Program Overview
The MA in Gender, Politics and International Relations is an intensive program offered by UCD's School of Politics & International Relations. The program emphasizes understanding gender's influence on national and global political interactions. Students develop expertise in gender-related research, policymaking, and advocacy, preparing them for careers in academia, international organizations, or non-governmental bodies. The program offers both full-time and part-time options, with a combination of core and optional modules, an internship opportunity, or a thesis. Successful graduates have secured employment in prestigious organizations such as the United Nations, World Trade Organisation, and Asia Development Bank.
Program Outline
Degree Overview:
The MA in Gender, Politics and International Relations is an intensive course offered by the UCD School of Politics & International Relations. It is designed to prepare students for careers in research, policy, or advocacy in international organizations, governmental and non-governmental bodies, or academia. The program focuses on understanding how gender shapes both individual and group interactions with politics on the national and global level.
Objectives:
- To thoroughly familiarize students with cutting-edge research in the broad area of gender, politics, and international relations.
- To allow students to connect theoretical debates on gender with real-world political issues and policymaking.
- To facilitate students' professional development to work as gender experts.
- To expand students' methodological research expertise.
- To develop students' independent research capabilities.
- To enhance students' writing skills.
- To develop oral presentation skills.
- To enhance teamwork skills.
Outline:
The MA in Gender, Politics and International Relations is a 90-credit program.
Full-time students:
- Must take a total of 60 credits between core and optional taught modules.
- Must submit a thesis worth 30 credits that will be written during the summer trimester.
- Have the option of pursuing an internship in lieu of a thesis.
Part-time students:
- Programs run for 2 years.
- Students normally do 1-2 modules per semester.
- The final 30-credit module is completed during the second year of the program.
- PT students should complete the research design module in year 2.
- Part-time programs run during the day and are not timetabled in the evenings or at weekends.
Core Modules:
- POL42040 Gender & the Political System (Autumn)
- POL42330 Research Design (Autumn)
- POL41720 Gender, Peace, and Security (Spring)
Option Modules:
Autumn:
- DEV40010 One Planet One Ocean (5 Credits)
- ENVB30130 Ecology & its Application (5 Credits)
- EQUL40310 Masculinities, Gender and Equality
- GS40100 Gender, Conflict-related Harm & Transitional Justice
- GS40110 Gender, Sexuality, and the Body; The Politics of Belonging
- POL40050 Theories of International Relations
- POL40140 Theories of Global Justice
- POL40160 Comparative Public Policy
- POL40540 Comparative European Politics
- POL40950 Introduction to Statistics
- POL41020 Politics of Human Rights
- POL41510 Politics and Change in the Middle East and North Africa
- POL41980 Peace & Conflict Studies
- POL42070 Politics of (mis-)information
- POL42530 The Politics of International Trade and Investment (NEW)
- POL42540 Applied Data Wrangling and Visualisation (5-Credits) (NEW)
- POL42550 Feminist Theory (NEW)
- POL42570 Connected_Politics 1 (5-Credits) (NEW)
Important:
- DEV40010 & ENVB30130 must be taken together.
- POL42570 & POL42540 must be taken together.
- Students must choose a 4th 10-credit module in the Autumn semester if they choose DEV40010 & ENVB30130 or POL42570 & POL42540.
Spring:
- DEV40020 Gender and Development
- GS40030 Gender, Inequality and Public Policy
- GS40120 Gender: Global Concepts
- POL40100 Politics of Development
- POL40370 International Political Economy
- POL40610 EU Foreign, Security, and Defence
- POL40970 Politics of European Governance
- POL41030 Theory of Human Rights
- POL41640 Qualitative Research Methods for Political Science
- POL41860 Governance, Politics and Development
- POL41910 Political Violence (NEW)
- POL42050 Quantitative Text Analysis
- POL42060 International Security
- POL42340 Programming for Social Scientists
- POL42430 IR Theory: Conflict and Identity (NEW)
- POL42500 Politics of Authoritarianism
- POL42560 AI and Large Language Models (NEW)
Summer Trimester Core Module:
- POL42300 SPIRe Internship (30 credits) or
Careers:
Recent graduates of the UCD School of Politics & International Relations now work in:
- United Nations, New York and Geneva
- World Trade Organisation
- Asia Development Bank
- Saatchi & Saatchi
- Credit Suisse First Boston
Other:
The program is suitable for both domestic (EEA) and international (Non EEA) applicants.
Entry Requirements:
- Applicants should have earned an undergraduate degree in a relevant subject such as political science, international relations, social science, sociology, history, geography, economics, global studies, public policy, development studies, EU studies, law/international law etc. with at least Upper Second Class Honours, or its equivalent (an overall GPA of 3.0 (B) or higher in the American system).
- Relevant professional experience will also be taken into account.
- Applicants whose first language is not English should have met TOEFL, IELTs, or computer-based TOEFL requirements (600, 6.5, or 250 respectively), or the Cambridge English Test (Certificate in Advanced English at a minimum of Grade B, or Certificate of Proficiency in English at Grade C).
- Applicants who obtained a previous degree from an English-speaking university may be exempted from this requirement.
Please note that UCD offers a number of graduate scholarships for full-time, self-funding international students, holding an offer of a place on a UCD graduate degree programme.
