International Relations University of Southampton

Overview

With the International Relations BSc course at the University of Southampton you'll learn about the foreign and security policies of the major players in world politics. You'll study principal institutions such as the United Nations and World Trade Organization (WTO).

You'll develop your critical thinking, and enhance your analytical and research skills, which are highly valued by employers.

You can also choose from a range of topics with a range of optional modules. For example, you can focus on the politics of the UK, the EU or the US, or study modules in criminology, economics or ethics.

As part of your degree you can:

• study global issues, like arms control, security, migration, and how they apply to different regions
• take part in public engagement activities and optional field trips to Whitehall and Westminster
• study abroad in Europe, the Far East or North America
• gain work experience with a year-long placement in industry

You'll develop transferable skills such as:

• effective oral and written communication
• problem-solving
• data analysis
• independent thought

Career Opportunities

Employability is embedded into modules from the first year onwards and right from the first lecture. 

The skills you will acquire are in high demand. Our degrees are a passport to vocational and non-vocational careers alike, with recent graduates employed in parliament, banking, media, the public sector, the armed forces and international organisations. Many also progress to higher degrees and then to lectureships and professorships in universities in the UK and overseas.