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Profile of the programme
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The undergraduate degree in Political Science and International Relations, a three year undergraduate curriculum, seeks to provide students with basic knowledge, understanding and technical approach of the political and international issues claimed by the increasing integration of the international perspective in the decision-making process of both governmental and non-governmental, public and private organisations.
The course promotes an integrated approach of the analytical tools and of the ideas and facts that shape the dynamics of contemporary international and global reality and its actors in an interdisciplinary, historical, comparative and prospective manner. The students are stimulated to develop their learning autonomy, as well as acquire and develop a range of scientific, technical, communication, and social skills they need for further academic studies and research, and/or to pursue a professional carer in a variety of organisations involved from the local to global arena.
The undergraduate’s degree in Political Science and International Relations aims to:
- provide an interdisciplinary approach of the core issues of Political Science and International Relations related to interfaces between domestic, international and global levels of analysis, as well as to the interaction of ideas, citizens, institutions and decision-making process of the organisations and communities;
- provide an appropriate understanding in areas of theory, analysis and technical issues, as well as intellectual strands that describe, explain and assess the mechanisms which steer the behaviour of the actors, government sector, markets and society, and frame the policies and decision-making in the context of the different fields and subjects of the international and global developments;
- develop students’ abilities to think critically, support their own arguments and evaluate theoretical and methodological different perspectives on political, economic, social and sustainable development nurtured by different scientific fields, namely political philosophy, international relations, sociology, economics, history, geography, law and humanities, according to levels of attainment expected of graduates;
- enable the students to handle the main sources of data sets delivered by sectoral, national and international organisations; namely use relevant information, a variety of methods and quantitative and qualitative analysis; relate the development of students’ understanding, intellectual, practical and transferable skills with empirical material and problem solving, as well as the ability to communicate their knowledge or research findings to specialist and non
specialist audiences;
- create a learning environment that encourages students to achieve their full potential, operate in interdisciplinary and intercultural teams, and promotes their ethical and continuous professional and social responsibilities. |
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Key learning outcomes
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On completion of Political Science and International Relations program, students
will be able to:
Knowledge and understanding skills
- demonstrate an understanding of the nature and significance of the evolution of the international system and the global changes as human activity phenomena;
- demonstrate an appropriate knowledge and understanding of core conceptual and analytical tools on a number of the issues of Political Science and International Relations drawn from international relations theory, international political theory, political philosophy, political sociology, international organisations, international development studies, international political economy, international law, and economic and political regional integration experiences;
Intellectual and practical skills
- apply different concepts, theories and methods to the analysis of theoretical and practical situations related to history, structure and evolution of the different spheres of the international system and the global society, and recognise its substantive limitations;
- develop logical and rational argument, support own arguments and exercise critical thinking;
- demonstrate an international perspective: thinking globally, considering social and historical contexts, and recognising the importance of the intercultural issues and the interactions between local, regional, national international and global communities;
- make an integrated use of the knowledge, understanding, intellectual, transferable abilities to identify and conceptualize problems, and formulate a range of solutions suitable to academic and/or professional settings.
Transferable skills
- identify, gather, evaluate and operationalise relevant information to approach problem solving from a variety of primary and secondary sources, methods and quantitative and qualitative analysis;
- work autonomously, demonstrating initiative, self-organisation and timemanagement, as well as reflection on own learning and using of constructive feedback;
- work collaboratively with different groups, cooperating with all team members, sharing ideas and responsibilities, negotiating solutions, resolving conflicts, and contributing effectively to the achievement of common goals;
- demonstrate communication literacy, oral and written, appropriate use of information technologies and the ability to communicate qualitative, statistical and numerical information to specialist and non specialist audiences. |
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Occupational profiles of graduates
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The first cycle degree in Political Science and international Relations is accepted by a significant diversity of professional courses, in public and private and in governmental and nongovernmental sectors, as well as, in several organizations types, since the diplomatic governmental services to industrial and financial companies and city hall external services.
The following potential employers are highlighted:
Regional and national public administration institutions;
European Union Institutions (Board, Parliament, Commission and its support services);
International Governmental Organizations and non-governmental organizations (ONG), namely the ones who work in the education, health, environment, humanitarian help, commercial, technological and cooperation and international development;
State Entrepreneurial Sector and public institutes;
Private companies and entrepreneurial associations;
Political institutions, namely political parties or interest representative organizations;
Teaching institutions; and
Social communication.
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Learning facilities
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Political Science and International relations students have as support structures, among others, the following:
Central library of UBI (200 computing work places, open from 9 till 23);
On-line library and resources (among others, B-on provides e-books and journals with access to summaries and full texts, access to INE databases and statistics);
Social and Human Sciences Library, Pole IV (Ernesto Cruz – Monday to Friday – from 9h00 till 20h00; Saturday - from 10h00 till 13h30);
I&D Unit Library Practical Philosophy Institute
European Documentation Centre (Central Library);
Languages Laboratory;
Computer Science Centres (two centres; one of which is open 24 hours);
Moodle (e-Learning platform: provides digital contents and assures the interaction between teacher-student and student-teacher 24 hours x 365 days); and digital services: net (by cable and wireless, internal and external) and permanent access to internet (with e-mail, telnet and www).
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