MA International Relations
Belfast, United Kingdom
DURATION
1 up to 3 Years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time, Part time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
30 Jun 2025
EARLIEST START DATE
Sep 2025
TUITION FEES
GBP 21,500 / per year *
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* international fee
Introduction
This programme provides a foundation in the academic discipline of International Relations and the array of ‘real world’ practices and problems that produce world politics. Having introduced the theoretical and methodological components which facilitate our study of the field, the aim is to use these tools to examine, explain and understand the issues and processes that make up our world: looking, for example, at war; diplomacy; arms control and arms proliferation; global health policy; humanitarian intervention; international development policy; race and legacies of colonialism; human displacement; inequality and injustice. While attending closely and consistently to traditional issues such as armed conflict, it thus offers a significantly broader education in international politics.
Students are thus able to balance engagement with core content in the field of International Relations with active development of their own areas of specialism as they progress through choosing elective courses according to their own interests. Among the central aims of the programme is the provision of the high-quality methodological and research design training needed to conduct independent research projects to an academically accredited standard. This culminates in the final dissertation stage of the programme. Recent students' dissertation topics have included: Jihadi use of social media; Russian foreign and security policy after the Ukraine conflict; Extreme right-wing terrorism and the internet; Russian private military actors; EU defence policy after BREXIT; Baltic security and the future of NATO; Paramilitarism and the Northern Irish border; Indian defence and security in relation to rising China; The limits of ‘truth and reconciliation’ in conflict resolution.
International Relations Highlights
Taught by world-leading experts in areas such as migration and asylum, border security, visual culture and international ethics.
Industry Links
- You will be studying timely, relevant and pressing issues that will be ‘live’ throughout the programme (e.g. BREXIT & EU negotiations; migration and refugees; conflict and war; climate change developments). Many academics on the programme are engaged in QPOL (Queen’s Policy Engagement) – this is the ‘front door’ for public policy engagement at Queen’s University, supporting academics and policymakers in sharing evidence-based research and ideas on the major social, cultural and economic challenges facing society regionally, nationally and beyond.
Career Development
- Queen’s is ranked in the top 140 in the world for graduate prospects (QS Graduate Employability Rankings (2020). Queen's is ranked 26th in the UK for graduate prospects (Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2020).
World-Class Facilities
- We also often host guest lectures and are closely affiliated with the Senator George J Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice at Queen’s. This Institute aims to tackle major global problems by bringing world-leading academics and experts together. The Institute has welcomed a number of high profile speakers from the political arena to the University over the past year, including President Bill Clinton, Tony Blair, Hilary Clinton (who was awarded an honorary degree by the University and who is now our Chancellor), and Speaker of the UK House of Commons, John Bercow MP.
- Politics was ranked joint 1st in the UK for Research Intensity (Complete University Guide 2021).
Internationally Renowned Experts
- Taught by world-leading experts in areas such as migration and asylum, border security, visual culture and international ethics. An opportunity to study international relations in a location where communal conflicts have a clear international aspect in both their perpetuation and resolution.
- Belfast is a location where communal conflict has had significant international aspects in both its perpetuation and resolution. Northern Ireland remains a model of conflict resolution and peacebuilding across the world and students benefit from the School and University’s wider expertise in terrorism and political violence, conflict resolution, security studies, border studies and Irish and Northern Irish politics.
Student Experience
- All of the modules on our programme are taught by research-active academics who are world leaders in their specific fields of International Relations. For example, members of staff are currently conducting research on war, trade, security, diplomacy, conflict, migration, intervention, terrorism, violence, climate change, human rights and international institutions.
- International Relations at Queen’s benefits from a vibrant interdisciplinary research culture within the School, including insights from History, Anthropology and Philosophy as well as engagement with academics across the wider University in fields such as law, sociology and social policy, management and computing (for example, in collaboration for the study of cybersecurity threats).
- Queen’s is ranked 14th in the UK for research quality (Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2020). Queen’s is ranked in the top 75 universities in Europe for Teaching Excellent (Times Higher Education, 2019). Queen’s is ranked 22nd in the world for international outlook (Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2020). Queen’s currently has over 3,000 international students from 85 different countries. 11% of the Queen’s student population are international students.
Career Opportunities
All of the MA programmes offered in the School provide our graduates with the skills to pursue a wide range of careers in the private, public and voluntary sectors.
International Relations graduates go on to an extraordinarily broad range of careers. Typical examples include:
- International Non-Governmental Organisation roles (humanitarian, conflict resolution, environmental, development etc.)
- Media and journalism
- Government, diplomacy and international civil service roles
- Military and intelligence careers
- Political risk analysis
- Political research, lobbying and consultancy roles with an international focus
- Think-tank research
- Academic careers in IR and cognate disciplines
- Business roles involving significant transnational trade or operations
- International Non-Governmental Organisations including humanitarian, conflict resolution, environmental, development, etc.
Employment after the Course
International Relations graduates go on to an extraordinarily broad range of careers. Typical examples include:
- International Non-Governmental Organisation roles (humanitarian, conflict resolution, environmental, development, etc)
- Media and journalism
- Government, diplomacy, and international civil service roles
- Military and intelligence careers
- Political risk analysis
- Political research, lobbying, and consultancy roles with an international focus
- Think-tank research
- Academic careers in IR and cognate disciplines
- Business roles involving significant transnational trade or operations
- International Non-Governmental Organisations including humanitarian, conflict resolution, environmental, development, etc.
Graduate Plus/Future Ready Award for extra-curricular skills
In addition to your degree programme, at Queen's you can have the opportunity to gain wider life, academic and employability skills. For example, placements, voluntary work, clubs, societies, sports, and lots more. So not only do you graduate with a degree recognized by a world-leading university, you'll have practical national and international experience plus a wider exposure to life overall. We call this Graduate Plus/Future Ready Award. It's what makes studying at Queen's University Belfast special.
Gallery
Curriculum
The programme has three different components: core modules, elective modules and a research dissertation.
Core Modules
- Theories and Issues in International Relations
- International Political Economy
- Introduction to Research Design
- International Terrorism or Contemporary Security (Choose between the two)
Elective Modules
Beyond the four core modules, the programme provides students with a number of elective modules to choose from that will enable them to specialise in areas of interest, build on foundational knowledge, and develop focused expertise. The modules on offer may change from year to year. Some of the modules which have been on offer in recent years include:
- The UK and Europe which offers students the opportunity to address core issues in Politics via a focus on the UK’s relationship with Europe in a time of flux;
- Global Development which covers cutting-edge debates on the contemporary form and function of the policies, theories, and practices that comprise the field of Global Development;
- The Politics and Institutions of Northern Ireland which explores contemporary developments in Northern Irish politics and discusses institutional design and politics in a changing Northern Ireland;
- Conflict Intervention which looks at various conflict intervention practices in all phases of conflict from conflict prevention to post-conflict peacebuilding;
- Ethnic Conflict and Consensus which examines concepts of ethnicity, national identity, and multiculturalism as they relate to contemporary conflict;
- Institutions and Politics of the EU which explores the structure and institutions of the European Union (EU) as well as selected theoretical approaches to the study of European integration.
- From Cold War to Cold Peace. Which examines the transformation of the International Order (1979-1999).
- Freedom and Modernity which is devoted to exploring the nature of divergent interpretations of the nature of freedom, individual, social, and political
- Engaging Citizens in Democratic Institutions which explores the relationship between citizens and political decision-making in contemporary democracies.
- Social Injustice which examines the problem of social injustice in contemporary, plural societies.
Research Dissertation
The research dissertation project is developed over the course of the programme through formal training in methodology and research design and individual supervision sessions with an academic subject expert. Students will spend the final stage of the programme researching and writing, with the continued support of their supervisor.
Learning and Teaching
Students will be taught through a combination of individual supervision, lectures and seminars involving small group discussions and analytical exercises of various sorts. These can involve simulations, looking at original policy documents, pieces of media coverage or film, as well as academic resources and analysis from think tanks and other independent sources. In addition, students will have access to a range of visiting speakers, academic research seminars and other events of direct relevance to the programme.
Cognitive and Transferable Skills
At the end of the programme, learners will have the capacity to be self-reflective and practice sound judgement and will possess the necessary skills to enhance their ability, think critically and pursue independent research.
Students will have the opportunity to acquire knowledge and understanding of the history of the discipline and knowledge of its specific concepts, issues and vocabulary.
Students will enhance their knowledge of the general methodological and theoretical approaches to key issue areas of the discipline.
Students will be able to solve problems, process and prioritize a wide variety of information, and express arguments and positions in oral and written form.
The Postgraduate Master in International Relations provides postgraduate learners with the opportunity to develop generic analytical, reasoning, literacy and communication skills.
Knowledge and Understanding
Students will have the opportunity to acquire knowledge and understanding of the history of the discipline and knowledge of its specific concepts, issues and vocabulary. Students will enhance their knowledge of the general methodological and theoretical approaches to key issue areas of the discipline. Students will be able to solve problems, process and prioritize a wide variety of information, and express arguments and positions in oral and written form.
Specific Skills
The MA in International Relations provides postgraduate learners with the opportunity to develop generic analytical, reasoning, literacy and communication skills.
Assessment
Assessment is continuous throughout the course of study.
- Policy Briefing Papers
- Learning Journals
- Literature reviews
- Portfolios
- Written essays
Admissions
Program Tuition Fee
Scholarships and Funding
How do I fund my study?
The Department for the Economy will provide a tuition fee loan of up to £6,500 per NI / EU student for postgraduate study.
A postgraduate loans system in the UK offers government-backed student loans of up to £11,836 for taught and research Master's courses in all subject areas. Criteria, eligibility, repayment and application information are available on the UK government website.
International Scholarships