Program Overview

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Impatient to deepen your political understanding? Our BA Politics with Criminology will allow you to study a wide variety of topics, from questions of power, representation, and distributional justice in democracies, the political underpinnings of economic development in countries of the Global South, to international phenomena such as migration, trade and conflict. At the same time you will acquire knowledge of the criminal justice system in Britain, explore foundational criminological ideas, and be able to learn about current debates in crime and control. This course will provide you with analytic skills to understand a variety of political actors; including social movements, political parties, governments, and non-government organizations. Alongside this criminology gives you insights into the workings of the criminal justice system. Areas that you can expect to explore include, but are not limited to:

• Concepts in political science: state, laws, wars and political parties
• International relations
• Democratic systems and political power
• Theories of crime and control
• Gender, ethnicity, and global dimensions of crime and control
• International state crime and human rights

Based in our Department of Government , one of the most prestigious in Europe, with an outstanding record of teaching, research and publication, you will also enjoy teaching from our Department of Sociology , one of Essex’s founding departments. At Essex you’ll benefit from an interdisciplinary approach to teaching with a global approach. Why we're great.

• We have always been the highest-rated politics department in the UK (REF 2014, mainstream universities, THE 2014)
• We have the only Regius Professor in Political Science in the UK, an honour conferred by the Queen
• We're ranked 6th in the UK for criminology (Guardian University Guide 2021)

Study abroad

Your education extends beyond the university campus. We support you in expanding your education through offering the opportunity to spend a year or a term studying abroad at one of our partner universities. The four-year version of our degree allows you to spend the third year abroad or employed on a placement abroad, while otherwise remaining identical to the three-year course. Studying abroad allows you to experience other cultures and languages, to broaden your degree socially and academically, and to demonstrate to employers that you are mature, adaptable, and organised. If you spend a full year abroad you'll only pay 15% of your usual tuition fee to Essex for that year. You won't pay any tuition fees to your host university.

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Placement year

Alternatively, on a placement year you gain relevant work experience within an external business, giving you a competitive edge in the graduate job market and providing you with key contacts within the industry. You will be responsible for finding your placement, but with support and guidance provided by both your department and our Employability and Careers Centre. A Placement-Linked Project module is also available as an alternative to the dissertation module in your third year. You attend shorter placements (a minimum of 150 hours in total), and use your learning on placement to inform a research project; fantastic work experience for your CV. If you complete a placement year you'll only pay 20% of your usual tuition fee to Essex for that year.

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Our expert staff

Some of the biggest names in the field work at Essex, giving you unparalleled access to some of the best minds in politics. Our staff are advising the CIA on counter-terrorism, training politicians and civil servants in democratising countries, and commentating on political events in national and international media. Our academic staff work on topics ranging from international conflict and violence to British elections, and from the obligations of the younger generation to why authoritarian leaders welcome natural disasters. You join an active and prolific research team, with the opportunity to work alongside a member of staff on their research instead of completing a dissertation; some of these projects have even resulted in joint staff/student publications.

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Specialist facilities

• Laboratories of networked computers featuring extensive software for political analysis
• ESSEXLab provides opportunities for experimental lab research
• Student societies for politics, debating, and Model UN
• A dedicated study skills advisor in your first year for one-to-one advice
• A personal tutor and peer mentor for every student
• We organise the Essex Summer School in Social Science Data Analysis
• A programme of seminars and events run by the department
• The Essex Centre for Criminology hosts expert speakers and practitioners

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Your future

All Essex politics graduates have the distinction of a qualification from one of the world’s leading politics departments. Our students are in demand from a host of employers in politics, the civil service fast stream, management, journalism, police, armed forces, commerce, business, finance, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), teaching and graduate research. Our BA Politics with Criminology is ideal for those who are interested in politics, seeking a career in the not-for-profit and government sectors. You will acquire analytic tools in combination with insights into the criminal justice system that allow you to turn theoretical knowledge into practice in an applied way. This combination is highly attractive to prospective employers in these sectors. We also work with the University’s Student Development Team to help you find out about further work experience, internships, placements, and voluntary opportunities.