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Anyone studying International Relations?

I just want to know a bit more about what the degree entails and what job prospects there are coming out of it etc

Any information/advice would be great :smile:
Reply 1
Original post by erinx
I just want to know a bit more about what the degree entails and what job prospects there are coming out of it etc

Any information/advice would be great :smile:


I am- most universities have the modules listed online with varying amounts of detail, but you can expect to study:
International Relations Theory- theories about the way the world works & states interact e.g. realism, liberalism, neconservativsm
International Organisations- as it says, about organisations such as the EU, UN e.c.t- how they work

The rest really depends on the university- what their specialisms are and what they think are other important topics to include. At my uni, UEA, in first year we had the same core modules as the Politics students so we had to do Social and Political\ theory- theories about how societies and the state operate and a general introduction to Politics module which focused on liberal democracies. Then a general introduction to international relations module which looked at issues facing the world and a brief introduction to international organisations. In second year there is a largely history based module called international politics since 1945 which mainly covers the cold war but also a bit after up to the Iraq War in 2003.

Job wise as with any arts degree it doesn't lead to a specific career but the chance to apply for any general graduate job when combined with experience and the right approach. A masters is sometimes necessary to work for the UN.
Original post by jelly1000
I am- most universities have the modules listed online with varying amounts of detail, but you can expect to study:
International Relations Theory- theories about the way the world works & states interact e.g. realism, liberalism, neconservativsm
International Organisations- as it says, about organisations such as the EU, UN e.c.t- how they work

The rest really depends on the university- what their specialisms are and what they think are other important topics to include. At my uni, UEA, in first year we had the same core modules as the Politics students so we had to do Social and Political\ theory- theories about how societies and the state operate and a general introduction to Politics module which focused on liberal democracies. Then a general introduction to international relations module which looked at issues facing the world and a brief introduction to international organisations. In second year there is a largely history based module called international politics since 1945 which mainly covers the cold war but also a bit after up to the Iraq War in 2003.

Job wise as with any arts degree it doesn't lead to a specific career but the chance to apply for any general graduate job when combined with experience and the right approach. A masters is sometimes necessary to work for the UN.


Do you think it's only worth doing an MA if you want to work for the UN? Do most other jobs not require/expect it?
Reply 3
Original post by porcelainwhite
Do you think it's only worth doing an MA if you want to work for the UN? Do most other jobs not require/expect it?


I'm doing one next year because I want to work for a think tank, but I'd say outside of that, the UN and NATO and becoming an academic (NATO I believe require a Masters for their graduate scheme) its not necessary no. Certainly for the EU and UK Foreign Office or the 'normal' UK fast stream its not necessary- for the EU they want you to speak two EU languages fluently and with the UK Foreign Office its all about how you answer the competency questions, perform in tests and then assessment centres. Any work experience you can get should help give you examples for questions and help you stand out from all of those other applicants. Work experience is certainly more important for most jobs than a masters because they want to see you have real world experience and even if you do feel a masters is necessary you still need the experience!. There are two other cases I can think of where further study would be needed. One if you decide your interested in law, then you could go onto do a law conversion course and maybe specialise in human rights law, EU law e.c.t or if you decide your interested in political journalism then going onto do an accredited postgraduate journalism course would be useful (and indeed is usually considered the better option than undegrad journalism) but again on its own isn't sufficient, you need work experience writing for papers/online sites as well
Reply 4
Hi, I do IR.
Check out some of the University's websites of the Universities that you're interested in going to. I never did this; at all really. It's a wise thing to do- it could determine whether you'll be interested/hardworking with your studies or not. - All of my modules for first year are Politics modules. Actually sorry; there're two IR modules which are so history like.

Learning about theories about the world, the state, government, legal systems, etc. We also did a module on American government and politics which was seemingly interesting. :smile: So in that we learnt about past presidents, Obama, how the supreme court and other courts worked and stuff.

- Enjoy life.

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