Bachelor of Arts in Politics and International Studies with Chinese

at University of Warwick United Kingdom

What challenges does the natural world face in the wake of unprecedented human impact upon the environment? How might new research and innovations in Life Sciences work to secure the future of sustainable societies by countering infectious disease and biodiversity loss?

By choosing to study Life Sciences and Global Sustainable Development (GSD) degree, you will be encountering these questions daily.

You will gain valuable lab and analytical experience whilst studying with Life Sciences. You will apply that knowledge to our current understandings of climate change, social justice, and food security. At the end of the first year, you will choose either a Biological Sciences or Ecology route, allowing you to study modules tailored to your interests and career aspirations.

By studying GSD, you will take a transdisciplinary approach and confront issues from a diverse array of perspectives. You will need to be ready to think creatively and embrace new opinions from your peers from across the world. We will challenge you to become an active participant in your own learning.

You can enhance your skills and studies through optional work placements, study abroad, and certificates.

Study abroad

Although it is not compulsory, we encourage you to study abroad during your degree.

Option 1: Part of your second year abroad

Spend part of your second year at Monash University, home to the Monash Sustainable Development Institute. You will learn to appreciate the different concerns and priorities for sustainable development, including different approaches to tackling global issues.

Your academic achievements abroad will count towards your degree awarded by Warwick.

Find out more about studying abroad for part of your second year.

Option 2: Year abroad

You may choose to apply for an intercalated year spent either studying abroad or on a work placement (subject to you meeting departmental academic requirements). This will mean extending your course to four years.

Warwick has partnerships with universities across the world. You will spend your first and second years at Warwick, studying abroad in your third year before returning for final year.

Your year abroad will not count towards your overall final mark, giving you the freedom to choose modules outside of your comfort zone.

Our Visual and Material Culture of Ancient Rome MA courses provide a thorough preparation in research techniques if you are considering further research in the fields of art, numismatics or epigraphy, or are working on an historical topic that involves the consideration of material evidence. It will also provide a detailed understanding of ancient visual and material culture to prepare you if you are aiming to enter a career in museums and curatorial work, or in education.

For the Visual and Material Culture of Ancient Rome MA, one module is taught by the British School, Rome, focusing on the history and material culture of Ancient Rome. Please note admission is subject to the discretion of the British Schools and cannot be guaranteed by Warwick.

Skills from this degree
The degree is designed to introduce you to major issues in the study of ancient material culture, and to key methodologies and approaches. It will help to develop your intellectual skills in the following areas:

• Ability to select and respond to particular methodological approaches when dealing with material culture
• Understanding of the ways in which material culture has been studied since antiquity
• Ability to present a structured chain of argument drawing together evidence into a cohesive whole
• Ability to select and apply appropriate problem-solving methodologies
• Ability to conduct independent research and analysis

It will also help to develop the following key transferable skills:

• Written and oral communication skills
• Organisational Skills
• Ability to evaluate intellectual progress
• IT skills – word processing

This course will introduce you to several dimensions of social inequality. You will study key topics such as social class and social stratification, work and employment, race and ethnicity, gender and sexuality, health and disability. You will develop an in-depth understanding of key theoretical approaches and concepts for understanding inequality, and you will be introduced to key empirical studies in the area of social inequalities.

The main aim of this course is to provide you with a thorough training in sophisticated qualitative and quantitative research methods that can be used to understand social inequalities. You will have the opportunity to further specialise in research methods of your choice in your dissertation project.

By the end of this course, you will have solid skills in research design, data collection, data management, and data analysis, and a wide-ranging understanding of the methodological and analytical aspects in the study of social inequalities.

Skills from this degree

• Ability to analyse and evaluate research in the broad field of social inequality
• Ability to analyse and evaluate theories that seek to explain causes and effects of social inequality
• Ability to critically evaluate and utilise basic and advanced quantitative and qualitative techniques for the study of social inequality
• Ability to conduct independent research
• Ability to write about complex ideas in a clear way
• Ability to understand and assess claims to knowledge made by a range of relevant disciplines

In your first two years, you will concentrate on Physics modules, with the addition of a second-year Business module.

For your final year, you will transfer completely to WBS (Warwick Business School), where you will develop a critical understanding of how organizations work, how they are managed, and how they interact with local, national and international environments. You may, for example, take modules covering markets, marketing and strategy, finance, and entrepreneurship.

There is flexibility to switch into or out of the Physics and Business Studies stream onto one of our other courses at any time within your first two years.

Study abroad

We support student mobility through study abroad programs. BSc students have the opportunity to apply for an intercalated year abroad at one of our partner universities

This four-year course enables you to pursue your interest in the languages, literature and thought of Greece and Rome, while considering the broader cultural, social and political contexts of the classical world.

You will study a broad range of literary and non-literary sources, which are taught in innovative and dynamic ways by staff engaged in groundbreaking research.

You will study Latin alongside a modern European language (current options are Italian and German) and will spend your third year studying classical subjects at one of our partner universities in Europe.

Currently, placements are available in Bologna, Padua, Rome or Venice, with recent confirmation of new placements in Berlin and Tübingen, Germany. Confirmation of available placements will be made in your second year.

Why are ‘private troubles’ also ‘public issues’? This course enables you to explore and answer questions just like this. The course will appeal if you are interested in how social life shapes individuals’ experiences of the world around us.

From across sociology and allied social sciences, you will gain a thorough understanding of theories and methodologies. Then you will have the opportunity to tailor your programme to your own specific interests through our wide range of options.

Your period of study will involve you examining individuals’ experiences, and encounters with structures and institutions; reading new empirical research; exploring social theories; and assessing innovative methodologies.

Skills from this degree

• Ability to analyse and evaluate complex intellectual ideas
• Ability to analyse and evaluate competing approaches to understanding the contemporary world
• Ability to build sophisticated and persuasive arguments from an array of sources
• Ability to gather and analyse data using a range of techniques
• Ability to carry out independent research
• Ability to write about complex ideas in a clear way

With around 400 million speakers in the world, Spanish is one of the most important languages for commerce and cultural exchange.

This degree offers an innovative approach to studying the Spanish language alongside a diverse range of Hispanic cultures and history from across the world.

You will work with leading researchers and have access to outstanding facilities and resources, including flexible learning spaces and a vast selection of print, digital, and multimedia learning materials. You will normally spend your second or third year abroad, consolidating and enhancing your learning.

Study abroad

We strongly recommend that you take a year abroad as part of your modern languages degree, if they are able to. If you are unable to take a year abroad you will move to a three-year degree. You will be required to complete further language reinforcement work. You will also be encouraged to spend time abroad in other ways, during vacation times.

You will usually spend your year abroad doing one of three things:

• Working as a language assistant teaching English in a primary or secondary school
• Studying full-time at a partner university in your chosen country
• On a work placement

This comprehensive degree will develop your skills in microeconomics, macroeconomics and econometrics.

It will teach you to abstract and simplify economic problems, both empirically and theoretically, developing a deep knowledge of global and local economic trends, institutions and policies. The degree focuses on research-led teaching and so we will expose you to research from the very start and will encourage you to consider your own research questions.

The flexible degree structure means you can choose from many optional modules within our Department, and from outside departments. These include Law, Mathematics, Computer Science, Business and Languages.

Study abroad

We currently offer an exciting range of opportunities for you to spend a year abroad. You can study in a higher education institution either in Europe, at the University of Monash in Australia, or with our partners in China and Canada. Studying overseas can add immeasurably to your personal development, future study and career opportunities.

It will also offer you an opportunity to experience an alternative university system. If you are successful in gaining a Study Abroad placement, your degree programme will become a four year programme and, assuming you pass sufficient modules whilst abroad, the title of your course changes to add the suffix 'with Study Abroad' to the existing title (e.g. 'BSc Economics with Study Abroad').

History at Warwick asks you to look critically at the motivations, context and characters behind the events that define world history from the Renaissance to the present day. Our far-reaching approach allows you to explore historical topics in depth from around the globe. The department is studded with expertise spanning the British Isles, continental Europe, Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Latin and North America.

In your first year we'll support you as you develop a foundational understanding of the past. You'll then be ready to choose between working towards a Modern or Renaissance and Modern History degree. The Modern History degree offers a diverse, global curriculum of important historical themes and topics. The Renaissance and Modern degree gives you the chance to explore your historical interests while also spending a term in Venice. Throughout your degree you'll have the freedom to develop your own independent view on the historical themes that most excite you.

Students will be offered the opportunity at the start of their second year to apply for an optional Year Abroad. Following the application process, those students who are offered and take up a Year Abroad place transfer to the four-year History (with a Year Abroad), with the Year Abroad as the third of the four years.

Study abroad

On Renaissance and Modern students spend the autumn term of their final year studying with Warwick tutors in Venice. All students also have the opportunity to apply for an intercalated year abroad at one of our partner universities. The Student Mobility Team based in the Office for Student Opportunity offers support for these activities, and the Department's dedicated Study Abroad Co-ordinator can provide more specific information and assistance.

Critically analysing education in a fast-changing globalised world, the BA (Hons) Education Studies will introduce you to creative and forward-thinking approaches to teaching and learning.

It will also enable you to develop your understanding of contemporary educational policy at both global and local levels, while exploring the background to the history and development of education.

You will gain hands-on experience through a work-based placement, with tailored career advice throughout the course. With optional modules to choose across a range of different related disciplines, from philosophy to sociology, economics to psychology, you will gain a broad set of skills to help you progress to where you want to be.

Study abroad

Studying overseas can add immeasurably to your personal development and future study and career opportunities. As part of our BA Education Studies, we provide the opportunity for students to study for a year abroad where your third year will be spent at one of our partner Universities. For example:

• University of Gothenburg, Sweden
• Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong
• McMaster University, Ontario, Canada
• Monash University, Melbourne, Australia

A year abroad will not count towards your final degree mark, but it will give you the chance to experience studying Education in another country as well as experiencing life in a new and exciting culture.