An intense four-week academic summer programme in Globalisation

This course provides students of international relations with a foundational understanding of key economic concepts, analytical tools, and policy debates relevant to global politics. Designed for those with no prior training in economics, it introduces the basic methodological toolkit of economic reasoning, with a particular focus on its application to questions of public policy, international trade, and global governance.

This course will introduce the canon of international relations theory with a focus on what it means to think about the concept of the “international” differently. In the academy, we think of this term as meaning the relationships between sovereign nation-states, but this obscures other political processes, meanings and relationships that exist across and beyond nation-state borders. Students will thus consider orthodox and critical approaches to the study of the international across six topics.

This module will examine some key issues that question whether it is just the State that holds political power at the international level today, and if not then what are the implications?  Starting with a review of the (theoretical) world order and then the role that war has played in shaping both the world order and driving the rise of the NGO sector, the module will then continue with an examination of the NGO Sector and the role of both the conventional media and the ever-growing role and importance of social media (which is often even less subject to control and examination than other forms of media).  The role of major corporations and international finance will then be considered, and finally the role of regional organisations which are both made up of states and increasingly act in a state-like manner.