MA in International Relations
Queen's University Belfast - Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Key Information
Campus location
Belfast, United Kingdom
Languages
English
Study format
On-Campus
Duration
1 - 3 year
Pace
Full time, Part time
Tuition fees
GBP 19,100 / per year *
Application deadline
Request info
Earliest start date
Sep 2024
* Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland: £6,980 | England, Scotland or Wales: £8,360 | EU Other and International: £19,100
Introduction
This programme provides a foundation in the academic discipline of International Relations and the array of ‘real world’ practices and problems that produce world politics. Having introduced the theoretical and methodological components which facilitate our study of the field, the aim is to use these tools to examine, explain and understand the issues and processes that make up our world: looking, for example, at war; diplomacy; arms control and arms proliferation; global health policy; humanitarian intervention; international development policy; race and legacies of colonialism; human displacement; inequality and injustice. While attending closely and consistently to traditional issues such as armed conflict, it thus offers a significantly broader education in international politics.
Students are thus able to balance engagement with core content in the field of International Relations with active development of their own areas of specialism as they progress through choosing elective courses according to their own interests. Among the central aims of the programme is the provision of the high-quality methodological and research design training needed to conduct independent research projects to an academically accredited standard. This culminates in the final dissertation stage of the programme. Recent students' dissertation topics have included: Jihadi use of social media; Russian foreign and security policy after the Ukraine conflict; Extreme right-wing terrorism and the internet; Russian private military actors; EU defence policy after BREXIT; Baltic security and the future of NATO; Paramilitarism and the Northern Irish border; Indian defence and security in relation to rising China; The limits of ‘truth and reconciliation in conflict resolution.
Industry Links
You will be studying timely, relevant and pressing issues that will be ‘live’ throughout the programme (e.g. BREXIT & EU negotiations; migration and refugees; conflict and war; climate change developments). Many academics on the programme are engaged in QPOL (Queen’s Policy Engagement) – this is the ‘front door’ for public policy engagement at Queen’s University, supporting academics and policymakers in sharing evidence-based research and ideas on the major social, cultural and economic challenges facing society regionally, nationally and beyond.
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Admissions
Curriculum
The programme has three different components: core modules, elective modules and a research dissertation.
Core Modules
To acquire foundational knowledge and understanding of International Relations, students will take four core modules covering the evolution of International Relations as a discipline, issues of order, conflict and governance, and the trends toward globalisation, regionalisation and devolution.
Elective Modules
The programme provides students with a number of elective modules that will enable them to specialise in areas of interest, build on foundational knowledge, and develop focused expertise.
Research Dissertation
The research dissertation project is developed over the course of the programme through formal training in methodology and research design and individual supervision sessions with an academic subject expert. Students will spend the final stage of the course researching and writing with the continued support of their supervisor.
Core Modules
To acquire foundational knowledge and understanding of International Relations, students will take four core modules covering the evolution of International Relations as a discipline, issues of order, conflict and governance, and the trends toward globalisation, regionalisation and devolution.
Core Modules students currently must take:
- HAP7001 - Approaches to Research Design (Semester 1)
- PAI7026 - Theories and Issues in International Relations (Semester 1)
- PAI7030 - International Political Economy (Semester 2)
Course Details
The programme has three different components: Core modules, Elective modules, and an MA dissertation.
Dissertation
To enable students to develop their particular area of specialism, facilitate independent learning and instil a variety of skills such as project management, detailed analysis and self-motivation, students on the MA pathway must also write a dissertation of no more than 15,000 words.
Elective Modules
The programme provides students with a number of elective modules that will enable them to specialise in areas of interest, build on foundational knowledge, and develop focused expertise.
Students must take one of:
- PAI7007 - Global Terrorism (Semester 2)
- PAI7051 – Contemporary Security (semester 1)
Students who do not take:
- PAI7051 – Contemporary Security should choose one course from the list below:
- PAI7021 – The Politics of Northern Ireland
- PAI7036 – The Politics and Political Economy of Energy and Low Carbon Transitions
- PHL7056 – Global Ethics
Students who take PAI7051 – Contemporary Security should choose one course from the list below:
- PAI7022 – The Politics of the Republic of Ireland
- PAI7027 - Conflict Intervention
- PAI7032 - Gender & Politics
- PAI7052 - Institutions and Politics of the EU
- PHL7038 - Philosophy of Conflict and War
*This list of elective modules may vary from year to year.
Rankings
Queen’s is ranked in the top 140 in the world for graduate prospects (QS Graduate Employability Rankings (2020). Queen's is ranked 26th in the UK for graduate prospects (Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2020).
Program Tuition Fee
Career Opportunities
All of the MA programmes offered in the School provide our graduates with the skills to pursue a wide range of careers in the private, public and voluntary sectors.
International Relations graduates go on to an extraordinarily broad range of careers. Typical examples include:
- International Non-Governmental Organisation roles (humanitarian, conflict resolution, environmental, development etc.)
- Media and journalism
- Government, diplomacy and international civil service roles
- Military and intelligence careers
- Political risk analysis
- Political research, lobbying and consultancy roles with an international focus
- Think-tank research
- Academic careers in IR and cognate disciplines
- Business roles involving significant transnational trade or operations
- International Non-Governmental Organisations include humanitarian, conflict resolution, environmental, development etc.