MA International Relations

Program Overview

The MA International Relations from UCD School of Politics & International Relations is a 90-credit program focusing on global phenomena and their causes and consequences. The program emphasizes theoretical exploration, research skill development, and specialization, preparing students for careers in the international private sector, government agencies, and non-governmental organizations. Both full-time and part-time options are available, with the full-time program requiring a thesis or internship in the summer trimester.

Program Outline

Degree Overview:

The MA International Relations is a 90-credit program offered by the UCD School of Politics & International Relations, the oldest and largest school of its kind in Ireland. The program delves into the causes and consequences of global phenomena such as war, trade, regional integration, migration, and terrorism.

Key Objectives:

• Theoretical Exploration: Examine theoretical approaches in the contemporary study of international politics and their application.
• Research Skill Development: Improve skills in research design and qualitative and quantitative analysis.
• Specialization: Offer a wide range of specializations to enable students to develop specific expertise.

Outline:

Program Structure:

• Full-time: 1 year, 60 credits of core and optional modules, 30 credits for thesis or internship.
• Part-time: 2 years, 1-2 modules per semester, final 30-credit module completed in year 2.

Course Schedule:

• Full-time:
• Trimester 1 (Autumn):
3 x 10-credit modules
• Trimester 2 (Spring):
3 x 10-credit modules
• Trimester 3 (Summer):
Thesis (30 credits) or Internship (30 credits)
• Part-time:
• Year 1:
1-2 modules per semester
• Year 2:
1-2 modules per semester, including the research design module, and the final 30-credit module.

Modules:

Core Modules:

• POL40050 Theories of International Relations (Autumn): 10 credits
• POL42330 Research Design (Autumn): 10 credits
• POL42060 International Security (Spring): 10 credits

Option Modules:

Autumn:

• POL40140 Theories of Global Justice: 10 credits
• POL40160 Comparative Public Policy: 10 credits
• POL40540 Comparative European Politics: 10 credits
• POL40950 Introduction to Statistics: 10 credits
• POL41020 Politics of Human Rights: 10 credits
• POL41510 Politics and Change in the Middle East and North Africa: 10 credits
• POL41980 Peace & Conflict Studies: 10 credits
• POL42040 Gender & the Political System: 10 credits
• POL42070 Politics of (mis-)information: 10 credits
• POL42530 The Politics of International Trade and Investment (NEW): 10 credits

Spring:

• POL40100 Politics of Development: 10 credits
• POL40370 International Political Economy: 10 credits
• POL40610 EU Foreign, Security, and Defence Policy: 10 credits
• POL40970 Politics of European Governance: 10 credits
• POL41030 Theory of Human Rights: 10 credits
• POL41640 Qualitative Research Methods for Political Science: 10 credits
• POL41720 Gender, Peace, and Security: 10 credits
• POL41860 Governance, Politics and Development: 10 credits
• POL42050 Quantitative Text Analysis: 10 credits
• POL42060 International Security: 10 credits
• POL42340 Programming for Social Scientists: 10 credits
• POL42430 IR Theory: Conflict and Identity (NEW): 10 credits

Summer Trimester Core Module:

• POL42300 SPIRe Internship (30 credits):
• POL42310 Thesis (30 credits):

Careers:

Career Paths:

• International Private Sector: Work with international private-sector employers.
• Government Agencies: Work with government agencies.
• Non-Governmental Organizations: Work with non-governmental organizations, including the United Nations and IMF.

Roles:

• Government Social Researcher:
• Public Affairs Consultant:

Other:

• Part-time programs: Run during the day and are not timetabled in the evenings or at weekends.
• Internship Program: Available for graduate students undertaking MA programs in Politics, International Relations, International Political Economy, International Development, Peace and Conflict, MEconSc European Public Affairs and Law, MSc Human Rights and MSc Politics and Data Science.
• Internship Duration: At least 480 hours, typically undertaken from June to August.
• Internship Alternative: Students can opt for a Masters thesis instead of an internship.

EU fee per year - € 10100 nonEU fee per year - € 22600 EU fee per year - € 6420 nonEU fee per year - € 11300 Please note that UCD offers a number of graduate scholarships for full-time, self-funding international students, holding an offer of a place on a UCD graduate degree programme.