International Relations and Anthropology BA (Hons)

Program Overview

The International Relations and Anthropology BA (Hons) at the University of Sussex is a joint-honors course that trains students in comprehending and addressing global challenges. By combining International Relations with Anthropology, students gain interdisciplinary knowledge of the social changes shaping the contemporary world. The program equips graduates with strong communication, analytical, and cultural awareness that prepare them for careers in diverse sectors. Through research-led teaching and optional experiences abroad, students benefit from expertise that makes a difference to communities globally.

Program Outline

Degree Overview:

This program is a joint-honors course, offering a combination of International Relations and Anthropology, each taking up 50% of the student's time. The program emphasizes understanding the major challenges facing the world and learning how to address them. Students will be taught by experts whose research is making a difference to communities across the world, covering topics like human rights, gender inequality, climate change, and financial instability.

Outline:

The program is structured over three years of full-time study.

Year 1:

• Core Modules:
• Introduction to International Relations
• Key Concepts in Anthropology
• The Anthropological Imagination
• The Rise of the Modern International Order
• Anthropology of Capitalism, Care and the Environment
• Classical Thinkers and Current Events
• The Short Twentieth Century and Beyond
• Worlds and Selves

Year 2:

• Core Modules:
• Contemporary International Theory
• Ethnographic Research Methods
• Introduction to International Political Economy
• Religion and Ritual
• Politics and Power
• Options:
• Anthropology of the Body
• Policing Racial Capitalism
• Trade, (De)Globalisation, and the New Mercantilism
• Cities and Urban Lives
• Culture and Representation
• Development and the State
• Ethnographic Field Research
• Humanitarianism in Theory and Practice
• Security and Insecurity in Global Politics
• The Liberal World Order - in Crisis
• The Politics of Foreign Policy
• The Rise and Fall of Neoliberalism
• Visual Anthropology

Year 3:

• Options:
• Anthropology of the Body
• Current Themes in the Anthropology of Latin America
• Death, Dying and the Corpse
• Development, Business and Corporate Social Responsibility
• Disease, Diplomacy and Development
• East Asia Rising: Beyond the American Century?
• Environment and Development in World Politics
• Finance and Power
• Global Work Experience
• Human Rights
• Palestine and the International
• Policing Racial Capitalism
• Religions in Global Politics
• Slavery, Emancipation and Legacies
• The Anthropology of Geopolitics
• The Politics of Armed Groups: Rebels, State and Society
• What is War
• Anthropology Thesis
• Colonialism and Modern Social Theory
• Cults, Conspiracies and Political Religion
• Environmental Anthropology
• From Bombs to Algorithms: Science, Technologies, and Global Insecurity
• Global Politics of Food
• Global Resistance: Contesting Capital and Coloniality
• Humanitarianism in Theory and Practice
• International Relations of the Modern Middle East
• Political Ecology and Environmental Justice
• Politics of Terror and Global Histories of Violence
• Putin, Power, Populism: Russia and Eurasia in Global Politics
• Race, Ethnicity and Identity
• Race, Gender and Global Capitalism

Teaching:

The program is taught by experts in their respective fields, with a focus on research that is making a difference to communities worldwide. The program emphasizes interdisciplinary learning, bringing together the Departments of Anthropology and International Relations.

Careers:

The program develops communication, analytical, and cultural awareness skills, preparing students for graduate jobs in various sectors, including:

• Multinational companies
• National and international organizations
• Civil Service and government
• Non-governmental organizations (NGOs)
• Charities and voluntary organizations
Recent graduates have secured positions as:
• Programmes administrator, International Rescue Committee
• Consultant, UN Migration Agency