International Politics and Human Rights

Entry requirements

You should have a first or upper second-class honours (or equivalent) degree in politics, the social sciences, humanities or law. However, we also welcome applications from those with substantial experience in human rights organisations, NGOs, social services, journalism and other related sectors.

Months of entry

September

Course content

The International Politics and Human Rights programme is for students who want to explore international politics and human rights more widely and then drill down to specialise their knowledge. The MA is designed to give you the chance to create your own questions about the way the world works – and to shape arguments where you feel it doesn’t. These are some of the questions the course poses:

• Do human rights offer universal protections, or do they provide ideological cover for neo-imperialist powers?
• Can human rights provide protection to individuals in a way that supersedes the nation-state, or do they serve the interests of powerful states?
• Should human rights be concerned with the minimalist needs of security and subsistence, or should they aspire to grander visions of global justice?

This is a course where you will challenge your own point of view. We unpick the ideas that structure the way we understand the world, so we can identify how those understandings shape global events. We then focus on how the way we view things may, in itself, be ethically problematic.

International Politics and Human Rights is an evolving subject so you explore unique specialisms backed by real-world research. The department’s academics are actively shaping policy, sitting on the advisory board for the Corbyn shadow cabinet, hosting talks on the human right to housing in London, and engaging in study groups around the Obama presidency. This keeps the content of the course effective and current, giving you a contemporary lens from which to view rapid political change.