Undergraduate Programme Handbook
BA Global Politics and International Relations
2013-2014
Contents
Introduction to BA Global Politics and International Relations
Introduction
Useful contacts
Structure of the degree
Teaching arrangements
The dissertation
Break in Studies Policy and Withdrawal from a Module or Programme
Results
Repeating modules and intermediate awards
Introduction to the Department of Politics
History of the Department
Full-time academic staff
Emeritus and visiting staff
Professorial Fellows
Administrative Staff
Aims and objectives
The Centre for the Study of British Politics and Public Life
Location
Access
Department website
Departmental blog and twitter
Keeping in touch
Student Support and Disability Advice
Student Support
Study Support
English language support for non-native speakers
Disability Statement
The Disability Office
Access at Birkbeck
The Disabled Students Allowance
The Personal Assistance Scheme
Support in your School
Specific Learning Difficulties (Dyslexia)
Examinations
Further information
Annex
Disclaimer and useful links
Useful contacts
Criteria for the award of the degree
Introduction to the BA Global Politics and International Relations
Introduction
How did the contemporary international political and economic system come about? What is its future? This innovative course looks at the nature of politics at the global level and covers international relations, political economy, and war and security studies. You will gain the skills necessary for political, sociological, historical and economic analysis in a learning environment that is supportive, radical and exciting.You will also develop and practice skills of communication, presenting, analysing and evaluating social science evidence and arguments, and academic writing. If you choose to write a dissertation, you will develop an ability to conduct independent research.
Useful contacts
The programme director is DrAli BurakGüven
(Email:; Tel: 020 7631 6697)
Theprogramme administrator is Irene Breckon ()
Structure of the Degree
The BA Global Politics and International Relations programme is an Honours degreethat requires three years’ full-time or four years’ part-time study. All students must complete twelve modules during the degree.
- fivecompulsory modules;
- seven option modules; students may, in lieu of their seventhoption module, choose to submit a dissertation.
Part-time (Four Years) / Full-time (Three Years)
YEAR ONE
Introduction to Global Politics (Level 4)
The Study of Politics (Level 4)
Political Transformations (Level 5) / YEAR ONE
Introduction to Global Politics (Level 4)
The Study of Politics (Level 4)
Political Transformations (Level 5)
Level 5 option
YEAR TWO
Intro to Int. Political Economy (Level 5)
Two Level 4 options (out of The Evolution of
Int. System, Int. Organisations, Politics
of Identity, and The Practice of Politics) / YEAR TWO
Intro to Int. Political Economy (level 5)
Two Level 4 options (out of The Evolution of
Int. System, Int. Organisations, Politics
of Identity, and The Practice of Politics)
Level 5 or Level 6 option
YEAR THREE
War and Modern Society (Level 6)
Level 5 orLevel 6 option
Level 5 orLevel 6 option / YEAR THREE
War and Modern Society (Level 6)
Three Level 6 options or Two Level 6
options + dissertation
YEAR FOUR
Three Level 6 options or Two Level 6
options + dissertation
Level 4 options
• The Evolution of the International System
• International Organisations
• Politics of Identity, Culture and Conflict
• The Practice of Politics
Level 5 Options
• Contemporary British Politics
• Democracy and Authoritarianism
Level 6 Options
• Social & Political Theory
• The Politics of European Integration
• Food, Politics, and Society
• Capitalism and the Politics of Markets
• Parliamentary Studies
• Russian Politics and Society, 1905-Present
• American Politics and Foreign Policy
• British and Comparative Foreign Policy
• Politics and the Middle East
• Challenges in Contemporary Politics
• International Migration and Transnationalism
Final year students may take ONE of the following History options (subject to
availability):
• Empire in Comparative Perspective
• Colonial Encounters: Race, Identity, and Cultural Exchange in the British Empire
• The Russian Revolution
• The Reconstruction of Europe 1945-50
• The Ottoman Empire
• Ireland and the Irish from the Act of Union to Partition
• History of Paris
• The State and Sexuality in Twentieth Century Britain
Students are required to make their option module choices by the end of August. For full details about how to complete the BA options form, descriptions of the modules and timetables for Politics and History, please see:
Teaching Arrangements
All lectures and classes are held between 6.00pm and 9.00pm in the evening. Each module on the programme amounts to between thirty-forty hours of teaching (lectures and seminars). Each 30-credit level 5 and level 6 module meets one night a week during both the autumn and spring terms. Teaching on level 4 modules takes place over the course of a single term and for three hours per class. The degree involves attendance, on average, on two or three evenings a week for 20 weeks per year in part-time study, and four evenings a week for 20 weeks per year in full-time study. In Level 4 modules, students are often assessed throughout the semester via various assignments and tests. In Level 5 and Level 6 modules, students are examined at the end of the year and via coursework submitted during term time.
Dissertations
In the final year of study, and with the agreement of the Department, students may choose to submit a dissertation in lieu of one Level 6 option module. The dissertation, which must be between 8,000 and 10,000 words in length, offers an opportunity to research a subject in depth, and to prepare a substantial, argued piece of work.All BA dissertations must be submitted by May15th. Dissertations are to be submitted on Moodle and one hard copy must be presented to the Politics Departmental Office at 10 Gower Street between the hours of 10.00 and18.00.
Students who wish to do a dissertation rather than an option module must indicate so on their BA options form, which must be submitted by 31 August.
Once students have chosen to do a dissertation, they must submit a completed dissertation proposal form by 31 October. The purpose of this form is to identify a research topic for your dissertation on the basis of which you will be allocated a Dissertation Supervisor by the undergraduate dissertation coordinator, Dr Alejandro Colas ().
Dissertation proposal forms and full guidelines on writing an undergraduate dissertation are available from the Department of Politics website:
If you wish to do a dissertation you should contact your Programme Director in the summer term prior to commencement of the fourth year to discuss possible topics. You must then submit a dissertation proposal form to your Programme Director in the spring term (January) of your final year of study. This document can, in most, cases by submitted via the Moodle portal for your dissertation.
Dissertation proposal forms must be accompanied by a completed ethics proposal form to ensure that your dissertation meets Birkbeck’s rules on research ethics. Dissertation proposal forms and ethical proposal forms along with more detailed guidance on writing dissertations are available from the Department website:
Break in Studies Policy and Withdrawal from a Module or Programme
Withdrawing from a module
Students who wish to withdraw from the examination for a module should inform their Programme Director in advance of the examination. Students who do so without claiming mitigating circumstances that are then accepted by the Politics Exam Board will fail the module and be given two additional attempts to pass the module via re-take or reassessment (see section of repeating modules below). Students who withdraw from a module and claim mitigating circumstances that are approved by the Politics Exam Board will be offered either alternative assessment (see section of repeating modules below) or three additional chances to pass the module at the discretion of the Politics Exam Board. Please note that where a first-year, part-time student withdraws from a module, it falls to the Politics Exam Board to decide whether this module must first be passed before the student can proceed to the second year of study. For further details on mitigating circumstances, please see:
Withdrawing from your dissertation
Students who wish to withdraw from their dissertation must inform their Programme Director before the dissertation is due. Students who do so without claiming mitigating circumstances that are then accepted by their Programme Director will be given twoadditional attempts to pass. Students who claim mitigating circumstances that are approved by their Programme Director will be offered three remaining chances to pass the dissertation. Deferred dissertations can be submitted by 15 May (or the Friday before if 15 May is a Saturday or Sunday) or September 15 (or the Friday before if 15 September is a Saturday or Sunday) in the year following deferral.
For further details on mitigating circumstances, please see:
Break in Studies
College regulations permit a student to suspend studies for a maximum of two years in total during their programme of study. Please see your Programme Director and the Department Office if you are considering a break in studies. Further details on relevant College regulations can be found here:
Withdrawing from your programme
If for any reason you decide to withdraw from your degree on a permanent basis, we hope you will talk to us first. Students choose to withdraw for a wide range of reasons and it may be that we will be able to make arrangements to help you complete your course.
For further information, please see:
Please note that if you are requesting a refund, a medical certificate is required, where applicable. Please note that the reimbursement policy is as follows:
A student who withdraws 15 or more days after the start of the first term of study, or after they have completed enrolment (whichever is the later) is liable for payment of tuition fees for the first term of their intended study, and all subsequent terms up to and including the term in which they withdraw. Liability for tuition fees is divided equally across all terms of study (with the exception explained in 20 below), e.g. for study over three terms tuition fee liability is:
Term 12: 1/3 of total course fee
Term 2: 2/3 of total course fee
Term 3: All of total course fee
For full details, please see:
Results
When you submit coursework during the year you can usually expect to receive a mark and feedback within three weeks. All marks are provisional until they are approved by the Politics Exam Board, which meets in July of each year. Exam and dissertation results are released after the July meeting of the Politics Exam Board. These results will be made available to you via your My Birkbeck Profile ( but please note that it can take up to several weeks after the Exam Board meets until marks for all students are entered on this system.
Repeating modules and intermediate awards
If you fail a module you will be offered two additional attempts to pass the module. This second attempt will take the form of a ‘re-take’, ‘re-assessment’ or ‘alternative assessment’ at the discretion of the Politics Exam Board. A re-take requires attendance at the module’s lectures and seminars as well as another attempt at the assessment, whereas “re-assessment” is where a student attempts only the failed element(s) of a failed module. Alternative assessment allows a student to submit additional coursework in lieu of a second attempt at an exam and may be offered only in those cases where a student has applied for mitigating circumstances and this claim has been accepted by the Politics Exam Board. Any offer of alternative assessment is made only after a consideration of the student’s overall progression for the year and is not an automatic entitlement. For further details on mitigating circumstances, please see:
Intermediate awards can be offered by the Examinations Board when a student fails to complete the full requirements for the degree.
Qualification / Credits neededCertificate in Higher Education / 120
Diploma in Higher Education / 240
(including 120 at level 5 or above)
Introduction to the Department of Politics
History of the Department
Birkbeck College was founded in 1823 as the London Mechanics Institute, and was admitted as a constituent School of the University of London in 1920. Its mission is to provide programmes of study to meet the needs of adults who are engaged in earning their livelihood. Nearly 18,000 students studied at Birkbeck in 2010-2011 (4,683 undergraduates, 5,075 postgraduates, and 8,064 certificate students), the overwhelming majority (roughly 90%) of whom studied part-time.
The Department of Politics was founded in 1972. It initially offered inter-disciplinary degrees at the postgraduate level, but now also offers undergraduate and single subject programmes in Politics. Located at 10 Gower Street, it is one of seven departments in the School of Social Sciences, History and Philosophy. The Department currently has approximately 20 full-time members, several part-time lecturers, and a number of distinguished visiting Professors and Fellows. It teaches both part-time and full-time students. Classes are taught in the evening in fulfilment of the College’s mission.
Over the years, the Department has acquired a reputation for teaching and research of which it is justly proud. It is unusual among UK politics departments in two respects. Firstly, it is genuinely interdisciplinary, recognising no intellectual boundaries between politics, political history, political theory and sociology, and its degrees transcend these distinctions. Secondly, its primary teaching commitment remains the provision of top-quality undergraduate and postgraduate education to part-time students in full-time employment. Teaching and learning arrangements have been designed accordingly to meet their needs. The Department attracts a body of students whose diverse professional experience, personal backgrounds and maturity, mean that they bring to the classroom tremendous breadth and depth of knowledge, often in fields relevant to the subjects under study. This enriches the intellectual life of the Department for students and staff alike.
Full-time academic staff
Samantha Ashenden, BA (Kingston), MPhil (Cantab), PhD (Lond.)
Senior Lecturer in Sociology
Edwin Bacon, BA (Sheffield), MSocSc (Birmingham), PhD (Birmingham)
Reader in Comparative Politics
Antoine Bousquet, BSc (UCL), MSc (LSE), PhD (LSE)
Lecturer in Politics & International Relations
Rosie Campbell, BA, MSc (Southampton) PhD (Lond)
Senior Lecturer in Politics
Alejandro Colás, BSc (Bristol), MSc/MRes (LSE), PhD (LSE)
Senior Lecturer in International Relations
Diana Coole, BA (Wales), MSc (London), PhD (Toronto)
Professor of Political and Social Theory
DionyssisDimitrakopoulos BA (Athens), LicSpec (Brussels), PhD (Hull)
Senior Lecturer in Politics
Jason Edwards, BA (Oxon), MSc (Lond.), PhD (Lond.)
Lecturer in Politics
Ali BurakGüven, BSc, MSc (Middle East Technical University), PhD (Toronto)
Lecturer in International Relations and International Political Economy
Dermot Hodson BA (TCD), MA (College of Europe) and PhD (LSE)
Senior Lecturer in Political Economy
Eric Kaufmann, BA (U. Western Ontario), MSc/MRes (LSE), PhD (LSE)
Professor of Politics
Joni Lovenduski BSc, MA (Manchester), PhD (Loughborough)
Anniversary Professor of Politics
Deborah Mabbett, BA (Victoria University of Wellington), D.Phil (Oxon)
Professor of Politics, Head of Department
Robert Singh, BA (Oxon), DPhil (Oxon)
Professor of Politics
JorgSpieker MA (SOAS),MRes/PhD (KCL)
Lecturer in Political Theory
David Styan, BA (SOAS), DEA (University of Bordeaux), PhD (LSE)
Lecturer in Politics
Matthijs van den Bos, MA (University of Amsterdam), MA (Utrecht University), PhD (University of Amsterdam)
Lecturer in International Studies
Barbara Zollner, MA (Bonn), PhD (SOAS)
Lecturer in Islamic Studies
Ben Worthy BA, MA, PhD (Manchester)
Lecturer in Politics
Emeritus and visiting staff
Helen Bolderson
Hussein Kassim
Dr Sarah Childs
Peter John
Anne Showstack Sassoon
Sami Zubaida
Professorial Fellows
Tony Wright
Administrative Staff
Jane Halstead, Assistant School Manager
Irene Breckon, Team Leader
Nina Dartford, Administrator
James Harding, Administrator
For an up to date list of staff members, including sessional teaching staff, see:
Aims and objectives
The Department’s principal aims are:
- to enable mature students in full-time employment to undertake undergraduate and postgraduate study in Politics in fulfilment of the mission of the College;
- to enable students to develop and deepen their understanding of the conceptual and theoretical bases of the disciplines, their methods of inquiry, and their domains of knowledge;
- to offer students the opportunity to develop and deepen their skills of critical evaluation and analysis;
- to enable students to develop and extend their key skills as a foundation for personal development, employment or further academic study; and
- to contribute to the needs of local, national and international communities.
Against the backdrop of these objectives, all graduating students from the Department will:
- be able to demonstrate the ability to apply critically the main theories, models and concepts used in the study of politics to the analysis of political ideas, institutions, processes, practices, developments and events;
- have developed an understanding and substantive knowledge of political processes and/or social and political theory;
- have extended and developed their analytical, evaluative and critical capacities;
- have developed transferable skills, including the ability to take responsibility for their own learning, learning how to learn, making oral and written presentations, planning and producing written assignments, working independently, and using information technology; and
- have developed, where they complete a dissertation, the ability to undertake independent research.
The Centre for the Study of British Politics and Public Life
The Department of Politics is home to the Centre for the Study of British Politics and Public Life is based in the Department of Politics The Centre aims to engage with key issues in British politics and public life through public debates, conferences, lectures, seminars and seminar series, and workshops. For further details please see: