The Bachelor of International Relations requires three years of full-time study (or the equivalent part-time) and the honours program an additional year (or the equivalent part-time).
The course is offered by the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences.
Enrolment in the honours program may be offered to a student who meets certain academic criteria and subject to the school/department being able to provide appropriate resources and staff to supervise the program of study.
Admission requirements
The minimum requirements for consideration for entry to all undergraduate courses are specified in detail in the University Entry Requirements.
Course aims
The Bachelor of International Relations aims to give students the intellectual and analytical tools to understand, research, evaluate and communicate key international issues and relationships through:
- providing students with a substantial grounding in different theoretical approaches to the study of international relations and the relationship between them
- facilitating appropriate international experience
- developing practical and theoretical skills, competencies and knowledge that support preparation for a professional career
- fostering an understanding of Australia's identity, role, and range of options in the world
- cultivating students’ understanding of the variety of societies, cultures and systems of government throughout the world and their impact on/significance to Australia
- providing students with a thorough historical understanding of the development of the international system.
The course also aims to give students appropriate opportunities to develop the generic attributes relevant to university-level education. These generic attributes are articulated in the Flinders Graduate Qualities.
Learning outcomes
On completion of the Bachelor of International Relations, students will have developed a comprehensive and well-founded knowledge of contemporary International Relations and an awareness of the challenges facing international order in the twenty-first century. In addition, students will have developed an awareness of the historical development of the international system. Finally they will have a range of transferrable personal and professional skills and competencies, a mature international awareness, and an appreciation of the value of continuing professional development.
International Relations Graduates are able to:
- recognise and understand complex international perspectives and their implications
- demonstrate a sound understanding of the central issues of International Relations, including their historical development, capacity for impact in the contemporary and future world and the relative advantages and disadvantages of the predominant approaches to these issues
- employ specialist knowledge in analysing international issues and communicate the results effectively and efficiently
- recognise and resolve issues involving values and ethical components
- interact effectively as a member of a team in order to work towards agreed shared outcomes as well as take individual responsibility and adapt confidently to changes and challenges in different work environments
- reason critically and logically and make independent, informed, evidence-based judgments
- demonstrate research and analytical skills that are appropriate to both further study and employment in a variety of professional settings. These skills will include methods such as political and social analysis, normative evaluation, archival and historical research, document and other data interpretation, literature searching and various forms of professionally and culturally aware writing and oral presentation.
Program of study
To qualify for The Bachelor of International Relations a student must complete 108 units with a grade of P or NGP or better in each topic according to the following program:
Year 1 topics
36 units comprising:
18 units of core topics:
AMST1002 America and the World: The United States in a Global Context (4.5 units)
HIST1704 History's Killing Fields (4.5 units)
HIST1803 'The Lucky Country'? Australia and the World since 1939 (4.5 units)
INTR1006 International Relations: An Introduction (4.5 units)
Plus 4.5 units chosen from the following*:
COMS1001 Academic and Professional Communication (4.5 units)
INTR1100 Exploring the International (4.5 units)
* Students can only select INTR1100 Exploring the International if they are exempt from COMS1001. See COMS1001 for further details or submit an Ask Flinders request to find out if you are eligible for an exemption.
Plus 4.5 units chosen from the following**:
INTR1101 Discovering Asia (4.5 units)
INTR1102 Modern Asia since 1945 (4.5 units)
** Full time students will be required to choose ‘INTR1101 Discovering Asia’. Part time students can choose either topic.
Plus 9 units chosen from the following:
HIST1703 Turning Points in World History (4.5 units)
HIST1802 Europe, 1945 to the Present (4.5 units)
Any first year*** language topics:
CHIN1201 Introductory Chinese Part 1 (4.5 units)
CHIN1202 Introductory Chinese Part 2 (4.5 units)
FREN1201 Introductory French Part 1 (4.5 units)
FREN1202 Introductory French Part 2 (4.5 units)
INDO1201 Introductory Indonesian Part 1 (4.5 units)
INDO1202 Introductory Indonesian Part 2 (4.5 units)
ITAL1201 Introductory Italian Part 1 (4.5 units)
ITAL1202 Introductory Italian Part 2 (4.5 units)
MGRE1201 Introductory Modern Greek Part 1 (4.5 units)
MGRE1202 Introductory Modern Greek Part 2 (4.5 units)
SPAN1201 Introductory Spanish Part 1 (4.5 units)
SPAN1202 Introductory Spanish Part 2 (4.5 units)
*** Students who qualify for the Advanced Stream of a Language may substitute the above
first year Introductory language topics for the relevant second year Intermediate language topics.
Year 2 topics
36 units comprising:
22.5 units of core topics:
INTR2003 The Asia-Pacific in the 20th Century (4.5 units)
INTR2006 Debating Human Rights (4.5 units)
INTR2012 Food Security (4.5 units)
INTR2015 New Security Agenda (4.5 units)
INTR2100 Reimagining the Global South (4.5 units)
Plus 4.5 units chosen from the following:
HIST2014 War and Society in the Modern World (4.5 units)
HIST2016 Globalisation in World History (4.5 units)
Plus 9 units chosen from the following:
AMST2002 American Politics (4.5 units)*
HIST2030 The Great Powers and the Origins of the Modern Middle East (4.5 units)
HIST2042 The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Empire (4.5 units)
HIST2043 Terrorism and Society in Modern Europe(4.5 units)
INTR2005 The Next Superpower? The Rise of China in the 21st Century (4.5 units)
INTR2008 Africa on a Global Stage (4.5 units)
INTR2101 Democracy and Human Rights in Asia (4.5 units)
* Note that students who wish to apply for the Washington Internship in
their third year must select AMST2002
Year 3 topics
36 units comprising:
27 units of core topics:
INTR3003 Africa: International Interventions (4.5 units)
INTR3006 The Rise of the Indo-Pacific (4.5 units)
INTR3101 Global Inequality (4.5 units)
INTR3102 Controversies in International Relations (4.5 units)
INTR3103 International Practicum (4.5 units)
INTR3104 Global Workplace (4.5 units)
Plus 9 units chosen from the following:
AMST3013 The Alliance and the Rise of China (4.5 units)
HIST3004 The Fall of Britannia's Empire and the Postcolonial Experience (4.5 units)
INTR3001 Australian Foreign Policy (4.5 units)
INTR3100 Environment and Development in Asia (4.5 units)
Alternatively, students who qualify and are accepted to undertake the Washington Internship Program must undertake a third year program comprising the following 36 units:
AMST3016 Internship Program: Washington DC (9 units)
INTR3104 Global Workplace (4.5 units)
INTR3102 Controversies in International Relations (4.5 units)
Plus 9 units chosen from the following:
AMST3013 The Alliance and the Rise of China (4.5 units)
HIST3004 The Fall of Britannia's Empire and the Postcolonial Experience (4.5 units)
INTR3001 Australian Foreign Policy (4.5 units)
INTR3100 Environment and Development in Asia (4.5 units)
Plus 9 units chosen from the following:
INTR3003 Africa: International Interventions (4.5 units)
INTR3006 The Rise of the Indo-Pacific (4.5 units)
INTR3101 Global Inequality (4.5 units)
Honours
A student who has completed all the requirements of the Bachelor of International Relations, or another qualification which the Faculty Board agrees is equivalent, may be accepted as a candidate for the honours degree providing a sufficiently high standard has been achieved in fulfilling the requirements for the Bachelor level degree. Honours programs may be undertaken in the following disciplines with program details in the Bachelor of Arts entry: History; International Relations.
Refer to Bachelor of International Relations (Honours)
Combined degrees
The Bachelor of International Relations may also be studied in a combined degrees program with a: