Overview
The challenges facing today’s world are profoundly international. From the migrant crisis to global warming, contemporary challenges require graduates who bring a global perspective and broad skills to the workplace. Our BA Global Studies is designed for just this purpose – you study topics from a range of subjects so that you can develop a wide understanding of complex global issues.
Based within our Interdisciplinary Studies Centre (ISC), you have the option to choose from a variety of subjects including history, politics, philosophy, sociology, and more. You study both topics that have an international focus, and those that focus on particular regions and countries.
A core part of the course are modules from history and politics which explore international relations and global history, plus you choose from additional topics in areas including:
- Art, architecture and their geographical contexts
- International banking
- World technologies
- Modern languages
- Migration
This is an amazing place to study a course like this one. Since its foundation Essex has had a distinctly international character. Our departments include academics specialising in many diverse regions of the world, so you experience the very best of the University’s expertise in global issues.
Globalisation is seen by many as the defining issue of our age, and we live in a world which is connected as never before. This is your opportunity to understand it, and to help shape it. Don’t wait for change. Make it happen.
Study abroad
Your education extends beyond the university campus. We support you in expanding your education through offering the opportunity to spend a year or a term studying abroad at one of our partner universities. The four-year version of our degree allows you to spend the third year abroad or employed on a placement abroad, while otherwise remaining identical to the three-year course.
Studying abroad allows you to experience other cultures and languages, to broaden your degree socially and academically, and to demonstrate to employers that you are mature, adaptable, and organised.
If you spend a full year abroad you’ll only pay 15% of your usual tuition fee to Essex for that year. You won’t pay any tuition fees to your host university.
Our expert staff
Our staff teach in departments across the University, and specialise in a wide range of topics including history, law, literature, film, politics, and sociology.
We are a team of internationally recognised writers and lecturers with expertise across the arts, humanities and social sciences. As well as being one of the UK’s leading universities for social science, and the highest ranking institution for political science, our staff research topics that stretch across the globe – we are working on issues in Latin America, North America, the Middle East, Africa and Europe.
Specialist facilities
- Our Essex Collection of Art from Latin America (ESCALA) is the largest of its kind in Europe
- Our Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence provides a forum for pan-European research
- Attend an exciting programme of events
- Our Albert Sloman Library’s collections of Latin American, Russian and Eastern European materials are of national significance
Your future
Our graduates are well-placed to address the complex issues which confront the modern world. You can gain a diverse set of skills as well as a wide-ranging knowledge of the world’s most current and significant problems.
Our course provides you with an excellent basis for going onto a career in media, education, politics, the Civil Service, international organisations such as the UN and NATO or non-governmental organisations, and many other fields.
Our Centre’s recent graduates have gone on to work in a wide range of desirable roles including an events co-ordinator for Age UK, a business provision manager for BT, an accountant in London, and an account executive for Bluesky PR.
We also work with the university’s Student Development Team to help you find out about further work experience, internships, placements, and voluntary opportunities.
Why we’re great
- We offer the opportunity to spend a year or a term studying abroad at one of our partner universities.
- You are taught by a team of international experts in a range of subjects at Essex and abroad.
- Our staff research topics stretch across the globe.
Structure
Course structure
We offer a flexible course structure with a mixture of core/compulsory modules, and optional modules chosen from lists.
Our research-led teaching is continually evolving to address the latest challenges and breakthroughs in the field. The course content is therefore reviewed on an annual basis to ensure our courses remain up-to-date so modules listed are subject to change.
Teaching and learning disclaimer
Following the impact of the pandemic, we made changes to our teaching and assessment to ensure our current students could continue with their studies uninterrupted and safely. These changes included courses being taught through blended delivery, normally including some face-to-face teaching, online provision, or a combination of both across the year.
The teaching and assessment methods listed show what is currently approved for 2022 entry; changes may be necessary if, by the beginning of this course, we need to adapt the way we’re delivering them due to the external environment, and to allow you to continue to receive the best education possible safely and seamlessly.
Placement
On a placement year you gain relevant work experience within an external business or organisation, giving you a competitive edge in the graduate job market and providing you with key contacts within the industry. The rest of your course remains identical to the three-year degree.
Year abroad
On your year abroad, you have the opportunity to experience other cultures and languages, to broaden your degree socially and academically, and to demonstrate to employers that you are mature, adaptable, and organised. The rest of your course remains identical to the three-year degree.
Teaching
- Taught through lectures plus seminars of about twenty students
- You take a one-hour lecture and a one-hour class for each of your modules every week
- Other teaching methods will depend on your individual combination of subjects
Assessment
- Assessed through a combination of written coursework and end-of-year examinations
- Other assessment methods will depend on your individual combination of subjects
