Programme Description
International Double Award
MA in International Relations & MA in Political Science
The Double Degree Program considers contemporary questions in Political Science, International Relations theory and practice. The accent is on critical consideration of traditional approaches to these disciplines. In the post-Cold War globalising world there is an increasingly apparent need for ever-more sophisticated ways of understanding the dramatic changes taking place. This programme addresses that need. This MA programme provides students with advanced training, by way of coursework and dissertation, in the general methods, scope, theories, and findings in the field of International Relations and Political Science. It builds on an undergraduate specialisation in the field of International Relations or a similar discipline; it gives a systematic preparation for original postgraduate research or for a demanding international career; and it constitutes a programme of training for those who have graduated in other fields and wish to transfer to International Relations. This version of the International Relations programme offers the opportunity to study at two prestigious universities: University of Kent and the Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs of the Higher School of Economics in Moscow and obtain two masters degrees. You spend the first year at Kent and the second year in Moscow. Courses in Moscow are taught in English with the option to take Russian language courses.
Educational Aims of the Programme
The programme aims to:
- provide a programme that will attract, and meet the needs of, those seeking advanced training in the discipline of International Relations;
- provide students with a research-active teaching environment which gives them a good grounding in the study of international relations, including its political, social, and economic aspects;
- examine how state, non-state and supra-national actors behave and interact through a dynamic appreciation of different levels of analysis;
- ensure that students acquire a solid knowledge of theories of international relations, the heritage and development of the discipline, its major debates, its inherent nature as an interdisciplinary study, and a critical appreciation of the essentially contested nature of politics in general and international relations in particular;
- ensure that students acquire an advanced understanding of the relationship between theoretical, methodological, and empirical content of the issue-areas studied;
- develop students’ general research skills and personal skills (transferable skills), in particular through a substantial dissertation
- provide an opportunity to study abroad in a different academic environment.
- contribute to students’ learning experience by offering them the opportunity to approach the study of International Relations and politics from the perspective of a different intellectual and cultural tradition
Programme Outcomes
The programme provides opportunities for students to develop and demonstrate knowledge and understanding, qualities, skills and other attributes in the following areas. The programme outcomes have references to the Subject Benchmarking Statement for Politics and International Relations.
A. Knowledge and understanding of:
- key historical and theoretical issues in international relations, together with familiarity with appropriate bibliographical sources;
- how to apply general theoretical and conceptual frameworks to the analysis of specific issues;
- how to design and conduct a research project demonstrating awareness of epistemological and methodological principles;
- the nature and distribution of power in the international systems; problems of political order; the social, economic, historical and cultural context within which international actors operate;
- the different kinds of actors on the international scene, their respective interests and influence in a range of issue-areas;
- key ontological, theoretical, and methodological problems of international relations;
- current challenges to international order, cooperation, identity, social formations, and global issues, and possible strategies to address them;
- the changing role of the state in the context of globalisation and regional integration and the implications for international peace and security;
- how to carry out an independent research project and write in a scholarly manner demonstrating familiarity with academic conventions
- advanced knowledge of International Relations and politics as approached in a different academic environment and from a different intellectual tradition.
Teaching/learning: The first stage of the programme consists of participation in six modules. Acquisition of all intended learning outcomes listed under 12.A is through a combination of lecture/seminars in compulsory and elective modules providing an opportunity to develop a critical engagement with political phenomena and knowledge in the discipline through lectures and/or small-group seminars.
Students write a dissertation of 12,000 words on an approved topic. The dissertation provides an opportunity for independent work, under supervision from academic staff enabling students to design and carry out a research project.
Assessment: Assessed through a combination of unseen written examinations, assessed coursework and project work.
Students spend their second year at Higher School of Economics following an approved programme of study. Students receive information and advice about their second year abroad in the form of a specific handbook. The curriculum for the second year is determined by the HSE with University of Kent’s approval.
Assessment: Assessed through a combination of written coursework, oral presentations and unseen written examinations and a dissertation.
Progress is monitored through small group work and the Personal Academic Support System. Assessment during the second year is determined by partner institution in consultation with the University of Kent.
B. Intellectual skills:
- general research skills, especially bibliographic and computing skills;
- gather, organise and deploy evidence, data and information from a variety of secondary and some primary sources;
- identify, investigate, analyse, formulate and advocate solutions to problems;
- develop reasoned arguments, synthesise relevant information and exercise critical judgement
- reflect on, and manage, their own learning and seek to make use of constructive feedback from peers and staff to enhance their performance and personal skills
- manage their own learning self-critically
- ability to perform effectively in another academic environment and a different linguistic and cultural setting.
Teaching/learning: Intellectual skills and general research skills are developed through the teaching and learning programme outlined below. Each module, whatever the format of teaching, involves the critical reflection on key themes, verbal discussion and the written analysis and interpretation of the relevant material. Lectures and/or staff-led seminars and project work promote the intended learning outcomes listed under 12.B. . Students are introduced to ways in which social-science perspectives can be employed to interpret a range of political issues. Lectures encourage a critical awareness of political phenomena and an appreciation of the diverse ways of interpreting them. The lectures provide students with an outline of the respective topic and focus on methodological as well as practical problems. In coursework and dissertation students are trained to develop their general research skills and to sustain methodological as well as substantive arguments.
Assessment: Intellectual skills are assessed through assessed coursework.
C. Subject-specific skills:
- understanding the nature and significance of international relations;
- applying concepts, theories and methods used in the study of international relations, the analysis of political events, ideas, institutions and practices;
- evaluating different interpretations of political issues and events;
- describing, evaluating and applying different approaches to collecting, analysing and presenting political information;
- developing a good understanding of the main epistemological issues relative to research in the social sciences, including some major theoretical and epistemological debates in the social sciences, such as explanation of and understanding the differences between positivist, realist and other accounts of social science and the practical implications of the major alternative philosophical positions in the social sciences for research;
- the epistemological implications of the use of alternative quantitative and qualitative methods in social science research in their fields of study;
Teaching/learning: All students receive initial guidance on how to identify, locate and use material available in the library and online resources. Comprehensive reading lists are provided for each module at outset, as are guidelines for the production of essays. Discussion of theoretical and conceptual issues are integrated into all modules. Students are encouraged to evaluate a comprehensive sample of political perspectives and texts.
All students receive training in philosophical and epistemological questions relating to the social sciences
Assessment: Discussion of issues, formative assessment of presentations in class; essays and projects; marks for essays, exams and, in some cases, individual seminar contributions.
D. Transferable skills:
Communication:
- communicate effectively and fluently in speech and writing (including, where appropriate, the use of IT);
- organise information clearly and coherently;
- use communication and information technology for the retrieval and presentation of information, including, where appropriate, statistical or numerical information;
Information technology:
- produce written documents;
- undertake online research;
- communicate using e-mail;
- process information using databases
