Prospectus

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International Relations: International Studies

Master

This one-year Master of Arts in International Relations, specialisation International Studies offered by the Faculty of the Humanities of Leiden University, discusses the pivotal theoretical and practical issues in international politics today, thereby providing students with the contextual knowledge and the analytical abilities to study and comprehend the diversity and the complexities of our rapidly changing world. International Studies takes a special interest in the encounter, the interactions between global and national ideas, cultures, and policies.

The programme consists of one core course in each semester as well as a methods course, a preparatory class on writing a thesis (thesis seminar) and the writing of the thesis itself. The remaining 20 EC can be acquired by choosing electives or an internship.

All students have to apply for admission, see mastersinleiden

Courses

Course EC Semester 1 Semester 2

FIRST SEMESTER
Corpus I, Core Course: Ideas and Beliefs in International Relations 10
Thesis Seminar (International Relations) First Semester 5
Methods in International Relations Research 5
MA Thesis (International Studies) 10

Kies 10 ec uit de volgende:
A History of the United Nations 10
Asia through Consumption 10
BRIC: emerging powers and changing global relations 10
China's International Political Economy 10
Critical Approaches to Heritage Studies 5
Cultures of Resistance in the Post-colonial World 5
Cultures of Resistance in the Post-colonial World 10
Ecology in East Asia: Past and Present 10
Economic Development and Social Change in Southeast Asia 10
Economic Development and Social Change in Southeast Asia 10
From Inkwell to Internet: Text and Transmission in the Muslim World 10
Histories of Southeast Asia 5
Interculturality 1: Key Concepts 10
International Politics of Russia and Eurasia 10
Introduction to Asian Studies 5
Literature and Politics in the Persian-speaking World 10
Modern China: Political Participation in China 10
Political Economy of Contemporary Japanese Capitalism 10
Politics of Culture in Southeast Asia 5
Politics of Culture in Southeast Asia 10
Sharia in the West 10
Sociology of Japan 10
The International Politics of Nuclear Proliferation in the Middle East 10
Theories and Methods of Middle East and Islamic Studies 2 10
The Ottoman Empire and Turkey (1908 - 1945) 10
The Politics of Culture in North Korea 10
The State in Modern Chinese History 10
Internship MA International Studies 10

SECOND SEMESTER
Corpus II, Core Course: Areas and Policies 10
Thesis Seminar (International Relations) Second Semester 5
Methods in International Relations Research 5
MA Thesis (International Studies) 10

Kies 10 ec uit de volgende:
A History of Twentieth Century International Relations 10
Anthropology of Muslim Societies 10
Chinese Modern History 10
Colonial Modernity and Gender in Korean Literature and Film 10
Connecting Dreams: Europe in Africa, Africa in Europe 10
Contemporary Indian Politics 5
Contemporary Indian Politics 10
Crime and Criminal Justice: East Asian Perspectives 10
Democratizing Histories: Asia and the World 5
Democratizing Histories: Asia and the World 10
Developments in the Modern Middle East 10
Environment and Development 5
Environment and Development 10
International Political Economy of the Middle East 10
Interculturality 2: The Global Imagination 10
Justice, Reconciliation, Collective memory and the Creation of Shared Historical Narratives in Post-Conflict Regions 10
Latin American Foreign Policy 5
Neoliberalism and Illegality: Flows, Commodities, Locations 10
New Diversities in Asia 10
Political Economy of Southeast Asia 5
Political Economy of Southeast Asia 10
The Cultural Revolution(s) of China 10
The Formation of Contemporary Turkey: Kemalism and Its Competitors 10
The Rise and Decline of American Empire 10
Theories and Methods of Middle East and Islamic Studies 3 10
Internship MA International Studies 10

More info

Objectives
Structure
Contact information

Objectives

International Studies discusses the pivotal theoretical and practical issues in international politics today, thereby providing students with the contextual knowledge and the analytical abilities to study and comprehend the diversity and the complexities of our rapidly changing world. International Studies takes a special interest in the encounter, the interactions between global and national ideas, cultures, and policies.

Structure

The programme consists of two semesters, each consisting of 30 EC. In the first semester students follow two courses of 5 EC each and two courses of 10 EC each. In the second semester students take two more 10 EC-courses and write their Thesis (10 EC).

In the first semester all students take the course ‘Corpus I, Core Course’ (10 EC). This course discusses the theoretical and the empirical dimensions of critical political and social concepts, ideas and beliefs in the spatial and temporal context of current global politics.
In addition to this common course, students take the Methods course (5 EC), the Thesis Seminar (5 EC) and choose one course from a list of electives (10 EC).

In the second semester all students take the course ‘Corpus II, Core Course’ (10 EC). This second core course seeks to challenge this ‘Western bias’ in International Relations by critically exploring a range of contemporary issues across a number of areas or regions from the vantage point of ‘non-Western’ theoretical positions. In so doing, this core course challenges students to cultivate a truly international mindset that is culturally aware and can generate more effective policy in the future.
Furthermore, students choose one course from a list of electives (10 EC) and write their Thesis (10 EC).

For students starting in the Spring Semester the programme looks slightly different:
In the first semester, students take ‘Corpus II, Core Course’; the Methods course, the Thesis Seminar and they choose one elective.
In the second semester, students take ‘Corpus I, Core Course’, they choose one elective and write their Thesis.

Contact information

For more information, contact the Co-ordinator of Studies