The module runs in two interrelated Streams, and students will take both.

In Stream 1, this module is designed to introduce students to the concepts, theories, and practices of Globalisation Then and Now through an internationalised overview of world political, cultural, social, and economic history, and to refocus contemporary debates on globalisation to the edges of the world system. This provides a critical approach to understanding globalisation as an historical process, and not a relatively new phenomenon. The module will introduce students to critical analysis of key phases in the evolution of world history in how human development over time has contributed to broader societal change through the discovery of new improving technologies on the one hand but has been a highly uneven process characterised by the unequal distribution of power, violence, discrimination and oppression on the other. The module questions Western and universalised approaches to understanding globalisation through an examination of Eastern and Southern-led processes and experiences. It provides an historical and contextually driven approach to contemporary questions surrounding issues of underdevelopment and global inequality, key features in understanding politics and international relations. Students will gain an understanding of global forces that are historically inscribed and approach globalisation through multiple lenses and perspectives. Content will include:

• Key theories of globalisation – World systems theory, dependency theory, and the use of multiple and layered international relations theories to understand globalisation
• Three key approaches to globalisation: Hyper-globalists, integrationists, transformationalists, regionalists
• World economic history: colonialism, colours and early capital
• Silk routes, fur trade, slave trade and early global transformation: Who paid for industrialisation?
• Industrialisation and deindustrialisation: the start of the ‘Great divide’
• South Pacific encounters with globalisation: the persistence of the gift in Polynesian globalisation
• Chinese globalisation: Confucian, communism, and copper
• Indigenous peoples in global perspective: On the margins of the world system
• South Asian forces of globalisation: sweatshops of the world or manufacturing centre of the world?
• Latin American perspectives on globalisation: coffee, Chavez and communism.

In Stream 2, students will explore What's in the News? 

Stream 2 is designed to empower students with the analytical and methodological tools required to comprehend how major global events are portrayed and re-presented in the media, news, documentary, film and academic texts. This module explores the intricate process of decoding, unpacking, and critically assessing the narratives and representations surrounding significant international occurrences, doing so methodologically, and placing these in context. The module emphasises understanding dominant and alternative framings, enabling students to question how and why certain perspectives are privileged.

Each week, students will engage with the theme of “What’s in the news?” to interpret, decode, and analyse current global affairs. Through this focus, students will enhance their ability to apply research methods, assess sources, and build arguments using documentary evidence, policy analysis, political speeches, and academic sources. This approach fosters essential skills in communicating ideas, critical thinking, and the broader methodological scholarship necessary for Global Affairs and International Relations. Students will learn to understand how to evaluate and use sources and foundational methods for the discipline.

Students on the Economics Pathway will undertake half of their content in Stream 2 focusing on Economics methods and materials.

History Wars will introduce you to the different ways people have conceived of History and the ongoing debates about what History is and how it should be done. During the module we will transform your perception of what History is and how we make History. By the end of the module you will be well on your way to becoming historians equipped to redefine History and who are trained in the skills and methodologies of cutting-edge, independent research.

Our Lectures will focus on key themes in the way History has been defined and on key issues at the heart of how we do History, such as the relationship between the past and History, the nature of historical truth, the status of sources, the idea of facts or events, and others, opening a wide range of perspectives.

Your Seminars will discuss focused contributions to debates on these themes and issues by particular historians, examining in depth through small group activities.

On completing this module you will emerge equipped with a broad knowledge and understanding to inform your analysis of historians writing about particular times and places on your optional modules and for your dissertation. Through the Seminars and smaller group discussions you will adjust to university, build community and lay a foundation in the transferable skills required across the course.

This module is designed to introduce students to both the theory and practice of economic thought from a global perspective. In the first half of the module students will examine the history of economic thought through tracing the progress of economic ideas over time and learn about the work of some of the most influential economists that have shaped global affairs. In the second half of the module students will apply these economic ideas and thinkers to specific country case studies and compare the economic systems and approaches in different regions of the world. Indicative content will include:

• Mercantilism, Physiocracy, Classical Economics, Marxist Economics, Neoclassical Economics, Keynesian Economics, The Austrian School
• Adam Smith, Thomas Malthus, David Ricardo, John Stuart Mills, Jeremy Bentham, Karl Marx, John Maynard Keynes, Alfred Marshall, Joseph Schumpeter, Milton Freedman, Joseph Stiglitz
• Market Capitalism, Communism, Transitional Economies, Developing Economies, New Traditional Economies
• USA, Japan, France, Sweden, Germany, Russia, Poland, Hungry, Yugoslavia, Slovenia, China, India, Mexico, Iran

In this module you will examine political ideas such as freedom, equality, justice and democracy that have shaped today’s world. You will develop knowledge of the major concepts and ideas underlying political thought which primarily emerged out of and are associated with western political traditions. These ideas will be unpacked and explored through key thinkers and case studies in this module from classical to contemporary political thought. Indicative ideas may include power and freedom, democracy and rights, equality and justice, individual and state, security and militarism, gender, sexuality and queerness, race and nation, and class and capitalism. Students will learn to critically analyse and apply these ideas in both institutional and organisational analyses and through case study scenarios.

Indicative case studies rooted in the European context may include movements such as Just Stop Oil, Black Lives Matter, and the #MeToo Movement. Global Surrogacy; security approaches such as UK Immigration policy; UK National Security policy; Global tobacco control; environmental justice such as UK Climate Coalition; Just Stop Oil; or Fracking.

Indicative institutions within the European context include government and political institutions and European institutions, elections, political parties and interest groups, constitutionalism, bureaucracy and public service, policy-making, civil society and social movements.

You now have the opportunity to pick an optional module to learn a new language or build on your existing language skills as part of your degree. You can choose:

• Subsidiary Language for Beginners (choice of German, Italian or Spanish)
• French: Intermediate Language Development
• Spanish: Intermediate Language Development
• Chinese: Intermediate Language Development
• German: Communication in Practice
• French: Communication in Practice
• Spanish: Communication in Practice