Bachelor’s in International Relations

Bachelor’s degree in international relations

A solid analytic and critical understanding of global politics

The Bachelor’s Degree in International Relations is a comprehensive multidisciplinary programme that provides students with a solid analytical and critical understanding of international politics. The challenges involved in armed conflicts and peacekeeping, political violence and terrorism, economic growth and inequality, the environment, energy and migration lie increasingly beyond the regulatory scope of states and are raising a growing number of political and ethical issues for the future of the world. Global politics are so deeply embedded in historical, economic and legal structures, institutions and processes that they cannot be analysed from a single disciplinary perspective.

Overview

The goal is to develop students’ analytical and practical skills while providing them with an advanced understanding of global politics.

  • A multidisciplinary approach combining different perspectives preparing for further studies in multiple disciplines.
  • Primarily taught in English, this degree prepares students for the international job market and studies with an international outlook.
  • Combination of theoretical reflection and practical skills

Programme

This Bachelor’s Degree programme is designed to enrich the analysis of international relations through historical, legal and economic perspectives and in terms of development through specialised courses. It also proposes classes on political issues specific to certain regions of the world, such as the Middle East, Latin America and Southeast Asia.

In order to encourage students to succeed, various mechanisms have been put in place:

  • KHOLLES: This 30-minute oral examination generally includes a question from the course or a commentary on a text and is divided into three parts: presentation, discussion and debriefing.
  • TUTORING: Possibility to ask a teacher for a meeting in order to submit a problematic seen in class or to deepen questions related to teaching.
  • ROLE PLAYING: Theatrical situations conducive to oral expression during several courses, in particular EU Policy Making and Economic, Social & Political Ethics…

Career opportunities

The Bachelor’s degree in International Relations is a diploma at BAC +3 level (180 ECTS credits). It offers students the possibility of continuing their studies in France or abroad in a Master’s degree in several fields:

  • Institutes of political studies.
  • Journalism.
  • Communication.
  • International relations.
  • Social sciences.
  • Law.
  • Economics,
  • Urban planning.
  • Sustainable development.
  • Security.
  • Governance.
  • Agri-food.

Students can continue their studies by choosing one of the Masters offered at ESPOL:

They can also take the European, national and local civil service exams.

Damian RAESS

Professor of International Political Economy, Head of the Bachelor in International Relations

Course schedule

Semester 1

Semester 2

Semester 3

Semester 4

Semester 5

Semester 6

Core courses

Introduction aux relations internationales 24h 4 ECTS
Introduction à la science politique 24h 4 ECTS
          Travaux dirigés d’introduction à la science politique 16h 2 ECTS
          Khôlles 2 ECTS
Global History 24h 4 ECTS
          Travaux dirigés de Global History 16h 2 ECTS

Advanced courses

Introduction à la sociologie 18h 3 ECTS
Introduction à l’économie 18h 3 ECTS

Core skills

Professionnalisation 4h
Méthodologie du travail intellectuel et bases de l’argumentation 16h 1 ECTS
Ateliers de sensibilisation aux Violences Sexistes et Sexuelles 4h
LV1 30h 2 ECTS
LV2 16h 2 ECTS
LV3 15h 1 ECTS

Core courses

Introduction aux relations internationales 24h 4 ECTS
          Khôlle 2 ECTS
Histoire des idées politiques anciennes et modernes 24h 4 ECTS
         Séminaire de lecture 16h 2 ECTS
Introduction to Public International Law 24h 4 ECTS
          Introduction to Public International Law tutorials 16h 2 ECTS

Advanced courses

Economie politique 18h 3 ECTS
History of the 20th Century 18h 3 ECTS

Core skills

Journée européenne 10h /
Study trip 10h /
LV1 16h 2 ECTS
LV2 16h 2 ECTS
LV3 15h 2 ECTS

Core courses

Theories of International Relations 24h 4 ECTS
          Theories of International Relations tutorials 16h 2 ECTS
Histoire des idées politiques contemporaines 24h 4 ECTS
Epistémologie des sciences sociales 24h 4 ECTS

Advanced courses - Compulsory

Politics of International Law 18h 3 ECTS
International Political Sociology 18h 3 ECTS

Advanced courses - Optional (choose 1)

Area Studies: Middle East 18h 3 ECTS
Area Studies: Caucasus 18h 3 ECTS
History, Geography, and Globalization 18h 3 ECTS
Introduction aux études de genre 18h 3 ECTS
Sociologie de l’ethnicité 18h 3 ECTS
Sports and Politics 18h 3 ECTS
Lecture d’oeuvre : Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations 18h 3 ECTS
Lecture d’oeuvre : De la démocratie en Amérique, Alexis de Tocqueville 18h 3 ECTS
Lecture d’oeuvre : La littérature écrite par des politiques, de J. César à V. Havel 18h 3 ECTS

Core skills

Professionnalisation 10h /
Essay Writing Workshop 16h 1 ECTS
LV1 16h 2 ECTS
LV2 16h 2 ECTS
LV3 15h 2 ECTS

Unités fondamentales

Political Sociology 24h 4 ECTS
          Political sociology seminars 16h 2 ECTS
Comparative Politics 24h 4 ECTS
          Comparative politics tutorials 16h 2 ECTS
Theories of European Integration 24h 4 ECTS

Unités d'approfondissement - Cours obligatoires (1 au choix)

Vie politique française 18h 3 ECTS
Politics of European Identity and Culture 18h 3 ECTS
European Environmental Governance 18h 3 ECTS

Unités d'approfondissement - Cours électifs (2 au choix)

Analyse économique des décisions politiques 18h 3 ECTS
Experimental political science 18h 3 ECTS
Economie sociale et solidaire 18h 3 ECTS
EU trade policy 18h 3 ECTS
Formal Logic 18h 3 ECTS
Introduction aux sociologies de la déviance et de la pénalité 18h 3 ECTS
Littérature and trauma 18h 3 ECTS
MUN 18h 3 ECTS
Music and Politics 18h 3 ECTS
Qu’est-ce que le cosmopolitisme? 18h 3 ECTS

Compétences fondamentales

LV1 16h 2 ECTS
LV2 16h 2 ECTS
LV3 15h 1 ECTS

Core courses

Politics of Development 24h 4 ECTS
         Politics of Development tutorials 16h 2 ECTS
Comparative Politics 24h 4 ECTS
         Comparative Politics tutorials 16h 2 ECTS
EU External Action 18h 3 ECTS

Advanced courses - Compulsory (choose 1)

Security, Risk, Uncertainty 18h 3 ECTS
Borders, Mobility and Migration 18h 3 ECTS

Advanced courses - Optional (choose 2)

Advanced International Relations Theories 18h 3 ECTS
Cinéma et Relations Internationales 18h 3 ECTS
Political Philosophy of Migration 18h 3 ECTS
“Una historia comparada de la Península Ibérica, siglos XX y XXI: repúblicas, fascismos, Europa” 18h 3 ECTS
Images et scènes du politique : la souveraineté 18h 3 ECTS
Outer Space Law and Policy 18h 3 ECTS

Core skills

Professionnalisation 10h /
LV1 16h 2 ECTS
LV2 16h 2 ECTS
LV3 15h 2 ECTS

Core courses

Dossier de recherche 8 ECTS
Diplomacy, Negotiation, Mediation 24h 4 ECTS
         Diplomacy, Negotiation, Meditation tutorials 16h 2 ECTS
Trade and Sustainable Development 24h 4 ECTS

Advanced courses - Compulsory

Political Science Research Methods 18h 3 ECTS

Advanced courses - Optional (choose 2)

Global Health 18h 3 ECTS
South Asia, a World Region between Past and Present 18h 3 ECTS
Philosophie des droits de l’Homme 18h 3 ECTS
People Power: The Strategic Dynamics of Civil Resistance 18h 3 ECTS
Power and Ethnicity in Latin America 18h 3 ECTS
Système politique de la Russie 18h 3 ECTS
Histoire, Politique, Mémoire 18h 3 ECTS

Core skills

Journée européenne 10h /
LV1 16h 2 ECTS
LV2 16h 2 ECTS
LV3 15h 2 ECTS

The course schedules are not contractual and are subject to change at any time by the teaching staff.

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