International Relations and International Organization – (B.Sc.)

Contents

1st year

BA International Relations and International Oganization (IRIO)

The first year, the propaedeutic phase, will comprise introductory modules in the fields of international relations, law and economics. You will also start language acquisition modules in the foreign language of your choice. You will learn about the history of international relations, including the rise and fall of great power structures, the Concert of Europe, the League of Nations during the interwar years and the state of bipolarity during the Cold War. More contemporary issues will be dealt with in an introductory module on international politics. In addition, you will follow an introductory module in economics, providing you with an overview of how businesses and people take economic decisions and how the government can influence these decisions.

The Introduction to European and International Law module will focus on the law of international organizations and international public law. The Skills module will teach you how to search for literature, how to use reference works and how to refer to literature correctly. In addition, much attention will be paid to oral and writing skills and we will be using information technology. And last but not least, you will also start taking language acquisition modules in your language of choice: German, French, Spanish or you can further specialize in English.

2nd year

BA International Relations and International Organization (IRIO)

The second year will explore the fields of international relations, economics and law in greater depth. You will be following a module in policy and management to acquire knowledge of the functioning of state and society in a comparative perspective. Attention will be paid to political science, decision-making processes at national and international levels, government functioning and social influences on decision-making processes. The Theory of International Relations module will place the field of international relations in a theoretical and philosophical framework. This module aims to analyse the most important literature and ways of thinking.

Subjects discussed will include idealism, realism, structuralism and pluralism. The economics modules in this year will focus on the most important macroeconomic theories and the ways in which a government can achieve its macroeconomic goals. You will also study international trade and monetary issues. The European Law module will study the role and functioning of European international organizations and the law of the European Community and the European Union. In addition, you will complete your language acquisition modules in this second year.

3rd year

BA International Relations and International Organization (IRIO)

The final year of the Bachelor´s degree programme involves further deepening of your knowledge and understanding. You will follow an International Law module, which will discuss the law of nations and the law of international organizations. In addition, you will follow the course methodology in international relations which will provide you with an overview of different methodologies from a paradigmatic perspective. The course merely scrutinizes the pros and cons of competing views of international politics and how to understand these. You will also practise your international negotiating skills in the module on international negotiation.

Finally you will follow a core module, a tutorial that will examine a specific theme within the field of international relations through literature and source research. Students are able to specialize in one of the following topics: international political economics, international order and global governance, European cooperation and integration, security and theory of international relations. The core module is concluded by writing your Bachelor's thesis.

Optional Modules

In your third year you can also follow optional modules outside the IRIO degree programme. These optional modules can be anything you want, which means that you can follow modules from other degree programmes that dovetail with your interests and the field of international relations.