This module provides students with the broader theoretical basis on which much of the rest of their chosen programme of study, irrespective of chosen pathway, will rest. Its core theoretical content covers theories and issues which are mainstream within the study of international politics.

This module explains and explores the place of research within UK Higher Education and the parameters and key principles that apply to its conduct.  This module also equips you with the knowledge and skills necessary to carry out postgraduate level research and gives you the opportunity to take the first steps toward doing this in the form of producing a research plan for a Masters Project.

This project can take one of three forms – a Dissertation; a Research Report; or a Research Paper and Presentation. It is designed to engage students in the process of knowledge creation as the pinnacle or ‘capstone’ of your Master's degree, with your project topic and format linked to the module choices and degree award you wish to pursue. 

This module focuses on the manner in which issues of sustainability can trigger conflict. In its common content and block options, the module examines how a broad range of issues (e.g. climate change, deprivation of political and religious rights, infringements on cultural or person identity) serve to threaten individual, group and/or state security and how, in doing so, they trigger or exacerbate division, conflict, and ultimately violence and war.

This module focuses on the manner in which many social, political, and personal issues require us to draw upon moral philosophy and ethics in order to interpret, explain, and perhaps even resolve them in action. You'll examine a broad range of social, political, and personal questions using ‘applied ethics’ and ‘classic’ ethical theories, and explore the relationship between ethics and action. Building on this foundation, you may cover issues ranging from punishment to civil disobedience, animal rights, and intersectionality.

Discover how political ideas shape the practices of government and examine how a broad range of questions, authors, texts, arguments, and concepts have contributed to diverse interpretations of the political world, and plans to change it.

By exploring key debates, authors and ideas in political theory, you'll be encouraged to think about the nature and role of ideas, interpretation, and argument in the world of government and politics. Building on this foundation, you may cover issues ranging from the nature, origins, and purposes of the state to rights, representation, and freedom.

Few people can be unaware of the significance that is now attached to the need to find ‘sustainable’ solutions to the problems which humankind, and the planet more widely, now face. Fewer still would speak out against sustainability. But the concept is far more problematic than we might like to think and it is replete with internal contradictions. Electric cars, for instance, may have a lower carbon footprint, but the technologies on which they depend require the use of rare earth metals the extraction of which is itself environmentally destructive. This module examines how we might navigate such issues and how big a part policies of cooperation can play in this

This elective module will provide students with the essential study skills and research methods required to enable them to successfully complete their programme of study. Examples of content include:

• Time management
• Library skills
• Class engagement
• Understanding source material
• Academic writing
• Critical writing
• Reflective writing
• Good academic practice and referencing
• A basic introduction to research ethics
• Assessment preparation