Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in International Relations and Politics

at Keele University United Kingdom

As a student on the programme, you will benefit from our research expertise and our links with industries that provide the foundation for work placement opportunities. All students on this MSc will undertake a 30 week placement with an industrial context, either in Keele University’s laboratories or at the industrial partner’s premises, which will ultimately boost your employability skills.

The focus of this master's degree is very much on each student acquiring the scientific knowledge, the technical skills and the wide range of professional skills to enable them to start their career working with confidence in an industrial or international laboratory context.

This one-year master’s programme (if full-time) aims to provide highly employable graduates who not only have a broad education in analytical sciences but also in the industrial context (commercial awareness and IP matters; science and technology transfer; entrepreneurship), together with a theoretical and practical understanding of the selected analytical techniques used in industry.

In today’s globalised, highly competitive world, experts have predicted marketers, writers and salespeople will be among the most
in-demand jobs of the next decade – with skills in content  creation and curation, social media strategy, digital marketing and analytics the most sought-after.

In an increasingly globalised economy, almost all businesses operate internationally. Trade, investment and finance cut across national boundaries and are governed by a complex web of transnational laws and regulations. As a result, the demand for professionals with a rich understanding of how law and business operate at a global level continues to grow. This LLM in International, Commercial and Business Law offers students with undergraduate qualifications in Law or Business the opportunity for advanced study in both disciplines and prepares them for the challenges of advising companies, governments and other institutions on issues such as the regulation of international trade, foreign investors' rights, and international litigation. 

The goal of medicinal chemistry is to support the search for new drugs to treat conditions such as heart disease and cancer. You’ll work in well-equipped laboratories, and learn to conduct effective independent research, and explore complex chemical and biological processes involved in the design and manufacture of drugs and other therapies for treating disease. You’ll develop essential skills for employment, such as problem solving, presentation and communication.

Taking Physics as part of a Combined Honours degree, will allow you to explore the subject fundamentals, including quantum mechanics, relativity and electromagnetism, and apply this knowledge to solve problems, plan investigations, analyse results and to report and present your work.

You’ll use mathematics to describe the physical world, and learn to plan and conduct investigations before reporting your results. Your course will be informed by the research interests of your teaching staff and laboratory sessions will enable you to investigate unfamiliar phenomena and acquire specialist techniques.

Studying Single Honours Psychology and Education is perfect if you are interested in the social and cognitive aspects of learning and studying.

While the Psychology modules focus on cognitive, developmental and social psychology, Education modules complement this by emphasising their policy or school-based applications. You will be able to study both quantitative and qualitative research techniques. Together these subjects provide a great opportunity to gain in-depth understanding of psychology in action, in a vitally important aspect of life and society.

On this course you will study a range of educational topics which may include the nature of learning, childhood and educational inclusion, as well as the history of education. You will also explore a range of psychology topics concerned with the systematic investigation of mind and behaviour. Many areas in psychology are relevant to education including developmental psychology, social psychology, cognitive psychology and applied psychology. This course is informed by cutting-edge research and will develop your own critical thinking and research skills. 

The programme's interdisciplinary approach to understanding some of the world’s most pressing problems means you’ll study a wide range of subjects, including the social sciences, arts, humanities and the natural sciences. We adopt an innovative approach to teaching, for example, previous students have engaged in 'living labs' where students have explored local issues and their potential solutions through field trips.

You will have the opportunity to apply knowledge and generate evidence and understanding by engaging with living communities and landscapes. Students will pursue hands-on research into Britain’s industrial, social, economic and cultural history as well as current/future-oriented issues which may include economic regeneration, social and political challenges and environmental sustainability, citizenship and creativity with opportunities for learning analytical, communication, presentational, writing and research skills. Whilst hosted in the School of Social, Political and Global Studies, Liberal Arts is closely associated with the Institute of Liberal Arts and Sciences (ILAS). As part of ILAS, our Liberal Arts students are encouraged to engage fully in the Institute's lively events programme, including the Grand Challenges Lectures series, interdisciplinary workshops, discussion groups and research seminars.

You will study educational topics such as the nature of learning, the history of education, and educational policies and practices that aim to promote inclusion and social cohesion. Studying Education at Keele, either on its own or with another subject, will help you explore the many ways that education can change and effect modern society.
The course further examines topics such as changing ideas around childhood and learning, digital technologies, citizenship, race, play, work, the political nature of schools, and the impact of poverty on both the results and experience of education.
You may also have opportunities to explore these issues abroad by doing an International Year, which can lead to an enhanced degree title in BA (Hons) in Education with International Year.

This course broadly follows the Single Honours Psychology modular structure with additional modules focusing on counselling theories, skills and personal development, delivered by School of Psychology staff with expertise in Counselling and Counselling Psychology.

The psychological content of the course will develop your critical thinking and research skills with an emphasis on how psychology impacts on everyday life. You will learn how to design and conduct your own psychological studies in our well-equipped labs using a range of quantitative and qualitative techniques. Our students graduate ready to use their psychology skills and knowledge to make a real difference.

The Counselling element of the course guides you in exploring concepts and debates in counselling, as well as developing practical skills in effective listening, communication, self-reflection and the theory of person-centred counselling.

Please note the course is not a practising qualification but provides the first steps towards becoming a Chartered Psychologist or Counselling Psychologist. It will help students meet the entry requirements for the MSc in Counselling and Psychotherapy at Keele or elsewhere.

Keele takes a broad approach to biology, examining the diversity of life and its evolution from the geological past. You’ll consider a range of engaging biological topics which may include the  complexity of biological processes and mechanisms at molecular, cellular, organismal and ecosystem levels, philosophical and ethical issues. You’ll develop your practical skill set through a range of activities which may include sampling, recording and analysing data in the field and in our well-equipped labs.

Through your study of computer science, you’ll learn to use technology to create new opportunities and to solve a wide range of problems, benefiting every aspect of society from the home to business, government and beyond. You'll consider how biology and computer science have influenced each other, as is evident from the success of evolutionary algorithms, which you may explore through topics which could include Natural Computation and Computational and Artificial Intelligence.

On this course, you’ll be studying life at the molecular level, investigating the most exciting areas of contemporary life science and medical research. You might explore the secrets of the human genome, or the individually tailored molecular therapies of the future.

Particular emphasis is placed on human and mammalian biochemistry, especially relating to health and disease. This Single Honours course includes more Biochemistry modules and also includes choices from a pool of elective modules (either directly related or free choice). You also have the opportunity to do a work/industrial placement year between the second and third year, making it a four year degree.