ability to write about theoretical issues in International Relations.