Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Politics, International Relations and Philosophy

at University of Hertfordshire - De Havilland Campus United Kingdom

Now that scientists can read and change DNA sequences, a new era has arrived in which it’s possible to investigate organisms at their most fundamental level. That means we have the opportunity to find pioneering ways to prevent or find cures for genetic diseases, such as cystic fibrosis and cancer. It could even help us discover more about our origins and who we really are. This course will give you the specialist theoretical knowledge and practical experience of gene manipulation and the analysis of nucleic acids and proteins. It will also show you how this can be applied to the study of health, disease and the natural environment. This degree is accredited by the Royal Society of Biology.

• Molecular Biology involves the study of biology at the molecular level, providing an insight into the building blocks of life itself.
• DNA carries the hereditary information that determines the structures of proteins. It contains through which cells are instructed to grow and divide, to differentiate into specialized cells thereby generating the millions of different life forms that exist.
• The university has excellent research facilities for molecular biology enabling students to experience key techniques for example, PCR and bioinformatics.

Indicative course structure
Accounting is a vital and fascinating part of today’s global economy. Studying it here with us at Hertfordshire brings you face to face with current trends, practices and concepts – not just within accountancy itself, but in the wider world of business.

Our BA Accounting degree is a highly practical, relevant course. It gives you the sought-after skills, latest academic theory and real-world experience you need to become a confident, knowledgeable, forward-thinking graduate with exceptional career prospects.

The course explores the role of accountancy in businesses of all sizes and forms, opening your eyes to the diverse range of potential career paths ahead. It’s a multi-disciplinary, globally focused accounting degree, developed with innovative industry-leading companies and respected professional bodies.

At Hertfordshire, you’ll be taught by our team of leading academics, who together have created a supportive, inspiring learning environment. They’re joined by visiting industry specialists who bring with them years of real-world accounting experience and a real enthusiasm for sharing their insights with you.

We have strong links with the UK’s leading professional accounting bodies, including the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) and the Chartered Institute of Public Finances and Accounting (CIPFA). 

These close ties mean that when you finish your degree, you’ll have exemptions from some of their highly respected professional accountancy exams, becoming a fully qualified accountant sooner.

During your degree, you’ll also have the opportunity to join the ACCA’s accelerate scheme and the CIMA university scheme, giving you associated membership of those bodies when you graduate. Membership comes with some really valuable benefits, including discounted accountancy exam fees, access to great resources and exciting networking opportunities.

You can also study a language with this course. You can be awarded the degree ‘with language’ in the title if you choose to study a foreign language in all years of study.

While you’re working towards your accounting degree, you’ll also have the opportunity to study abroad or take a work placement. Both experiences will strengthen your skills, build your confidence and make you stand out to potential future employers.

Why choose this course?

• Developed in collaboration with ACCA, ICAEW and CIMA, our course gives you exemptions from professional exams, helping you qualify faster.
• Input from industry leaders and professional bodies adds real-world skills to academic theory, giving you the competitive edge.
• You’ll be taught by leading academics and innovative industry specialists with years of hands-on experience in commercial accounting.
• We’ll help you find a valuable work placement, developing sought-after skills either in the UK or overseas.
• You’ll also have the opportunity to study abroad for part of your course, developing confidence, experience and practical language skills.

In today’s fast-paced media world, people with the ability to write, design and harness new technologies are in high demand.

Studying our BA Media degree will equip you with a portfolio of practical skills as well as a theoretical and critical understanding of Media. Our industry-focused approach, combining theory and practice, will help build your confidence, give you the  communication and technological skills required for the industry and help you plan your career.

You’ll learn how to design your own app proposal, build and edit brilliant websites and create a hard-hitting ad campaign, including PR. You’ll also learn what makes a good news story or feature, and how to write one. Using industry standard software and equipment, our professionally-experienced academics and researchers will help you develop skills across divergent platforms and for different audiences.

These hands-on skills will be underpinned by an understanding of the global media industry, and the legal and ethical contexts of your work. In your first year you’ll explore Global Media and Society, looking at who owns the news, at the influence of the BBC and commercial entities such as Sky and Murdoch’s News Corporation, and consider issues such as fake news.

Other core modules (courses) include introductions to Media Communications and Visual Communications – how to use text and graphics to reach key audiences – while you’ll gain technical skills through Photoshop or animation projects.

In your second year you’ll learn key research methods and skills including how to conduct interviews and run focus groups, and how to pitch to different client groups. You’ll explore radio journalism and social media, while a module on App Design will help you understand the commercial potential for your ideas.

If you’re into music, film, food or travel, you’ll have opportunities to create magazine layouts and pdfs for online publications on whatever subject interests you. A video option will give you the chance to create a brand for a product or service.

In your final year you’ll develop and refine your ideas and skills further. Whether you’re keen to work in web design, social media, customer relations, PR or advertising, the skills you’ve gained will prepare you to be tomorrow’s creative entrepreneurs, confident in using different platforms to get ahead in your chosen career.

• Communication skills (both oral and written),  enabling you to create and publish content across a broad range of formats
• Theory and practice – your critical understanding of Media will help futureproof your practical skills as an author and publications designer
• Individual support – a personal tutor will help you grow in confidence and support your development
• Industry insights – our Media Matters series of talks are delivered by professionals from a wide variety of media including TV, national newspapers and start-ups.
• An international perspective through the chance to study abroad 

Indicative course structure
We’ve combined this dynamic discipline with core business studies, creating a dual-focus degree that opens all sorts of high-level career opportunities. This course gives you an in-depth understanding of today’s businesses and the HR world. Students can explore organizational psychology, learn about employment law and key areas of HR including employment relations, human resource development and performance management and reward.

• Study the issues and trends in employment, both nationally and internationally.
• Prepare yourself for a career in industrial relations, training and development, within a trade union, or in the field of equal opportunities.
• Learn with staff that all have active research profiles giving this course a distinctive edge.

Film and television production is one of the largest growth areas in the creative industries, with major international productions coming to the UK to find the best crews and creatives in the world. Taught by industry professionals and using the latest technology, you will develop the practical skills, creative abilities, technical expertise and business know-how to really kick-start your career. You’ll also take advantage of our excellent links with industry partners, including Warner Bros Studios Leavesden and Elstree Studios, as well as opportunities for work placements and employment.

The Film and Television programme is a ScreenSkills and CILECT accredited course that provides an environment in which students can grow into confident television and film practitioners. We are proud to be among the top 20 for film production, nationally (The Guardian), delivering industry ready graduates into the workplace.

Our course is designed to put the industry and its needs at the heart of our teaching.  Students learn professional skills from the outset, managing and producing their own location and studio-based shoots, and getting the opportunity to experience a variety of key roles on set and in post-production.

Our close partnerships with leading industry figures ensures that students hear about the latest commercial developments, while also putting into practice the long-established methods and techniques, workflows, and standards employed by film and television companies globally.

During your studies, you can take control of your own specialist career development, choosing to focus on those areas of production and post-production that best suit your passions and employment aims.

With modules covering the theory, history and contemporary practice of film and television, the course gives you an understanding of the industry’s past while preparing you to take an active part in its future.

This course has been developed in accordance with industry guidelines to give you a professionally grounded, challenging and creative education, focusing on architecture, principles of urbanism, landscape and building construction. You’ll work within a professional, studio-based architectural environment on a variety of industry projects, including houses, shops, museums, public buildings, squares, cities and civic centres.You’ll also visit and analyse places and engage with the social, political and economic factors that influence architecture and society. By working individually and in multidisciplinary teams, you’ll gain an understanding of cultural and urban conditions, learn how to improve the built environment and develop a sharp commercial awareness of the architecture industry.

The BA (Hons) Architecture award will provide graduates with a professional network to facilitate early career development after graduation.

The School of Creative Arts prides itself on providing our students with a strong technical and professional design education, and we place significant value on the preparation of our students for the world of work.  

The Architecture programme has a range of world-class industry partners who engage with us in teaching and learning and in providing current and future thinking on contemporary practice.

We place our students in a unique position to understand, explore, and intervene in the changing landscape as it evolves from the ideal social settlement of the Garden Cities of the early twentieth century to the post-war New Towns and future cities.

This programme will be for you if you would like to become a graduate practitioner in the early childhood sector or if you have an interest in working with children and families. The programme focuses on young children’s education, development and care from conception to the age of 7 years. Students will have the opportunity to become confident, self-aware, reflective graduates able to operate as professionals in multi-agency contexts. The programme content draws on international research and practice, including global perspectives of children, different early childhood curricula and established, as well as emerging, theory.

You will learn from lecturers with many years of experience in early childhood settings and related professions including; primary teaching, nursing, health visiting and children’s centre management.

Get to know one of the team, Michael Young a lecturer in Early Childhood Education.

Placement for work-related learning:
The programme makes strong links between theory and practice through a placement in an early childhood setting in Year 2. The placement is a result of ongoing consultation with employers and students. It will enable you to graduate with valuable work related skills and experience.

Early Childhood Education graduates are well placed to seek employment as professionals in early childhood settings. They will also have transferrable skills applicable to a variety of careers related to working with children and families.

Transferrable skills:
Research skills will be embedded throughout the program, and you will investigate an issue of your choice related to early childhood education in a research project.
As well as knowledge gained throughout the program, students will develop critical thinking and other transferable skills which can enhance their employability.

Tailor your studies to suit you:
The course can be studied both full and part time, making it suitable for students who have recently completed A levels, as well as early childhood practitioners who are already in employment and wish to enhance their level of qualification.

This programme has been specifically designed for those intending to pursue a career in clinical psychology and to apply for a place on the professional Doctorate in Clinical Psychology, but it is also ideal for those interested in a research career or PhD in the area of clinical psychology and mental health. The programme enables students to gain detailed knowledge about modern theories and models in relation to psychopathology and psychological assessment as well as about effective psychological interventions and therapies. It also provides broad research training in quantitative and qualitative research, and offers education about the role of professional clinical psychologists along with training in essential clinical skills. The programme includes a Research Internship in Clinical Psychology which is a particularly attractive module enabling students to gain experience with professional research in clinical psychology.

This masters course is

• Designed to strengthen the research competence and academic profile of those intending to apply for professional training in clinical psychology.
• Offers broad postgraduate research training in quantitative and qualitative research methods relevant to clinical psychology and mental health in general.
• Includes a Research Internship in Clinical Psychology.
• Provides education about the role of clinical psychologists as well as training in some essential professional clinical skills.
• Uses a blend of adult learning approaches (i.e. lectures, seminars, group work, workshops) to engage students with the content of the taught modules.
• You will be introduced to leading theories or models in each field and the scientific evidence on which they are based will be critically discussed.
• Important research paradigms and controversies dominating current scientific debates within clinical psychology will be presented.
• You will learn and practice how to critically appraise published research.
• You will receive extensive training in a range of essential research skills.
• We will be discussing various types of research design for investigating the aetiology of mental health problems, for evaluating the effectiveness of psychological therapies and for auditing mental health services.
• You will be taught by our highly experienced and practising clinical psychologists, academic as well as clinically-oriented research psychologists.

Why choose this course?

The main educational aims of the programme are to provide you with a thorough knowledge about clinical psychology as an academic and professional discipline, and to develop your research competence in a range of quantitative and qualitative research methods of particular relevance to clinical psychology. Core knowledge areas such as psychopathology, psychological assessment and various types of psychological intervention are each taught in specific modules. You will be introduced to leading theories or models in each field and the scientific evidence on which they are based will be critically discussed. Important research paradigms and controversies dominating current scientific debates within clinical psychology will be presented, and you will learn and practice how to critically appraise published research.

You will receive extensive training in a range of essential research skills and we will be discussing various types of research design for investigating the aetiology of mental health problems, for evaluating the effectiveness of psychological therapies and for auditing mental health services.

The research training also includes

• Advanced methods of statistical data analysis with exercises in SPSS
• You will learn how to professionally report and communicate the findings.
• Qualitative research methods, for example, Grounded Theory will be taught in a specialist module and you will learn to use software for the coding and interpretation of transcripts.
• Each student will be allocated to a senior researcher for a Research Internship, a particularly valuable learning experience enabling you to prepare an impressive MSc Research Project which will be your most important academic achievement of the programme.
• The programme also includes a module Professional Clinical Skills introducing you to the role and competencies of professional clinical psychologists within mental health care settings as well as professional standards and ethical considerations. It also provides you with training in some essential clinical skills.

The programme also includes a module Professional Clinical Skills introducing you to the role and competencies of professional clinical psychologists within mental health care settings as well as professional standards and ethical considerations. It also provides you with training in some essential clinical skills.

Study our MA in International Relations to gain an understanding of the forces that shape global politics in the 21st Century. A postgraduate degree in International Relations provides a pathway to a range of careers from policy-related roles in NGOs and government to vocational positions in the media and the private sector.

Whether your background is in Politics and International Relations, or another discipline, our MA equips you with the knowledge, skills and tools to critically analyse and tackle global society’s most pressing issues. Our innovative teaching methods, including simulations and panel-style debates, help establish a thorough grasp of the theoretical approaches and empirical methods used to study International Relations. Specialist modules allow you to study and analyse a range of topics, from traditional issues like war, peace and security to more contemporary debates on the international economy, global ethics, energy scarcity, and ecological changes. Our lecturers are active researchers who will give insight into current debates, developments and perspectives within the discipline of International Relations. You will undertake a dissertation, on a topic of your choice, and will be supervised through this task by one, or more, of the department’s dedicated research staff.

The MA is delivered with flexibility in mind, combining in-class activities with online learning provisions to ensure that studies can be balanced with other commitments, including work and family life. There are a number of different pathways on offer to fit with your individual needs and professional aims. The standard route MA is offered full-time (one year) or part-time (two years). Alternatively, you may wish to take a Sandwich option (two years full-time), which combines a year of university study with a year-long work placement, or the with Advanced Research route (two years full-time), where you will complete an extended, year-long research project in addition to one year of university study.

Advanced Research Pathway
The Advanced Research pathway strengthens the research dimension of your studies. You will be provided with more extensive research training and required to conduct an in-depth, independent piece of research, which will provide you with the skills and experience required for research-related work in either the public or private sectors.

Please contact Dr Benjamin Nutt for more information on the MA International Relations.

Why choose this course?

• Personal learning experience:You will be part of a closely connected community of students. Small class sizes and a large range of modules means you will benefit from extensive, personalised support that fits your individual study needs and development goals. 
• Research-led teaching: You’ll be taught by a team of researchers working at the forefront of the discipline of International Relations. Build your experience and put your knowledge into action by getting involved in our research group events, such as workshops with experts in political research and practice.
• Topical focus:You will study modules on topics that sit at the forefront of contemporary debates within International Relations, including energy scarcity, ecological changes, and ideas pertaining to global justice. Expert staff will encourage you to explore how the traditional aspects of International Relations are being challenged by current events and changes.
• Flexibility: You will have the opportunity to engage with course material in a manner that blends in class and online learning and suits your individual needs. Learning materials will be provided in a way that makes them accessible whatever your personal circumstances. 
• Join us in exploring how the world you live in operates and learn skills for life: Alongside your subject-based knowledge, we will help you develop a set of professional and interchangeable soft skills that will improve your overall employability. A postgraduate degree in International Relations will hone and improve your communication, organisational, and critical analysis skills, providing you with tools that are appealing to future employers.

Philosophy explores and challenges the assumptions that frame the way we think, act and see the world around us. Film is one particularly powerful medium in which this can be achieved. Further your skills with a unique film course which combines the study of film as an art form with learning the practical skills of film making whilst engaging with a variety of deep philosophical issues.

In your first year, you’ll be introduced to film criticism, genre and style. In your philosophy modules, you will be introduced to a variety of philosophical issues ranging from the nature of reality, knowledge and mind, to questions about how we should live, what we should value, and what would be the best way of organizing society. There is also a philosophy module dedicated to exploring the scope and limits film and what it can represent about reality.

All our philosophy lecturers are active researchers, so you’ll share the excitement of doing original work in a supportive and highly-rated academic community. Our Philosophy team is in the top 15 in the Guardian League Table 2019 and rates as one of the 100 best Philosophy departments worldwide in the 2017 QS rankings.

In your second year, you’ll be able to select areas on which to focus, such as on influential works of philosophy, ethics, metaphysics, the philosophy of mind, and social and political philosophy. There is also a philosophy of art module, which tackles the question of the relation between artistic representations (in various media) and reality. In your film modules, you’ll also gain knowledge of film production and you’ll think more about European or US cinema.

In your final year, you’ll have the opportunity to make your own video essay as one of your film modules, and will delve deeper into more specialist areas of philosophy, such as the philosophy of language, the philosophy of psychology, or feminist philosophy.

• A flexible programme of study, allowing you to concentrate on areas you find especially interesting
• An exceptional academic team, conducting internationally renowned research
• Stimulating, innovative courses that allow you to make rewarding connections between two disciplines
• CV-building potential through work placements and extra-curricular activities. Previous students in this department have had year long paid placements at Warner Brothers in London, Hatfield House and local museums.
• An expert film team with in-depth knowledge of the film industry plus the opportunity to get involved with local cinemas and our own bespoke film club.