BA

International Relations and Climate Change (with integrated year in industry)

BA International Relations and Climate Change (with integrated year in industry) Code 37LF Register now for our Online Open Day - 27 November Register now for our Online Open Day - 27 November

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Key Facts

37LF

  • UCAS Tariff

    120 - 96

  • Course Length

    4 Year

Further details on entry requirements

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The planet is facing a climate emergency. Climate Change is the most significant and complex challenge to human social, political and economic systems. International Relations and Climate Change degree from Aberystwyth University is key to understanding this complexity and confronting this global crisis. From the individual to the global level action is urgently required. While individual contributions and efforts to save our planet are important, without local, national, regional and global cooperation and coordination the damage to our climate, environment and ecological systems cannot be slowed let alone reversed. Without states, international organisations, NGOs and social movements working together this existential global challenge cannot be effectively tackled.

Course Overview

Why should you study International Relations and Climate Change (with an integrated year in industry) at Aberystwyth University?

What are the obstacles to such cooperation? What possibilities are there to overcome them? These questions are at the heart of this innovative, incisive and intellectually stimulating degree scheme. The course provides a thorough and critical understanding of the interconnectedness of politics and international relations, climate change, the environment and natural resources, inequality and development, and cooperation and conflict. In particular this programme focuses on evaluating the nature of the climate emergency, its political, economic, social and ecological impacts, and the political, social, economic and human responses to it.

Students studying International Relations and Climate Change at Aberystwyth will:

  • Engage with and develop a distinct multidisciplinary approach to the international politics of climate change.
  • Analyse the causes and consequence of climate change and environmental degradation, especially from the perspective of international politics.
  • Reflect on ways that states and societies struggle with managing the planet’s resources and ecological systems and to develop effective political and societal solutions.
  • Examine links between climate change and other global challenges such as conflict, migration, inequality and governance.
  • Explore through simulations the experience of decision-making processes, negotiations and the politics surrounding contemporary climate governance.
  • Your year in industry is normally undertaken during the third year. Students are required to find their placements independently, but support is available within the Department and also from colleagues in the Careers Services.


Our Staff

Lecturers in the Department of International Politics are all research active and qualified to PhD level, and most also have a PGCHE.

Modules

Please note: The modules listed below are those currently intended for delivery during the next academic year and may be subject to change. They are included here to give an indication of how the course is structured.

Core

Module Name Module Code Credit Value
Climate Change and International Politics in the Anthropocene IP27020 20
Graduate Career and Professional Development CD20220 20
International Relations: Perspectives and Debates IP20120 20
The Governance of Climate Change: Simulation Module IP22320 20

Options

Module Name Module Code Credit Value
Britain and Ireland in War and Peace since 1800 IP28820 20
Capitalism and International Politics IQ22820 20
Climate Change Politics IP21420 20
Contemporary Sub-Saharan Africa: Key Issues Today IP20520 20
Contemporary Writing and Climate Crisis EN21120 20
Economic Diplomacy and Leadership IQ24320 20
European Security in 21st Century IP23620 20
Fear, Cooperation and Trust in World Politics IQ22920 20
Geographical Perspectives on the Sustainable Society GS28910 10
Geohazards GS22810 10
Global Inequality and World Politics IQ24120 20
Global Politics and the Refugee Regime IQ25520 20
International Politics and Global Development IP29220 20
International Politics and the Nuclear Age IP20420 20
Literature and Climate in the Nineteenth Century EN21220 20
NATO: From Cold War to Hybrid War IP23320 20
Nationalism in Theory and Practice IP29920 20
People and Power: Understanding Comparative Politics Today * IQ23920 20
Political Theory IP22220 20
Strategy, Intelligence and Security in International Politics IQ25120 20
The Arab-Israeli Wars IP21320 20
The British Army’s Image in Battle, from the Crimea to the Present IQ20920 20
UK Politics Today: A Union Under Strain? IQ23820 20
Warfare after Waterloo: Military History 1815-1918 IP25320 20
Women and Global Development IP29620 20

Core

Module Name Module Code Credit Value
Work Placement IPS1160 60

* Also available partially or entirely through the medium of Welsh

Careers

Graduates in this degree will be well-placed to pursue a career in climate change management, adaptation and mitigation, both in the UK and abroad. Additionally, they will be suited to careers in related areas, such as environmental education and consultancy or conservation. Many are likely to undertake further postgraduate study, either at Masters or Doctoral level.

Course Content

The breakdown below will provide you with an illustration of what you may study during the four year degree scheme.

What will I learn?

First Year:

  • Exploring the International: Central concepts and core skills
  • Globalisation and Global Development
  • Climate Change: Impacts, Perceptions, Adaptations
  • The Science of Climate.

Second year

  • The Governance of Climate Change: Simulation Module
  • International relations: Perspectives and debates.

During your third year, you will undertake your work experience placement.

Final Year:

  • Dissertation

On each year of the degree, and especially in your second and final years, you will study several optional modules. These may include:

  • International Politics in the Anthropocene
  • People, Progress, Environment: Theories and Histories of Environmental Politics
  • Refugee simulation
  • International Politics and Global Development
  • Global Inequality and World Politics
  • Global Politics and the Refugee Regime.


Typical Entry Requirements

UCAS Tariff 120 - 96

A Levels BBB-CCC

GCSE requirements (minimum grade C/4):
English or Welsh

BTEC National Diploma:
DDM-MMM

International Baccalaureate:
30-26

European Baccalaureate:
75%-65% overall

English Language Requirements:
See our Undergraduate English Language Requirements for this course. Pre-sessional English Programmes are also available for students who do not meet our English Language Requirements.

Country Specific Entry Requirements:
International students whose qualification is not listed on this page, can check our Country Specific Entry Requirements for further information.

The University welcomes applications from students studying the Access to Higher Education Diploma. Our inclusive admissions policy values breadth as well as depth of study. Applicants are selected on their own individual merits, and offers can vary. If you are studying a qualification not listed on this page, please get in touch with the Undergraduate Admissions Office for further advice. For further information, contact ug-admissions@aber.ac.uk

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