Affiliate Political Science and International Relations Programme

Political Science & International Relations

About this programme

The affiliate programme in Political Science and International Relations draws on a wide range of courses from across UCL. There are particular strengths in British Politics, International Relations, West and East European Politics including the EU, Political Anthropology, Political Geography, Political Philosophy and History.

Programme summary

Programme title	Political Science & International Relations
Duration	• Full year or Autumn/Spring & Summer term only
Application deadline	• For entry in September, for the Autumn Term only or a full year, the application deadline is 31 March. • For entry in January, for the Spring and Summer Terms only, the application deadline is 30 September.
Programme Director	Dr Handi Li

Introduction

The Department of Political Science offers an affiliate programme in Political Science and International Relations for undergraduate students from North America and Japan as well as a number of other countries. 

Affiliate students remain registered as degree students of their home institutions but apply to follow the programme of study for one term or one full year. Through the Department of Political Science, students will have access to a wide range of weekly seminars, featuring distinguished external speakers as well as regular high profile events for policy makers and others. 

Courses

Students are able to choose from a list of core courses offered by the Department of Political Science (see below) as well as a range of suggested courses in political studies from other UCL departments including European Social and Political Studies (ESPS), Scandinavian Studies, The School of Slavonic and East European Studies, the History Department, etc.

Students must concentrate at least 50% of their courseload within the Department of Political Science. The remaining 50% may be taken outside of the Department of Political Science according to individual student interests. 

The Political Science and International Relations programme includes a range of suggested courses in addition to the core courses listed here and students who are admitted will be sent the full list in advance of their arrival. For a full course description as well as information about pre-requisites, students are referred to the entries for the individual teaching departments.

Terms

Students register for either one, two or three terms:

Fall Term students register for one term only: the autumn term. Fall Term only students cannot be assessed by the end of year examinations held during the summer term but should check with each relevant individual department to make sure that alternative assessment is possible (e.g. assessment by essay).

Spring Term students register for two terms, the spring and summer terms. Students attend classes during the spring term, whilst the summer term is dedicated to assessment including unseen written exams and the submission of coursework such as essays.

Full year students register for the full year. Students attend classes during the fall and spring terms, whilst the summer term is dedicated to assessment including unseen written exams and the submission of coursework such as essays.

Spring Term and Full Year students are expected to attend end of year examinations scheduled during the summer term, if applicable. All POLS modules have essay assessment components, with deadlines falling during the fall and spring terms as well as the start of the summer term.

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Structure

Students attending the Affiliate programme for one term are required to take courses totalling 60 credits (totalling 16 US credits or 30 ECTS credits). Students attending the Affiliate programme for one full academic year are required to take courses totalling 120 credits (totalling 32 US credits or 60 ECTS credits). This may be made up of a combination of 15 credit and 30 credit modules.

Students must select at least 50% of their module choices from within the Political Science Department.  

Intermediate Level Modules (L5)

• POLS0001 International Conflict and Cooperation (Fall or Spring Term)

• POLS0016 British Politics (Fall or Spring Term)

• POLS0032 Authority, Democracy and Resistance (Spring Term)

• POLS0033 Philosophy, Values and the Social Sciences (Spring Term)

• POLS0039 Global Economic and Social Rights (Fall Term)

• POLS0043 International Political Economy (Spring Term)

• POLS0065 Wars and Violence (Fall Term)

• POLS0074 Religion and Politics (Spring Term)

• POLS0076 American Government (Spring Term)

• POLS0079 Middle East Politics (Spring Term)

• POLS0088 Postcolonial and Critical Approaches to World Politics (Fall Term)

• POLS0090 Theories of Justice and Injustice (Spring Term)

Advanced Level Modules (L6)

• POLS0019 International Security (Fall Term)

• POLS0020 Politics of the European Union (Fall Term)

• POLS0021 International Development and Public Policy (Spring Term)

• POLS0022 Gender and Politics (Spring Term)

• POLS0023 Global Environmental Politics (Spring Term)

• POLS0027 Human Rights and World Politics (Spring Term)

• POLS0028 Welfare Politics (Spring Term)

• POLS0030 The Ethics of Crime and Punishment (Fall Term)

• POLS0035 Strategies of Terrorism (Spring Term)

• POLS0072 Spread of Conflict in International Relations (Spring Term)

• POLS0075 Democracy, Citizenship and Constitutions (Fall Term)  

• POLS0080 Migration, Politics and Policy (Spring Term)

• POLS0087 Contemporary Politics and Governance in Africa (Spring Term)

• POLS0091 Humanitarian Protection (Fall Term)

• POLS0092 America in the World (Spring Term)

• POLS0093 LGBTIQ Politics (Spring Term)

• POLS0094 Political Economy of East Asia (Fall Term)

• POLS0097 History of Political Thought (Spring Term)

• POLS0098 Latin American Politics (Fall Term)

• POLS0099 Politics of Nature (Fall Term)

• POLS0100 Global Justice (Spring Term)

• POLS0101 Environmental and Climate Justice (Fall Term)

• POLS0103 Historical Injustice and the Politics of Decolonization (Fall Term)

• POLS0104 Models and Evidence in Political Economy (Spring Term)

• POLS0105 Russia and the West: Conflicts and Interventions (Fall Term)

• POLS0108 Chinese Politics (Spring Term)

• POLS0109 Development in the Global Economy (Fall Term)

• POLS0112 Innovation: Political Economy and Policy Perspectives (Fall Term)

• POLS0113 Judicial Politics (Spring Term)

• POLS0114 Social Justice and Alternatives to Capitalism (Spring Term)

• POLS0115 The Ethics and Politics of Emotions (Fall Term)

 

Please make sure to check the UCL Module Catalogue (also linked above for each module) about possible pre-requisites for the modules.