Linköping University

MSc in International and European Relations

This program approaches issues related to European relations in the context of an international society and global governance, with a special focus on Europe’s role in world affairs. The double focus on international and European relations makes this a unique master’s program, offering you a competitive edge.

The curriculum consists of a wide range of topics, covering the latest updates from this intriguing field. You will get an excellent grasp of topics like international law and security, European institutions and Europe’s external relations, theories of international relations, contemporary issues of international governance, and research design and methodology. During the third semester, students have the option of either taking courses focused on global governance, or pursuing a guided internship with an organization of relevance for international or European relations. Throughout the program, you will develop the capacity to understand the history, theory, and contemporary implications of international and European relations, as well as the forces that drive developments.

The program is divided into four components, each equivalent to one term:

• International relations
• European relations
• International governance/Guided internship
• Master’s thesis

Throughout your studies, you will be connected to ongoing research on various topics. The teachers are engaged in research concerning international theory and the development of international norms and institutions, European security and foreign relations, European politics, regional development, political economy, e-governance, migration and diaspora studies, policy analysis, and political theory.

By the time you graduate you will have an independent, critical approach to complex global, and specifically European, issues. Furthermore, you will gain the skills and knowledge to contribute actively to important developments, either as practitioners or as researchers.

Syllabus

Introduction

The Master’s Programme in International and European Relations is a second cycle, two-year, full-time study program that leads to a master’s degree with a major in Political Science, specialization International, and European relations.

The program prepares students for work in advanced capacities in a dynamic, international labor market, as well as further studies, including doctoral education and research. Thus, the objective is that students on completion of the program will have developed an independent and critical approach to international and European relations and the skills and knowledge that will enable them to actively contribute to developments in this field, either as practitioners or researchers.

The students will:

• Develop the capacity to understand the history, theory, and contemporary implications of International and European relations.
• Attain the analytical tools to examine contemporary International and European relations.
• Acquire an in-depth understanding of international governance.
• Develop the capacity to conduct independent analyses of issues in International and European relations, and to present the results of the analyses.

Aim

National Qualifications according to the Swedish Higher Education Act

Knowledge and understanding

For a Degree of Master (120 credits) the student shall:

• Demonstrate knowledge and understanding in the field of Political Science, including both broad knowledge of the field and a considerable degree of specialized knowledge in certain areas of the field as well as insight into current research and development work.
• Demonstrate specialized methodological knowledge in Political Science.

Competence and skills

For a Degree of Master (120 credits) the student shall:

• Demonstrate the ability to critically and systematically integrate knowledge and analyze, assess, and deal with complex phenomena, issues and situations even with limited information.
• Demonstrate the ability to identify and formulate issues critically, autonomously, and creatively as well as to plan and, using appropriate methods, undertake advanced tasks within predetermined time frames and so contribute to the formation of knowledge as well as the ability to evaluate this work.
• Demonstrate the ability in speech and writing both nationally and internationally to report clearly and discuss his or her conclusions and the knowledge and arguments on which they are based in dialogue with different audiences.
• Demonstrate the skills required for participation in research and development work or autonomous employment in some other qualified capacity.

Judgment and approach

For a Degree of Master (120 credits) the student shall:

• demonstrate the ability to make assessments in the field of Political Science informed by relevant disciplinary, social, and ethical issues and also to demonstrate awareness of ethical aspects of research and development work,
• demonstrate insight into the possibilities and limitations of research, its role in society, and the responsibility of the individual for how it is used, and
• demonstrate the ability to identify the personal need for further knowledge and take responsibility for his or her ongoing learning.

Research

Politics

How can power be shaped, exercised, and justified between individuals who act within the institutional arrangements that have been created through political decisions? This is what we study at Linköping University.