Undergraduate Course

BA Global Studies

(Including Placement Year)

Now In Clearing
BA Global Studies

Overview

The details
Global Studies (Including Placement Year)
L905
October 2024
Full-time
4 years
Colchester Campus

The challenges facing today's world are profoundly international. From the migrant crisis to global warming, contemporary challenges require graduates who bring a global perspective and broad skills to the workplace. Our BA Global Studies is designed for just this purpose – you study topics from a range of subjects so that you can develop a wide understanding of complex global issues.

A core part of the course are modules from history and politics which explore international relations and global history, plus you choose from additional topics in areas including:

  • Art, architecture and their geographical contexts
  • International banking
  • World technologies
  • Modern languages
  • Migration

This is an amazing place to study a course like this one. Since its foundation Essex has had a distinctly international character. Our departments include academics specialising in many diverse regions of the world, so you experience the very best of the University's expertise in global issues.

Globalisation is seen by many as the defining issue of our age, and we live in a world which is connected as never before. This is your opportunity to understand it, and to help shape it. Don't wait for change. Make it happen.

Why we're great.
  • We offer the opportunity to spend a year or a term studying abroad at one of our partner universities.
  • You are taught by a team of international experts in a range of subjects, at Essex and abroad.
  • Our staff research topics stretch across the globe.

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.

Our expert staff

Our interdisciplinary studies staff teach in faculties across the University, and specialise in a wide range of topics including history, law, literature, film, politics, and sociology.

We are a team of internationally recognised writers and lecturers with expertise across the arts, humanities and social sciences. As well as being one of the UK's leading universities for social science, and the highest ranking institution for political science, our staff research topics that stretch across the globe – we are working on issues in Latin America, North America, the Middle East, Africa and Europe.

Specialist facilities

Your future

Our graduates are well-placed to address the complex issues which confront the modern world. You can gain a diverse set of skills as well as a wide-ranging knowledge of the world's most current and significant problems.

Our course provides you with an excellent basis for going onto a career in media, education, politics, the Civil Service, international organisations such as the UN and NATO or non-governmental organisations, and many other fields.

Our Centre's recent graduates have gone on to work in a wide range of desirable roles including an events co-ordinator for Age UK, a business provision manager for BT, an accountant in London, and an account executive for Bluesky PR.

We also work with the university's Student Development Team to help you find out about further work experience, internships, placements, and voluntary opportunities.

Entry requirements

Clearing entry requirements

We currently have places available in Clearing across a range of our courses with most offers at BBC-CCD (112 – 88 UCAS tariff points) or equivalent. We consider each application individually and requirements may be lower for some of our courses, so please get in touch if your grades are below those outlined here.

English language requirements

English language requirements for applicants whose first language is not English: IELTS 6.0 overall, or specified score in another equivalent test that we accept.

Details of English language requirements, including component scores, and the tests we accept for applicants who require a Student visa (excluding Nationals of Majority English Speaking Countries) can be found here

If we accept the English component of an international qualification it will be included in the academic levels listed above for the relevant countries.

English language shelf-life

Most English language qualifications have a validity period of 5 years. The validity period of Pearson Test of English, TOEFL and CBSE or CISCE English is 2 years.

If you require a Student visa to study in the UK please see our immigration webpages for the latest Home Office guidance on English language qualifications.

Pre-sessional English courses

If you do not meet our IELTS requirements then you may be able to complete a pre-sessional English pathway that enables you to start your course without retaking IELTS.

Pending English language qualifications

You don’t need to achieve the required level before making your application, but it will be one of the conditions of your offer.

If you cannot find the qualification that you have achieved or are pending, then please email ugquery@essex.ac.uk .

Requirements for second and final year entry

Different requirements apply for second and final year entry, and specified component grades are also required for applicants who require a visa to study in the UK. Details of English language requirements, including UK Visas and Immigration minimum component scores, and the tests we accept for applicants who require a Student visa (excluding Nationals of Majority English Speaking Countries) can be found here

Additional Notes

If you’re an international student, but do not meet the English language or academic requirements for direct admission to this degree, you could prepare and gain entry through a pathway course. Find out more about opportunities available to you at the University of Essex International College

Structure

Course structure

Our research-led teaching is continually evolving to address the latest challenges and breakthroughs in the field. The following modules are based on the current course structure and may change in response to new curriculum developments and innovation.

We understand that deciding where and what to study is a very important decision for you. We'll make all reasonable efforts to provide you with the courses, services and facilities as described on our website and in line with your contract with us. However, if we need to make material changes, for example due to significant disruption, we'll let our applicants and students know as soon as possible.

Components and modules explained

Components

Components are the blocks of study that make up your course. A component may have a set module which you must study, or a number of modules from which you can choose.

Each component has a status and carries a certain number of credits towards your qualification.

Status What this means
Core
You must take the set module for this component and you must pass. No failure can be permitted.
Core with Options
You can choose which module to study from the available options for this component but you must pass. No failure can be permitted.
Compulsory
You must take the set module for this component. There may be limited opportunities to continue on the course/be eligible for the qualification if you fail.
Compulsory with Options
You can choose which module to study from the available options for this component. There may be limited opportunities to continue on the course/be eligible for the qualification if you fail.
Optional
You can choose which module to study from the available options for this component. There may be limited opportunities to continue on the course/be eligible for the qualification if you fail.

The modules that are available for you to choose for each component will depend on several factors, including which modules you have chosen for other components, which modules you have completed in previous years of your course, and which term the module is taught in.

Modules

Modules are the individual units of study for your course. Each module has its own set of learning outcomes and assessment criteria and also carries a certain number of credits.

In most cases you will study one module per component, but in some cases you may need to study more than one module. For example, a 30-credit component may comprise of either one 30-credit module, or two 15-credit modules, depending on the options available.

Modules may be taught at different times of the year and by a different department or school to the one your course is primarily based in. You can find this information from the module code. For example, the module code HR100-4-FY means:

HR 100  4  FY

The department or school the module will be taught by.

In this example, the module would be taught by the Department of History.

The module number. 

The UK academic level of the module.

A standard undergraduate course will comprise of level 4, 5 and 6 modules - increasing as you progress through the course.

A standard postgraduate taught course will comprise of level 7 modules.

A postgraduate research degree is a level 8 qualification.

The term the module will be taught in.

  • AU: Autumn term
  • SP: Spring term
  • SU: Summer term
  • FY: Full year 
  • AP: Autumn and Spring terms
  • PS: Spring and Summer terms
  • AS: Autumn and Summer terms

COMPONENT 01: COMPULSORY

Introduction to International Relations
(15 CREDITS)

This module offers a formative background in the study of international politics. The course seeks to provide the essential tools and theoretical concepts used to analyze international politics so that a better understanding of specific historical events or contemporary issues is given. Students will apply the key concepts learned in the module to explain significant events and changes in world politics. This includes assessing important features of international politics in the post-Cold War era, including the global spread of democracy and the rise of new security issues. Throughout the module, students practice applying theoretical concepts to real world events and developing their critical thinking skills.

View Introduction to International Relations on our Module Directory

COMPONENT 02: COMPULSORY

Interdisciplinary Research and Problem-Solving: An Introduction
(15 CREDITS)

Ours is a world that seems to be shaking at its very foundations. Ideas that have shaped the way we see ourselves and the world around us – ideas like democracy, free speech, citizenship, political authority, individualism, free markets, and human rights – are contested at every turn. These ideas took their definitive modern form during a period of political and intellectual upheaval known as the Enlightenment (ca. 1650-1800). If we want to navigate our way through the chaos of today, then we need to return to the roots of our contemporary world – the Enlightenment. This interdisciplinary module explores this revolutionary period so that we can better understand our world today and bring about the world we want tomorrow. We will focus on political revolutions, on societal inequality, sickness, and control, and the dark side of technology. Graduating students often rank it among the most useful modules they've taken.

View Interdisciplinary Research and Problem-Solving: An Introduction on our Module Directory

COMPONENT 03: COMPULSORY

Ways of Knowing
(15 CREDITS)

Ours is a world that seems to be shaking at its very foundations. Ideas that have shaped the way we see ourselves and the world around us – ideas like democracy, free speech, citizenship, political authority, individualism, free markets, and human rights – are contested at every turn. These ideas took their definitive modern form during a period of political and intellectual upheaval known as the Enlightenment (ca. 1650-1800). If we want to navigate our way through the chaos of today, then we need to return to the roots of our contemporary world – the Enlightenment. This interdisciplinary module explores this revolutionary period so that we can better understand our world today and bring about the world we want tomorrow. We will focus on political revolutions; on societal inequality, sickness, and control; and the dark side of technology.

View Ways of Knowing on our Module Directory

COMPONENT 04: COMPULSORY

Democracy in Europe and the United States, 1789-1989
(15 CREDITS)

Democracy cannot be taken for granted. There was a long road to modern democracy and universal suffrage. Evolution of existing systems, revolutions, and wars created what is generally called Western Democracy. This module will explore the development of democracy in Europe and the United States over the last 200 years. It will examine how democratic states were established, challenged and reborn from the late eighteenth century to the late twentieth century. Europe experienced dictatorships, two World Wars and the fall of the Iron curtain in this time period, but it also saw the expansion of citizenship and civil liberties, the establishment of parliamentary democracies on a global scale and the emergence of the welfare states with greater social provisions for its populations. In the year that followed its creation, the United States rapidly expanded its franchise, but it also continued to exclude many people from the democratic process well into the twentieth century. The module will also investigate the crisis of the welfare state, the rise of Neo-Liberalism, and the rise of populism--all challenges to democratic systems in the past and today.

View Democracy in Europe and the United States, 1789-1989 on our Module Directory

COMPONENT 05: COMPULSORY WITH OPTIONS

HR176-4-AU or HR172-4-AU
(15 CREDITS)

COMPONENT 06: OPTIONAL

Language Option(s) or International Option(s)
(30 CREDITS)

COMPONENT 07: OPTIONAL

International option from list
(15 CREDITS)

COMPONENT 08: COMPULSORY

Beyond the BA: Skills for the Next Step
(0 CREDITS)

COMPONENT 01: COMPULSORY

The World in Question: The Social, Cultural, Political & Environmental Legacies of the Enlightenment
(30 CREDITS)

How have contemporary societies been shaped by the legacies of the Enlightenment, colonialism, and the different phases of capitalism? This interdisciplinary module helps you to critically understand some of the key forces and processes that have shaped the challenges we face in the 20th and 21st century. It is divided into three broad themes; Empire, The Self, and Nature. We’ll be examining processes of ‘othering’ that were intrinsic to colonialism; changing conceptions of the self; as well as both the causes of and potential solutions to the ecological crisis we are confronting today. The module is co-taught by academics from Art History, ISC, LiFTs, Philosophy, Psychoanalytic Studies and Sociology. This module has been designed to enable students to integrate their subject knowledge with an understanding of sustainable development, acquiring the skills and competencies essential for addressing the urgent sustainability challenges of the 21st century.

View The World in Question: The Social, Cultural, Political & Environmental Legacies of the Enlightenment on our Module Directory

COMPONENT 02: COMPULSORY

International Relations: Theories and Approaches
(15 CREDITS)

How should we approach relationships between different countries? Explore different theoretical lenses through which the world can be viewed, including bargaining theory, liberal institutional approaches, and emotion-based, psychological models of the behavior of international political actions.

View International Relations: Theories and Approaches on our Module Directory

COMPONENT 03: COMPULSORY

Social Entrepreneurs, Sustainability and Community Action
(15 CREDITS)

Did you know that the not-for-profit sector is expanding fast in the UK, and offers meaningful jobs that can contribute to positive social change and ecological sustainability? This module introduces you to this sector and the concept and practice of social entrepreneurship using case studies of initiatives that have helped local communities, disadvantaged people and the environment. It also gives you the opportunity to develop your skills and use your creativity and imagination to design your own project or enterprise. This module has been designed to enable students to integrate their subject knowledge with an understanding of sustainable development, acquiring the skills and competencies essential for addressing the urgent sustainability challenges of the 21st century.

View Social Entrepreneurs, Sustainability and Community Action on our Module Directory

COMPONENT 04: OPTIONAL

CS207-5-AU and/or International Option(s)
(30 CREDITS)

COMPONENT 05: OPTIONAL

Language or International Option(s)
(30 CREDITS)

COMPONENT 01: COMPULSORY

Placement Year
(120 CREDITS)

This module enables you to undertake a full placement year with an external Placement Provider, who will be your host organisation for the period of the placement (a minimum of 30 weeks). You are responsible for securing the placement, with support from the School and University.

View Placement Year on our Module Directory

COMPONENT 01: COMPULSORY

Global Challenges in Interdisciplinary Perspective: Water Conflicts, Water Cultures
(15 CREDITS)

Access to water is one of the most urgent global challenges facing us today. Vital for health and well-being, as well as integral to indigenous cultures and industrial processes, water is a threatened commons and contested commodity. In this module, we will explore global and local case studies that highlight challenges of scarcity, contamination, privatization, and climate change, and the cultural importance of bodies of water for diverse communities. We will examine water-related problems, such as economic and urban development, grassroots activism, political conflict, community relations, heritage and public health. This module has been designed to enable students to integrate their subject knowledge with an understanding of sustainable development, acquiring the skills and competencies essential for addressing the urgent sustainability challenges of the 21st century.

View Global Challenges in Interdisciplinary Perspective: Water Conflicts, Water Cultures on our Module Directory

COMPONENT 02: OPTIONAL

International option(s)
(30 CREDITS)

COMPONENT 03: OPTIONAL

International option(s)
(30 CREDITS)

COMPONENT 04: OPTIONAL

International option(s)
(30 CREDITS)

COMPONENT 05: OPTIONAL

CS307-6-AU and/or International option
(15 CREDITS)

Placement

On a placement year you gain relevant work experience within an external business or organisation, giving you a competitive edge in the graduate job market and providing you with key contacts within the industry. The rest of your course remains identical to the three-year degree.

Year abroad

On your year abroad, you have the opportunity 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. The rest of your course remains identical to the three-year degree.

Teaching

  • Taught through lectures plus seminars of about twenty students
  • You take a one-hour lecture and a one-hour class for each of your modules every week
  • Other teaching methods will depend on your individual combination of subjects

Assessment

  • Assessed through a combination of written coursework and end-of-year examinations
  • Other assessment methods will depend on your individual combination of subjects

Fees and funding

Home/UK fee

£9,250 per year

International fee

£19,500 per year

Fees will increase for each academic year of study.

What's next

Open Days

Our events are a great way to find out more about studying at Essex. We run a number of Open Days throughout the year which enable you to discover what our campus has to offer. You have the chance to:

  • tour our campus and accommodation
  • find out answers to your questions about our courses, student finance, graduate employability, student support and more
  • meet our students and staff

Check out our Visit Us pages to find out more information about booking onto one of our events. And if the dates aren’t suitable for you, feel free to book a campus tour here.

2024 Open Days (Colchester Campus)

  • Saturday 26 October 2024 - October Open Day
  • Saturday 16 November 2024 - Mini Open Day

How to apply during Clearing

Once you’ve checked that we have the right course for you, applying couldn’t be simpler. Fill in our quick and easy Clearing application form with as much detail as you can. We’ll then take a look and get back to you with a decision.

Interviews

We don’t interview all applicants during Clearing, however, we will only make offers for the following courses after a successful interview:

  • BA Multimedia Journalism
  • BSc Nursing (Adult)
  • BSc Nursing (Mental Health)
  • BA Social Work

The interview allows our academics to find out more about you, and in turn you’ll be able to ask us any questions you might have. Further details will be emailed to you if you are shortlisted for interview.


Apply now
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Virtual tours

If you live too far away to come to Essex (or have a busy lifestyle), no problem. Our 360 degree virtual tours allows you to explore our University from the comfort of your home. Check out our Colchester virtual tour and Southend virtual tour to see accommodation options, facilities and social spaces.

At Essex we pride ourselves on being a welcoming and inclusive student community. We offer a wide range of support to individuals and groups of student members who may have specific requirements, interests or responsibilities.

Find out more

The University makes every effort to ensure that this information on its programme specification is accurate and up-to-date. Exceptionally it can be necessary to make changes, for example to courses, facilities or fees. Examples of such reasons might include, but are not limited to: strikes, other industrial action, staff illness, severe weather, fire, civil commotion, riot, invasion, terrorist attack or threat of terrorist attack (whether declared or not), natural disaster, restrictions imposed by government or public authorities, epidemic or pandemic disease, failure of public utilities or transport systems or the withdrawal/reduction of funding. Changes to courses may for example consist of variations to the content and method of delivery of programmes, courses and other services, to discontinue programmes, courses and other services and to merge or combine programmes or courses. The University will endeavour to keep such changes to a minimum, and will also keep students informed appropriately by updating our programme specifications. The University would inform and engage with you if your course was to be discontinued, and would provide you with options, where appropriate, in line with our Compensation and Refund Policy.

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