Bachelor in International Relations - Study Plan
Become an actor at a global level
A Unique Bachelor in International Relations
The Bachelor in International Relations aims to teach young ambitious individuals to build the proper skill set to become professionals capable of facing real-world challenges.
Through our hands-on teaching methodology, students from the Bachelor in International Relations will find the perfect ideal balance between what is studied throughout their degree and the projects that are applied based on real-world scenarios.
This will aid them to develop profiles that are able to adapt to new trends happening now in the 21st century.
BACHELOR IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS STUDY PLAN
Year 1
1st semester
2nd semester
Year 2
1st semester
2nd semester
Year 3
1st semester
2nd semester
- Components
- Credits
- Basic Courses
- 60
- Core courses
- 126
- Elective courses
- 42
- Final Project
- 12
- Credits needed to graduate
- 240
LANGUAGES
Languages are essential to a career in international relations. As a Bachelor in International Relations student, you will participate in a mandatory language course that lasts for six full semesters, consisting of 18 ECTS credits. In addition, we provide further opportunities to widen your linguistic ability, and you will have the option to learn Spanish, French, Portuguese, German, Arabic, or Chinese.
CHECK OUR LANGUAGE CENTERTHE BACHELOR IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS LEARNING JOURNEY
FIRST YEAR - GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP
Your first year will begin with a broad introduction to international relations, history, and economics. You will become aware of the global challenges and acquainted with the main periods and events that have shaped its history since the 16th century. We will provide you with the practical and methodological tools needed to understand and evaluate arguments about contentious issues in international affairs. Alongside this, you will be given the opportunity to complete an internship, contribute in one of the many IE labs, or both.
In this year, you will also start language courses and hone your ability to recognize and understand relationships; to analyse complex systems; to think of how systems are embedded within different domains and different scales; and to deal with uncertainty.
By the end of the year you will be able to apply economic and IR theories to your daily work, and understand important social and political phenomena, as well as different forms of international governance and organizations. You will also learn to be accountable, self-disciplined, and diligent, with an increased capacity for self-reflection and improved writing and communication skills.
SECOND YEAR - IMPACT AND CHANGE
In your second year you will continue to deepen your understanding of international relations from the perspectives of international law, international political economics, and international development. You will be introduced to the most innovative trends in economics, social inclusion, and environmental politics in order to understand how global challenges can be approached in a sustainable way.
You will also acquire the analytical skills that will allow you to research and analyze how to change and impact global challenges while cultivating an entrepreneurial mindset with regard to ideas and initiatives. By the end of the year, you will be more confident with discussing scholarly articles and communicating your own points of view in order to become an impactful change-maker.
Also, we offer you the opportunity to put everything you have learned into practice during your first two years in an amazing two-week journey in which you will visit different countries with your classmates whilst making an impact and learning.
SECOND YEAR JOURNEY
THIRD YEAR - LEADERSHIP
During your third year you will focus on advanced international relations topics such as international trade, global governance, public opinion, and the European Union. Your first year was concerned with developing awareness about the most relevant global issues, and the second more focused on identifying and analyzing the changes and the impact needed. Now, in your third year, it is time to learn how to lead those changes. Therefore, you will also acquire the knowledge and the skills to solve international conflict, to manage projects in multinational corporations or in international institutions, to design successful partnerships, and to lead and negotiate trade agreements and diplomatic initiatives.
This year, you will be required to choose an exchange program with one of the 160 available partner universities around the world. You will also have the chance to participate in a one-day mock debate, where you will discuss and negotiate a range of issues related to international trade between the EU and the US.
EU Simulation Debate
FOURTH YEAR - EXPERTISE
Your fourth and last year is mainly focused on developing your expertise. You will have a broad array of subjects from which to choose your elective courses, with an added option to focus on a particular field of specialization and obtain an additional certificate from the school. Four academic concentrations will be available for you: Global Affairs and Diplomacy; Peace, Conflict and Security; International Development; and International and Social Business.
In the second semester, you will carry out your final project, where you will apply all of the knowledge gained throughout your courses, internships, IE Labs, extracurricular activities, and exchange programs. You will have two options: either to complete an individual academic thesis, or to carry out a team consultancy type capstone project with a real client from the public or private sector. Each capstone project is unique and should be approached as a career-building exercise. The purpose is to test out your skills and knowledge in a realistic work environment, collaborating closely with your teammates to produce original and impactful research and strategic policy recommendations, and deliver these to your client.
COMPETENCES
BASIC COMPETENCES
GENERAL COMPETENCES
- Develop arguments that demonstrate a critical understanding of political and social phenomena.
- Apply the knowledge acquired to develop interpretations of current economic phenomena and argue the case.
- Make use of historical and current documentary sources.
- Develop the technical IT competences necessary for a professional setting.
- Present a global vision with regards to trends and debates in international relations.
- Evaluate the economic dimension of international public and private policies.
- Plan and implement public and private policies at the international level, providing justification for their implementation.
- Use different information sources and channels to create and convey information, ideas, problems and solutions related to current international affairs.
- Train to conduct research and studies on the international sphere and its political, economic, social and cultural facets.
- Possess a critical understanding of the legal implications of international relations.
- Develop public- and private-sector strategies for real economic contexts.
- Communicate orally and in writing in both Spanish and English in a professional and academic context.
- Analyze and consider contemporary challenges and the social and cultural complexity of globalized society through a critical and creative lens.
- Apply suitable ethics-based judgements to all professional activities and relationships, with the ability to differentiate between personal and professional life.
- Apply and adapt knowledge and competences to a variety of international academic and professional contexts.
- Develop flexible problem-solving tools for organizational management that take the satisfaction of different stakeholders into consideration.
PROGRAM-SPECIFIC COMPETENCES
- Understand classical and contemporary political theories.
- Analyze and compare the structure and functioning of the main political systems.
- Recognize the paradigms, concepts and principles of political science.
- Understand microeconomic and macroeconomic models and obtain specific information from them.
- Be capable of identifying the key aspects of an economy and the operation of local and global markets.
- Understand international relations’ evolution as a discipline by placing it in the corresponding political, economic, legal and social contexts.
- Understand the historical dimension and evolution of the political and social processes hitherto in play in international relations.
- Produce, gather, analyze and interpret data and statistics.
- Understand the concepts, framework of application and theoretical foundations of international relations.
- Justify political and social stances in line with the discipline’s different theories.
- Understand the relationships between the different stakeholders in play as a function of a region’s current economic policy model.
- Understand the legal aspects and decision-making processes used as a part of nations and international organizations’ foreign policies in accordance with international law.
- Evaluate cases related to international jurisdiction, applicable law and the recognition and enforcement of judgements.
- Understand the structure, organization and operation of different types of international and supranational institutions, with particular focus on the European Union and the challenges it will face in the future.
- Analyze the course of global issues such as international terrorism, challenges in health and education and development cooperation.
- Understand and analyze the international economic environment and the economic dimension of international institutions using economic and financial tools in line with a given policy direction.
- Analytically connect past and current knowledge and processes through interdisciplinary analysis.
- Design communication strategies and apply political communication techniques.
- Apply the knowledge acquired to experimentation and the generation of new knowledge. Integrate and deploy all knowledge acquired throughout the program.
TRANSVERSAL COMPETENCES
- Identify the main cultural identity traits that characterize today’s world by understanding the main contemporary ideological trends.
- Behave professionally in accordance with the core principles and ethics of the profession.
- Manage unforeseen situations by being able to adapt to organizational changes.
- Use knowledge of the discipline to analyze and evaluate current situations.
- Form a part of interdisciplinary and multicultural teams to achieve shared goals in a diverse environment.
- Work actively in an international context.
