Program Overview

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Certificate in Politics and International Studies

Key Information

Duration

One year

Start of Programme

September

Attendance Mode

Full-time

Location

On campus

Fees

• Home: £9,535
• International: £22,870

Entry Requirements

The minimum entry requirement is the ability to demonstrate the potential to study at undergraduate level. However, programmes may have their own specific requirements, such as, in the case of language-based studies, a proven ability to learn a language.

Course Overview

This one-year course provides a substantive and comprehensive introduction to the politics of Africa, Asia and the Middle East. It is designed for two types of students:

• Those keen to pursue a Masters degree but who do not have a background in the relevant subject area, and who seek academic foundations for more advanced studies.
• Professionals or mature students with an interest in furthering their knowledge of (international) politics, but who do not wish to embark on a full three-year undergraduate degree, or a Masters degree.

Structure

Students have to take 120 undergraduate credits from those that are available to full-time undergraduate students, with whom they also attend lectures and tutorials. Course expectations are the same as for full time students (attendance, coursework, essays, annual examinations, etc). Passing the certificate at an upper second class standard is normally deemed to make a student eligible for the taught Master's degrees offered by the Department of Politics and International Studies at SOAS.

Students normally choose 60 introductory credits and 30 EACH from the Disciplinary and Regional units.

Introductory Units

• Introduction to Political Analysis - 30 credits This module provides a general introduction to methods of political analysis. It covers such areas as philosophy of social science, scientific methods, theoretical and methodological debates and skills key to critical reading, writing and analysis.
• Introduction to Comparative Politics - 30 credits This course covers major concepts and theories in the study of Comparative Politics, and offers empirical analyses of the government and politics in a select group of countries.
• Introduction to International Relations - 30 credits This module provides a general introduction to the discipline of International Relations and to major themes in world politics.
• Introduction to Political Economy - 30 credits This module moves through four stages, exploring big scene setting questions, conceptual tools, the building of capitalism, and dissecting hot current issues.

Regional Units

• Government and Politics of the Middle East - 30 credits This module serves as an introduction to the politics of Egypt, the Arab East (Mashriq) including the Gulf and the Arabian Peninsula, Israel, Turkey and Iran.
• The State and Politics in Africa - 15 credits This module focuses on the domestic politics of sub-Saharan Africa since Independence and particularly the question of the state.
• Government and Politics of China - 30 credits This module will impart a solid grounding in the dynamic evolution of the Chinese state and Chinese nationalism.
• International Relations of East Asia - 15 credits This course is designed to provide students with a theoretically informed and comparative introduction to key issues in the contemporary international relations of East Asia.
• International Relations of South Asia - 15 credits This course will give students a broad and comprehensive introduction to this subject, exploring inter-state relations in the South Asian region.
• International Relations of the Middle East - 30 credits This module examines the international politics of the Middle East.
• International Relations of Africa - 30 credits This course examines the international politics of sub-Saharan Africa since Independence.

Disciplinary Units

• Political Parties and Elections - 15 credits This module introduces electoral and party politics in modern democracies.
• Politics of Nationalism - 15 credits This module introduces students to key concepts, definitions, frameworks, and approaches prevalent in the study of nationalism.
• Performance and Politics - 15 credits This module focuses on the variety of ways in which performance is enacted in politics.
• Politics of Development - 15 credits This course examines the effects of political factors on economic development in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.
• War and the International - 15 credits This module introduces students to the phenomenon of war and demonstrates its ubiquity across time and space in human affairs.
• Religion and World Politics - 15 credits This course seeks to provide a more holistic approach to the role of religion in contemporary world politics.
• International Institutions and World Politics - 15 credits This module broadly surveys the major concepts, theories, and debates within the field of International Relations and cognate disciplines to study the role of international institutions in world politics.

Teaching and Learning

Most of our modules are taught through a combination of lectures and tutorials. Lectures (50 minutes) provide broad overviews of the topic. They are accompanied by tutorials (50 minutes) that give students the opportunity to discuss readings and key issues in small groups.

By the end of the programme students will have acquired a range of transferable skills. This includes the ability to collect and synthesise information, read and evaluate complex materials, assess the evidence for a range of different positions, construct arguments, exercise independence of judgement and communicate effectively both orally and in writing.

Learning Resources

Students also benefit from the vibrant learning environment SOAS provides more broadly. The SOAS Library is one of the world's most important academic libraries for the study of Africa, Asia and the Middle East, attracting scholars from all over the world. Moreover, every year there is a lively events programme that attracts renowned speakers from around the world, allowing students to engage with cutting edge debates on contemporary politics.