Welcome to the Department of Politics and International Studies!

The Department of Politics and International Studies at Hull is one of the foremost Political Science departments in the UK. At its November 2003 ceremony, the Political Studies Association acknowledged our contribution to the discipline by giving all four ‘Life Time Achievement in Political Studies’ awards to academics connected with the Department. In the most recent Research Assessment Exercise the Department received a score of 5A denoting the international excellence of the research undertaken by our members of staff. The near perfect score of 23 out of 24 awarded by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) reflects our reputation for providing teaching and learning environment of the highest calibre.

The Department’s main areas of expertise are in the fields of international relations, security studies, legislative studies, the politics of the European Union, political economy, globalisation and global governance, and political theory. Research in these areas is underpinned by eight Research Centres or Research Groups.

The breadth of expertise enables the Department to offer seven single honours and three joint honours Undergraduate degrees, ten Postgraduate degrees and a successful and well renowned doctoral programme.

Graduates from these programmes are highly employable. More than 100 Hull Politics graduates work in Westminster and Whitehall, a concentration that has led to them become known affectionately in political circles as the Hull Mafia. For those who are seeking work experience (placement) as part of their studies we offer our well established British Politics and Legislative Studies degree which includes one year working in Westminster as an MP’s research assistant. In addition, all single honours students are eligible to apply for our Internship Scheme. This enables selected final year students to spend one semester of their final year in a location relevant to their degree programme.