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International Relations: International Studies

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.

Please note that there may be additional entry requirements for electives that are offered by other departments, and that the number of places available for MAIS students might be limited.

All students have to apply for admission, see mastersinleiden

Courses

Vak EC Semester 1 Semester 2

FIRST SEMESTER

Corpus I, Core Course: Ideas and Beliefs in International Relations, major Concepts across Time and Space 10
International Relations Thesis Seminar 5
Methods in International Relations Research 5
MA Thesis (International Studies) 10

Choose 10 EC from the following. Please note that there may be additional entry requirements: these can be found in the course descriptions.

A History of the United Nations 10
BRIC: emerging powers and changing global relations 10
China's International Political Economy 10
Crime and Criminal Justice: East Asian Perspectives 10
Cultures of Resistance in the Post-colonial World 5
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
History and Politics in Africa 5 / 10
Interculturality 1: Key Concepts 10
International Politics of Russia and Eurasia 10
International Security 10
Le français des affaires 10
Literature and Politics in the Persian-speaking World 10
Modern China: Political Participation in China 10
Nation, State and Security in Post-war Japanese Political Thought 10
Politics of Culture in Southeast Asia 5
Sharia in the West 5
Sociology of Japan 10
Theories and Methods of Middle East and Islamic Studies 2 10
The Middle East in the International Political Economy 10
The Ottoman Empire and Turkey (1908 - 1945) 10
The Politics of Culture in North Korea 10
The State in Africa 10
The State in Modern Chinese History 10
Transnational Entrepreneurship in Southeast Asia 10
Violent Non-state Actors in International Affairs 10
Internship MA International Studies 10

SECOND SEMESTER

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

Choose 10 EC from the following. Please note that there may be additional entry requirements: these can be found in the course descriptions.

Anthropology of Muslim Societies 10
Asia through Consumption (twice a week, until March) 10
Collective Memory: A Shared Historical Narrative in Reconciliation 10
Confucianism, Idealism and Power in East Asia's Past and Present 10
Contemporary Indian Politics 5
Democratizing Histories: Asia and the World (twice a week, until March) 10
Developments in the Modern Middle East 10
Human Rights Discourses on North Korea 10
Interculturality 2: The Global Imagination 10
Internationalism, Empire and the Cold War: 20th Century International Relations 10
Latin American Foreign Policy 5
Master Brazilian Chair 2016 (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa: Structural Change and Innovation from a Brazilian perspective) 5
Nation States and Great-power Rivalry in the Middle East: from World War I to the Cold War 10
Neoliberalism and Illegality: Flows, Commodities, Locations 10
Creativity and Culture in Contemporary China 10
Political Economy of Southeast Asia 10
Researching Authoritarianism: the Politics of Conflict, Violence, and Genocide 10
The Cultural Revolution(s) of China 10
The Postcolonial Empire: Race, Gender, and Power in World Politics 10
Theories and Methods of Middle East and Islamic Studies 3 10
The Rise and Decline of American Empire 10
Internship MA International Studies 10

Meer 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 the ‘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