Course description

International relations are the product of historical change which means that in order to understand one, you must consider the other. With our International Relations and History BA you will explore the ways in which these two fascinating topics are linked.

You will be able to study the most vital issues affecting the modern world and understand their historical backgrounds - from the world's foremost powers (the United States, the EU, Russia and China) to smaller nations that are impacted by their behaviour.

You will be able to examine the workings and the health of the political system in Britain and other states. You will also explore some of the most important and interesting issues in national and international politics: Who holds power and why? Is there a crisis of political participation? What are the appropriate limits to individual liberty? Is globalisation a positive process?

Flexibility of modules in your second and third years will allow you to delve deeper into the areas of history and international relations that fascinate you the most. Our lecturers have in-depth knowledge across diverse interests, so whichever areas you study, you will receive knowledgeable support and insightful guidance.

Entry requirements

Related courses

Sustainable Development Goals

We are committed to providing skills and knowledge to help prepare you tackle global challenges. We have mapped our undergraduate degrees for learning which aligns to the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals.

This degree includes learning which relates to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals:

• Goal 5: Gender equality
• Goal 10: Reduced inequalities
• Goal 16: Peace, Justice and Strong institutions

Find out more about the UN Sustainable Development Goals

What our students say

Emma, International Relations and History BA, Year 3 (Study Abroad) 

Why did you choose to study International Relations and History at Leicester? 

I decided to study International Relations and History as I wanted to understand the interactions between states better and combined with history. It is an excellent opportunity to analyse the events from the historical perspective, as in my opinion, International Relations and History go hand in hand. I picked Leicester because I had so many options to choose from when it came to my modules. This was an essential aspect for me as I had the freedom to study subjects that I was interested in. Another fantastic thing about the University of Leicester is that lecturers will help you write a dissertation about any topic you want. For example, I want to write a dissertation about the relationship between Korea and China in the fifteenth century, and the lecturers at the University of Leicester made this possible. The University of Leicester has an amazing Year Abroad programme, having partnerships with universities worldwide.

What are you enjoying most about your time at Leicester?

I do enjoy how friendly everyone is. I like the fact that the University of Leicester is multicultural and you get to know people from all over the place, besides it is easy to make friends.

Curriculum highlights - International Relations

Key Concepts in International Relations: In this module you will learn all the essentials of IR like 'What is anarchy?', 'What are the main issues in IR?', What are the main theories of IR?'. I enjoyed this module because for someone with little knowledge about IR, this module was a great introduction to future modules.

Comparative European Politics: In this module you will compare key features of modern liberal democratic states within Europe. You will compare constitutions, legislatures, judiciaries, executives and territorial politics. I enjoyed this module because I had the chance to see how different the various European states are. I also had the chance to see the differences between my home country (Romania) and other European countries.

Sex and Gender in Global Politics: This module was one of my favourite IR modules. We analysed concepts and debates in the study of Politics and IR from the perspective of gender.

Curriculum highlights - History 

Barbarism and Civilisation: This module was the one that made me fall in love with Medieval History. We examined landscapes, medieval maps such as the Mappa Mundi. 

Europe 1861-1991: Emancipation and Subjugation: In this module you will analyse the development of Europe, having a focus on countries such as Germany, Italy and Romania in the late nineteenth century. The most exciting part of this module was the first assessment, as this was not a traditional essay. For this assessment, we got the chance to select a question and then work in groups to create a podcast.

Becoming the Historical Researcher: This module was by far the most helpful. It is a module dedicated to students who want to write a history dissertation (just like me). What is a dissertation? What should we write? How can we pick our dissertation topic? The advice was helpful for essays for other modules too. I really liked the fact that we had to think about our dissertation early and write a dissertation, so that we have plenty of time to prepare for the real thing.

What Next? 

I'm just about to start my year abroad in South Korea. This will be a great opportunity to start writing my dissertation, which is about Medieval Korea, to develop my Korean language skills (language that I studied at the University of Leicester) and experience a different learning style. My study abroad experience so far was great. I received all the help that I needed form the Study Abroad team as well as from the Year Abroad Coordinator. I am looking forward to spending a year in Korea to learn, and experience their tradition, culture and rich history.