Politics and International Relations BA (Hons)

Modules

• Year 1 at Sussex

  Your modules

  Core modules

  Core modules are taken by all students on the course. They give you a solid grounding in your chosen subject and prepare you to explore the topics that interest you most.

  Autumn teaching

  • British Political History
  • Empires and Revolutions: The Birth of Today's International Order
  • Explaining Political Systems
  • Introduction to International Relations

  Spring teaching

  • Freedom, Power, Justice: Foundations of Political Theory
  • Research Skills and Methods in Political Science
  • Talking with Ghosts: Classical Theory and Contemporary Politics
  • The Short Twentieth Century and Beyond

  Your degree

  In your first year, you’ll build strong foundations in political analysis. You’ll:

  • deepen your understanding of contemporary politics
  • learn about key terms, ideas, approaches, concepts and thinkers
  • develop the intellectual and analytical tools you need for a deeper understanding of political theory, and analysing political systems and issues in different contexts.

  You’ll also explore key events in global politics today. This includes the wars in the Middle East and Ukraine, the rise of right-wing authoritarianism and the climate emergency. You’ll explore how these issues have been shaped by an international political system that has emerged from revolutions in politics, ideology and industry. And you’ll learn how the discipline of International Relations itself has evolved over time.

  Teaching

  Teaching methods typically include lectures and seminars.

  

  50%: Lecture
  50%: Seminar

  Assessment

  Assessment methods typically include essays, a blog, class and video presentations, a data report, and creative assignments such as learning portfolios.

  Contact hours and workload

  This year of study includes approximately 1,200 hours of work. This breaks down into about 180 hours of contact time and about 1,020 hours of independent study.

  Engage and actively participate throughout your studies to get the most out of your course. 

• Year 2 at Sussex

  Your modules

  Core modules

  Core modules are taken by all students on the course. They give you a solid grounding in your chosen subject and prepare you to explore the topics that interest you most.

  Autumn teaching

  • Beyond Bankers and Billionaires: Global Capitalism from Below
  • Contemporary International Theory
  • European Politics
  • Modern Political Thought

  Options

  Alongside your core modules, you can choose options to broaden your horizons and tailor your course to your interests. This list gives you a flavour of our options, which are kept under review and may change, for example in response to student feedback or the latest research.

  While it’s our aim for students to take their preferred combinations of options, this can’t be guaranteed and will be subject to timetabling. Options may be grouped and if so, students will be able to choose a set number of options from the selection available in any particular group.

  Spring teaching

  • Capitalism and Democracy
  • Communicating Politics
  • Development and the State
  • Divided Island? Irish Politics from Partition to the Present
  • Feminism and the Politics of Gender
  • Governing India: Institutions, Actors and Challenges Amidst Social Diversity
  • Italy Between Political Crisis and Social Change
  • Security and Insecurity in Global Politics
  • States of Disunion: Power, Polarisation and Protest in US Politics
  • The Challenge of Being a Reluctant Hegemon; German Politics Today
  • The EU Between Integration and Disintegration
  • The Making of Modern Turkey: The Struggle Between Authoritarianism and Democracy
  • The Politics of Foreign Policy
  • The Rise and Fall of Neoliberalism

  Trips abroad

  We organise trips to Germany and France so you can learn more about the current political scene and meet with politicians and academics there.

  If you study German politics, you can go on a trip to Berlin to visit the German parliament for discussions with politicians from all major parties.

  You also visit other prominent historical landmarks such as the Holocaust Memorial, Checkpoint Charlie and the Berlin Wall.

  Your degree

  In your second year, you’ll:

  • apply the ideas, methods and approaches from Year 1 to look at power
  • explore how we govern ourselves and how political systems work
  • consider some of the key issues that increasingly divide people politically
  • examine political ideas in greater depth, looking at countries, regions and institutions, and the social forces that are shaping politics in these places.

  You’ll also explore the core areas of International Relations research in more depth. This includes international political economy, security studies, foreign policy analysis and international political theory. You’ll engage with questions such as “Why are some countries poor and others rich?”, “What does security mean in global politics and how can it be achieved?”, and “Why is foreign policy often so secretive?”.

  Teaching

  Teaching methods typically include lectures and seminars.

  

  50%: Lecture
  50%: Seminar

  Assessment

  Assessment methods typically include longer essays, in-person and take-home examinations, case studies, reflexive writing such as learning logs, poster presentations, multiple-choice quizzes and a podcast.

  Contact hours and workload

  This year of study includes approximately 1,200 hours of work. This breaks down into about 180 hours of contact time and about 1,020 hours of independent study.

  Engage and actively participate throughout your studies to get the most out of your course. 

• Experience Year

  Study abroad (optional)

  Apply to study abroad – you’ll develop an international perspective and gain an edge when it comes to your career. Find out where your course could take you

  If your application to study abroad is successful, you’ll have to meet the academic requirements at Sussex and also at the partner university. Find out more about studying abroad as a Sussex student

  I have come away more knowledgeable, more confident and with some excellent memories.”Michael Gray
  Politics and International Relations BA
  Studied abroad in South Korea

  Placement (optional)

  To help you gain experience and increase your employability, you can apply for an optional placement as part of your course. You’ll be responsible for applying for and securing your placement. Our dedicated careers team can provide you with information and advice. If you’re successful in obtaining a placement, this will form part of your course.

  Find out more about placements and internships

  Please note that if you’re receiving – or applying for – USA federal Direct Loan funds, you can’t transfer to the version of your course with an optional study abroad period in any country or optional placement in the USA if the number of credits for the placement/internship exceeds 25% of the total credits for your course. Find out more about American Student Loans and Federal Student Aid

• Year 3 at Sussex

  Your modules

  Options

  You choose options to broaden your horizons and tailor your course to your interests. This list gives you a flavour of our options, which are kept under review and may change, for example in response to student feedback or the latest research.

  While it’s our aim for students to take their preferred combinations of options, this can’t be guaranteed and will be subject to timetabling. Options may be grouped and if so, students will be able to choose a set number of options from the selection available in any particular group.

  Autumn teaching

  • Anti-Colonial Worldmaking and Alternative Futures
  • Authoritarianism and its Critics
  • Data Analysis for Global Challenges
  • Decolonial Movements
  • Environment and Development in World Politics
  • Environmental Politics in the Anthropocene
  • Finance and Power in the Global Age
  • Global Crisis and European Political Economy
  • Global Work Experience
  • Indian Politics Since Independence: Between Dominance and Fragmentation
  • Palestine and the International
  • Parties and Party Systems
  • Political Psychology
  • Religions in Global Politics
  • The Politics of Armed Groups: Rebels, State and Society
  • The Politics of Euroscepticism
  • The Rise of Anti-politics
  • Visualising War: Image, Media, and Culture

  Spring teaching

  • British Foreign Relations: Through Empire and Beyond
  • Critical Hope in Global Health: From Big Pharma to Local Wellbeing
  • Global Supply Chains: Making an (un)sustainable world?
  • Humanitarianism in Theory and Practice
  • Immigration and the Liberal State
  • Independent Study/Internship Option
  • Parties and Voters in the UK
  • Policing Racial Capitalism
  • Political Corruption
  • Populism and Politics
  • Putin, Power, Populism: Russia and Eurasia in Global Politics
  • The Arms Trade and Global (In)securities
  • The Neoliberal Age? Understanding Modern Britain
  • The Politics of (Post-)Truth
  • The Politics of Feeling
  • Violence, militarism & (anti)colonialism: Transnational feminist and queer perspectives

  Your degree

  In your final year, you’ll:

  • choose from a wide range of options, based on what your lecturers are currently actively researching, to match your interests
  • look at the ideas, movements, social forces and issues that are challenging the existing political order
  • develop regional expertise, including on China, Russia and the Middle East.

  You’ll also have the opportunity to design your own independent research project if there is a specific topic you’re particularly interested in that is not covered by one of the options. As part of this, you can also undertake one of the work placement internships that the Department has organised with local MPs and a wide range of other organisations.

  Teaching

  Teaching methods typically include lectures and seminars.

  

  100%: Seminar

  Assessment

  Assessment methods typically include long-form essays, dissertations, presentations, multi-media assessments such as podcasts, and policy briefings.

  Contact hours and workload

  This year of study includes approximately 1,200 hours of work. This breaks down into about 120 hours of contact time and about 1,080 hours of independent study.

  Engage and actively participate throughout your studies to get the most out of your course. 

We regularly review our modules to incorporate student feedback, staff expertise, as well as the latest research and teaching methodology. We’re planning to run these modules in the academic year 2026/27. However, there may be changes to these modules in response to feedback, staff availability, student demand or updates to our curriculum. We’ll make sure to let you know of any material changes to modules at the earliest opportunity.

We’ll do our best to provide as much optional choice as we can, but timetabling constraints mean it may not be possible to take some module combinations. The structure of a small number of courses means that the order of modules or the streams you choose may determine whether modules are core or optional. This means that your core modules or options may differ from what’s shown here.