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Department of Politics

Undergraduate Programme Handbook

BA Global Politics and International Relations

2014-2015

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Contents

Introduction to BA Global Politics and International Relations

Introduction Useful

contacts Structure of the

degree Teaching

arrangements The

dissertation

Break in Studies Policy and Withdrawal from a Module or Programme

Results

Repeating modules and intermediate awards

Introduction to the Department of Politics

History of the Department

Full-time academic staff

Emeritus and visiting staff

Professorial Fellows

Administrative Staff

Aims and objectives

The Centre for the Study of British Politics and Public Life

Location

Access

Department website

Departmental blog and twitter

Keeping in touch

Student Support and Disability Advice

Student Support

Study Support

English language support for non-native speakers

Disability Statement

The Disability Office

Access at Birkbeck

The Disabled Students Allowance

The Personal Assistance Scheme

Support in your School

Specific Learning Difficulties (Dyslexia)

Examinations

Further information

Annex

Disclaimer and useful links

Useful contacts

Criteria for the award of the degree

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Introduction to the BA Global Politics and International

Relations

Introduction

How did the contemporary international political and economic system come about? What is its future? This innovative course looks at the nature of politics at the global

level and covers international relations, political economy, and war and security

studies. You will gain the skills necessary for political, sociological, historical and

economic analysis in a learning environment that is supportive, radical and exciting.

You will also develop and practice skills of communication, presenting, analysing and

evaluating social science evidence and arguments, and academic writing. If you

choose to write a dissertation, you will develop an ability to conduct independent

research.

Useful contacts

The programme director is Dr Ali Burak Güven

(Email:a.guven@bbk.ac.uk; Tel: 020 7631 6697)

The programme administrator is Irene Breckon (i.breckon@bbk.ac.uk)

Structure of the Degree The BA Global Politics and International Relations programme is an Honours

degreethat requires three years’ full-time or four years’ part-time study. All students

must complete twelve modules during the degree.

i. Five compulsory modules;

ii. Seven option modules; students may, in lieu of their seventh option

module, choose to submit a dissertation.

PART-TIME (FOUR YEARS) FULL-TIME (THREE YEARS)

YEAR ONE

The Study of Politics (Level 4)

Introduction to Global Politics (Level 4)

Political Transformations (Level 5)

YEAR ONE

The Study of Politics (Level 4)

Introduction to Global Politics (Level 4)

Political Transformations (Level 5)

One Level 5 option

YEAR TWO

Intro to Int. Political Economy (Level 5)

Two Level 4 options*

YEAR TWO

Intro to Int. Political Economy (level 5)

Two Level 4 options*

One Level 5 or Level 6 option

YEAR THREE

War and Modern Society (Level 6)

One Level 5 or Level 6 option

One Level 5 or Level 6 option

YEAR THREE

War and Modern Society (Level 6)

Three Level 6 options or Two Level 6

options + dissertation

YEAR FOUR

Three Level 6 options or Two Level 6

options + dissertation

* Students can substitute one or both of these Level 4 option modules with Level 5

or Level 6 option modules if they have obtained a grade of at least 50% in each of

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the two compulsory Level 4 modules taken the previous year (The Study of Politics

and Introduction to Global Politics).

Students are required to make their option module choices by the end of August.

For full details about how to complete the BA options form, descriptions of the

modules and timetables for Politics, please see:

http://www.bbk.ac.uk/politics/study-

here/PoliticsModulesBooklet20145finalversion3.pdf

Teaching Arrangements All lectures and classes are held between 6.00pm and 9.00pm in the evening. Each

module on the programme amounts to between thirty-forty hours of teaching (lectures

and seminars). Each 30-credit level 5 and level 6 module meets one night a week

during both the autumn and spring terms. Teaching on level 4 modules takes place

over the course of a single term and for three hours per class. The degree involves

attendance, on average, on two or three evenings a week for 20 weeks per year in

part-time study, and four evenings a week for 20 weeks per year in full-time study. In

Level 4 modules, students are often assessed throughout the semester via various

assignments and tests. In Level 5 and Level 6 modules, students are examined at the

end of the year and via coursework submitted during term time.

Dissertations

In the final year of study, and with the agreement of the Department, students may

choose to submit a dissertation in lieu of one Level 6 option module. The dissertation,

which must be between 8,000 and 10,000 words in length, offers an opportunity to

research a subject in depth, and to prepare a substantial, argued piece of work.All BA

dissertations must be submitted by May15th. Dissertations are to be submitted on

Moodle and one hard copy must be presented to the Politics Departmental Office at

10 Gower Street between the hours of 10.00 and18.00.

Students who wish to do a dissertation rather than an option module must

indicate so on their BA options form, which must be submitted by 31 August.

http://www.bbk.ac.uk/politics/current-students/undergraduates/ba-option-choices

Once students have chosen to do a dissertation, they must submit a completed

dissertation proposal form by 31 October. The purpose of this form is to identify a

research topic for your dissertation on the basis of which you will be allocated a

Dissertation Supervisor by the undergraduate dissertation coordinator, Dr Alejandro

Colas (a.colas@bbk.ac.uk).

Dissertation proposal forms and full guidelines on writing an undergraduate

dissertation are available from the Department of Politics website:

http://www.bbk.ac.uk/politics/current-students/undergraduates

If you wish to do a dissertation you should contact your Programme Director in the

summer term prior to commencement of the fourth year to discuss possible topics. You

must then submit a dissertation proposal form to your Programme Director in the

spring term (January) of your final year of study. This document can, in most, cases

by submitted via the Moodle portal for your dissertation.

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All research that is carried out by Birkbeck students that involves intervention or

interaction with human participants, or the collection and / or study of data derived

from living human participants (e.g. conducting research interviews), requires ethical

approval. Dissertation proposal forms and ethical proposal forms along with more

detailed guidance on writing dissertations are available from the Department website:

http://www.bbk.ac.uk/politics/current-students/undergraduates

Break in Studies Policy and Withdrawal from a Module or Programme

Withdrawing from a module Students who wish to withdraw from the examination for a module should inform their

Programme Director in advance of the examination. Students who do so without

claiming mitigating circumstances that are then accepted by the Politics Exam Board

will fail the module and be given two additional attempts to pass the module via re-

take or reassessment (see section of repeating modules below). Students who withdraw

from a module and claim mitigating circumstances that are approved by the Politics

Exam Board will be offered either alternative assessment (see section of repeating

modules below) or three additional chances to pass the module at the discretion of the

Politics Exam Board. Please note that where a first-year, part-time student withdraws

from a module, it falls to the Politics Exam Board to decide whether this module must

first be passed before the student can proceed to the second year of study. For further

details on mitigating circumstances, please see:

http://www.bbk.ac.uk/mybirkbeck/services/administration/assessment/exams/mitigati

ng-circumstances

Withdrawing from your dissertation

Students who wish to withdraw from their dissertation must inform their Programme Director before the dissertation is due. Students who do so without claiming mitigating

circumstances that are then accepted by their Programme Director will be given two

additional attempts to pass. Students who claim mitigating circumstances that are

approved by their Programme Director will be offered three remaining chances to pass

the dissertation. Deferred dissertations can be submitted by 15 May (or the Friday

before if 15 May is a Saturday or Sunday) or September 15 (or the Friday before if 15

September is a Saturday or Sunday) in the year following deferral.

For further details on mitigating circumstances, please see:

http://www.bbk.ac.uk/mybirkbeck/services/administration/assessment/exams/mitigati

ng-circumstances

Break in Studies

College regulations permit a student to suspend studies for a maximum of two years

in total during their programme of study. Please see your Programme Director and the

Department Office if you are considering a break in studies. Further details on

relevant College regulations can be found here:

http://www.bbk.ac.uk/mybirkbeck/services/rules/bis.doc/view

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Withdrawing from your programme

If for any reason you decide to withdraw from your degree on a permanent basis, we hope you will talk to us first. Students choose to withdraw for a wide range of reasons

and it may be that we will be able to make arrangements to help you complete your

course.

For further information, please see:

http://www.bbk.ac.uk/mybirkbeck/services/administration/withdrawing

Please note that if you are requesting a refund, a medical certificate is required, where

applicable. Please note that the reimbursement policy is as follows:

A student who withdraws 15 or more days after the start of the first term of study, or

after they have completed enrolment (whichever is the later) is liable for payment of

tuition fees for the first term of their intended study, and all subsequent terms up to

and including the term in which they withdraw. Liability for tuition fees is divided

equally across all terms of study (with the exception explained in 20 below), e.g. for

study over three terms tuition fee liability is:

Term 12: 1/3 of total course fee

Term 2: 2/3 of total course fee

Term 3: All of total course fee

For full details, please see:

http://www.bbk.ac.uk/mybirkbeck/services/rules/Terms%20and%20Conditions%202

013-14.pdf

Results When you submit coursework during the year you can usually expect to receive a

mark and feedback within three weeks. All marks are provisional until they are

approved by the Politics Exam Board, which meets in July of each year. Exam and

dissertation results are released after the July meeting of the Politics Exam Board.

These results will be made available to you via your My Birkbeck Profile

(http://www.bbk.ac.uk/mybirkbeck/) but please note that it can take up to several

weeks after the Exam Board meets until marks for all students are entered on this

system.

Repeating modules and intermediate awards

If you fail a module you will be offered two additional attempts to pass the module.

This second attempt will take the form of a ‘re-take’, ‘re-assessment’ or ‘alternative

assessment’ at the discretion of the Politics Exam Board. A re-take requires attendance

at the module’s lectures and seminars as well as another attempt at the assessment,

whereas “re-assessment” is where a student attempts only the failed element(s) of a

failed module. Please note that students who retake the module will be liable to pay

fees for this course. Alternative assessment allows a student to submit additional

coursework in lieu of a second attempt at an exam and may be offered only in those

cases where a student has applied for mitigating circumstances and this claim has been

accepted by the Politics Exam Board. Any offer of alternative assessment is made only

after a consideration of the student’s overall progression for the year and is

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not an automatic entitlement. For further details on mitigating circumstances, please

see:

http://www.bbk.ac.uk/mybirkbeck/services/administration/assessment/exams/mitigati

ng-circumstances

Intermediate awards can be offered by the Examinations Board when a student fails to

complete the full requirements for the degree.

Qualification Credits needed

Certificate in Higher Education 120

Diploma in Higher Education 240

(including 120 at level 5 or above)

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Introduction to the Department of Politics

History of the Department

Birkbeck College was founded in 1823 as the London Mechanics Institute, and was admitted as a constituent School of the University of London in 1920. Its mission is to

provide programmes of study to meet the needs of adults who are engaged in earning

their livelihood. Nearly 18,000 students studied at Birkbeck in 2010-2011 (4,683

undergraduates, 5,075 postgraduates, and 8,064 certificate students), the

overwhelming majority (roughly 90%) of whom studied part-time.

The Department of Politics was founded in 1972. It initially offered inter-disciplinary

degrees at the postgraduate level, but now also offers undergraduate and single

subject programmes in Politics. Located at 10 Gower Street, it is one of seven

departments in the School of Social Sciences, History and Philosophy. The

Department currently has approximately 20 full-time members, several part-time

lecturers, and a number of distinguished visiting Professors and Fellows. It teaches

both part-time and full-time students. Classes are taught in the evening in fulfilment

of the College’s mission.

Over the years, the Department has acquired a reputation for teaching and research of

which it is justly proud. It is unusual among UK politics departments in two respects.

Firstly, it is genuinely interdisciplinary, recognising no intellectual boundaries between

politics, political history, political theory and sociology, and its degrees transcend

these distinctions. Secondly, its primary teaching commitment remains the provision of

top-quality undergraduate and postgraduate education to part-time students in full-time

employment. Teaching and learning arrangements have been designed accordingly to

meet their needs. The Department attracts a body of students whose diverse

professional experience, personal backgrounds and maturity, mean that they bring to

the classroom tremendous breadth and depth of knowledge, often in fields relevant to

the subjects under study. This enriches the intellectual life of the Department for

students and staff alike.

Full-time academic staff

Samantha Ashenden, BA (Kingston), MPhil (Cantab), PhD (Lond.)

Senior Lecturer in Sociology

Edwin Bacon, BA (Sheffield), MSocSc (Birmingham), MBA(London) PhD

(Birmingham)

Reader in Comparative Politics

Antoine Bousquet, BSc (UCL), MSc (LSE), PhD (LSE) Senior Lecturer in Politics & International Relations

Rosie Campbell, BA, MSc (Southampton) PhD (Lond)

Reader in Politics

Alejandro Colás, BSc (Bristol), MSc/MRes (LSE), PhD (LSE) Reader in International Relations

Diana Coole, BA (Wales), MSc (London), PhD (Toronto) Professor of Political and Social Theory, Head of Department

Dionyssis Dimitrakopoulos BA (Athens), Lic Spec (Brussels), PhD (Hull) Senior Lecturer in Politics

Jason Edwards, BA (Oxon), MSc (Lond.), PhD (Lond.) Lecturer in Politics

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Ali Burak Güven, BSc, MSc (Middle East Technical University), PhD (Toronto)

Lecturer in International Relations and International Political Economy Dermot Hodson BA (TCD), MA (College of Europe) and PhD (LSE)

Senior Lecturer in Political Economy Eric Kaufmann, BA (U. Western Ontario), MSc/MRes (LSE), PhD (LSE)

Professor of Politics Joni Lovenduski BSc, MA (Manchester), PhD (Loughborough)

Anniversary Professor of Politics Deborah Mabbett, BA (Victoria University of Wellington), D.Phil (Oxon)

Professor of Public Policy Robert Singh, BA (Oxon), DPhil (Oxon)

Professor of Politics David Styan, BA (SOAS), DEA (University of Bordeaux), PhD (LSE)

Lecturer in Politics

Matthijs van den Bos, MA (University of Amsterdam), MA (Utrecht University), PhD

(University of Amsterdam)

Lecturer in International Studies

Barbara Zollner, MA (Bonn), PhD (SOAS) Lecturer in Islamic Studies

Ben Worthy BA, MA, PhD (Manchester) Lecturer in Politics

Emeritus and visiting staff

Helen Bolderson Hussein Kassim

Dr Sarah Childs

Peter John

Anne Showstack Sassoon Sami Zubaida

Professorial Fellows

Tony Wright

Administrative Staff

Jane Halstead, Assistant School Manager

Irene Breckon, Team Leader Nina Dartford, Administrator

James Harding, Administrator

Simon Abbott, Administrator

Jean Dhanji, Administrator

For an up to date list of staff members, including sessional teaching staff, see:

http://www.bbk.ac.uk/politics/our-staff

Aims and objectives

The Department’s principal aims are:

• to enable mature students in full-time employment to undertake undergraduate

and postgraduate study in Politics in fulfilment of the mission of the College;

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• to enable students to develop and deepen their understanding of the conceptual

and theoretical bases of the disciplines, their methods of inquiry, and their

domains of knowledge;

• to offer students the opportunity to develop and deepen their skills of critical

evaluation and analysis;

• to enable students to develop and extend their key skills as a foundation for

personal development, employment or further academic study; and

• to contribute to the needs of local, national and international communities. Against

the backdrop of these objectives, all graduating students from the Department

will:

• be able to demonstrate the ability to apply critically the main theories, models

and concepts used in the study of politics to the analysis of political ideas,

institutions, processes, practices, developments and events;

• have developed an understanding and substantive knowledge of political

processes and/or social and political theory;

• have extended and developed their analytical, evaluative and critical

capacities;

• have developed transferable skills, including the ability to take responsibility

for their own learning, learning how to learn, making oral and written

presentations, planning and producing written assignments, working

independently, and using information technology; and

• have developed, where they complete a dissertation, the ability to undertake

independent research.

The Centre for the Study of British Politics and Public Life

The Department of Politics is home to the Centre for the Study of British Politics and Public Life. The Centre aims to engage with key issues in British politics and public

life through public debates, conferences, lectures, seminars and seminar series, and

workshops. For further details please see: http://www.csbppl.com

Location

The Department is located at 10 Gower Street, and the Department Office on the ground floor is open for enquiries between 10:00 and 18:00 every weekday. Please

press the buzzer for the Department Office for access. Members of staff have offices

in 10 Gower Street or adjacent buildings. Much of the teaching is held in Birkbeck’s

main building in Malet Street.

Access

You will need your Birkbeck ID card throughout your time at Birkbeck, since it acts

as your College ID card, library card and access card. Once you have completed your

enrolment, you will be entitled to an ID card. The simplest way to get your ID card is

by ordering it via your My Birkbeck profile. Just upload a recent image of yourself

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and submit your order. Alternatively, visit the My Birkbeck Helpdesk where they can

take a photo of you and produce a card. Please note you may be required to queue

during busy periods. The ID card will remain valid for the duration of your studies,

and you will not be issued with a new card for each subsequent academic year. See the

following link for further details:

http://www.bbk.ac.uk/mybirkbeck/services/you/cards

If you lose or damage your Birkbeck student card, a replacement can be ordered for a

non-refundable fee of £10.00. See the following link for further details:

http://www.bbk.ac.uk/mybirkbeck/services/you/cards/replacement

Departmental website The Department website (www.bbk.ac.uk/politics) carries information about the

Department, the staff, students and courses, and a notice board. Also available are

learning resources, such as guidelines on essay and dissertation writing, course

materials (access to which may require a password and username), and links to sites

of particular interest to students in Politics. Students are advised to familiarise

themselves with the website and to visit it regularly.

Departmental blog and twitter

See the departmental blog (www.10-gower-street.com) for updates by scholars from

Birkbeck and beyond on political research in progress and commentary on current

affairs. You can also follow the Department on twitter

(https://twitter.com/bbkpolitics).

Keeping in touch

Please check the Department website (www.bbk.ac.uk/politics) regularly for notices.

Email is the main method by which we will contact you, so it is important that we get

your email address right. Please check your My Birkbeck profile to ensure that we

have the correct email address for you (http://www.bbk.ac.uk/mybirkbeck).

Change of address

You must inform the Registry if you change address at any time while studying at

Birkbeck. You can do so online by logging into your 'MyBirkbeck Profile'

(http://www.bbk.ac.uk/mybirkbeck/).

Student Support and Disability Advice

Student support

As a Birkbeck student, you can get access to a range of support facilities including:

Accommodation services

Career services

Counselling service

Financial support

Health services

Nursery

Students' Union

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For more details, please see: http://www.bbk.ac.uk/mybirkbeck/services/facilities

Study support

Birkbeck’s Centre for Transformative Practice in Learning and Teaching also offers a range of academic development workshops for students. Some courses are initially

only available to first year undergraduates, but other students can join a standby list.

All workshops are free of charge unless stated otherwise. Topics covered in these

modules include:

Moodle

Reading skills

Note taking

Time Management

Essay writing

Academic English

For more details, please see: http://www.bbk.ac.uk/learning-and-teaching/supporting-

learning/students-skills-development

The Learning Development Tutor The Learning Development Tutor for the School of Social Sciences, History and Philosophy is Helen Fuller. Helen is available for 1-to-1 meetings to provide support and advice, and can help students with a range of study skills including: • organisational skills • time management • critical reading • note taking • essay planning • writing • referencing • exam preparation Helen also provides workshops on these topics which run throughout the year. Details for these workshops can be found on the My Birkbeck website at http://www.bbk.ac.uk/mybirkbeck/ To contact Helen email h.fuller@bbk.ac.uk or telephone 0207 631 6693. To make an appointment for a 1-to-1 tutorial please log in to Moodle and click on the link to the School of Social Sciences, History and Philosophy module.

English language support for non-native speakers The Academic English module offered by the Centre for Transformative Practice in

Learning and Teaching (see above) is open to native and non-native speakers. For a

module aimed specifically at non-native speakers, the College runs a range of short

modules designed for students who are about to start a university degree or are

already studying at undergraduate or postgraduate level. An additional fee is charged

for attending these modules.

For further details, please see: http://www.bbk.ac.uk/study/2014/short-

courses/subject/english_language/

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Disability Statement

At Birkbeck there are students with a wide range of disabilities including dyslexia, visual or hearing impairments, mobility difficulties, mental health needs, medical

conditions and respiratory conditions. Many of them have benefited from the advice

and support provided by the College’s Disability Office.

The Disability Office

The College has a Disability Office located in room G12 on the ground floor of the Malet Street building. We have a Disability Service Manager, Mark Pimm, a Disability

Administrator, John Muya and a Mental Health Advisor, Elizabeth Hughes. We will

shortly be appointing an SpLD Advisor.

All enquiries should come to the Disability office, who will determine the appropriate

referral to specialist staff. They can provide advice and support on travel and parking,

physical access, the Disabled Students Allowance, special equipment, personal

support, examination arrangements etc. If you have a disability or dyslexia, we

recommend you come to our drop in session where we can discuss support and make

follow up appointments as necessary. The drop-in sessions are between 4pm and 6pm

Monday to Thursday.

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The Disability Office can also complete an Individual Student Support Agreement

form with you, confirming your support requirements and send this to your School

and relevant Departments at the College so they are informed of your needs.

Access at Birkbeck

Birkbeck's main buildings have wheelchair access, accessible lifts and toilets, our reception desks have induction loops for people with hearing impairments and we

have large print and tactile signage. Disabled parking, lockers, specialist seating in

lectures and seminars and portable induction loops can all be arranged by the

Disability Office.

The Disabled Students Allowance

UK and most EU students with disabilities on undergraduate and postgraduate courses

are eligible to apply for the Disabled Students' Allowance (DSA). The DSA usually

provides thousands of pounds worth of support and all the evidence shows that

students who receive it are more likely to complete their courses successfully. The

Disability Office can provide further information on the DSA and can assist you in

applying to Student Finance England for this support.

The Personal Assistance Scheme

Some students need a personal assistant to provide support on their course, for

example a note-taker, sign language interpreter, reader, personal assistant, disability

mentor or dyslexia support tutor. Birkbeck uses a specialist agency to recruit Personal

Assistants and they can assist you with recruiting, training and paying your personal

assistant. Please contact the Disability Office for information on this scheme.

Support in your School

The provision which can be made for students with disabilities by Schools is set out in

the Procedures for Students with Disabilities. This is available from the Disability

Office and on the disability website (see below).

As mentioned above your School will receive a copy of your Individual Student

Support Agreement from the Disability Office. This will make specific

recommendations about the support you should receive from the School. If you

experience any difficulties or require additional support from the School then they

may also be able to assist you. They may be contacted through the School Office or

the Disability Office.

Support in IT Services and Library Services

There is a comprehensive range of specialist equipment for students with disabilities in IT Services. This includes software packages for dyslexic students (e.g. Claroread

and Inspiration), screen reading and character enhancing software for students with

visual impairments, specialist scanning software, large monitors, ergonomic mice and

keyboards, specialist orthopaedic chairs etc. For advice and assistance please contact

Disability IT Support. There is also a range of specialist equipment in the Library

including a CCTV reading machine for visually impaired students as well as specialist

orthopaedic chairs and writing slopes. The Disability Office refers all students with

disabilities to the Library Access Support service who provides a comprehensive

range of services for students with disabilities.

Specific Learning Difficulties (Dyslexia)

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Mature students who experienced problems at school are often unaware that these

problems may result from their being dyslexic. Whilst dyslexia cannot be cured, you

can learn strategies, which make studying significantly easier. If you think you may

be dyslexic you should contact the Disability Office who can screen you and where

appropriate refer you to an Educational Psychologist for a dyslexia assessment. These

assessments cost £225. Some students can receive assistance in meeting this cost from

their employer. In exceptional cases students may receive assistance from the Access to

Learning Fund.

Examinations

Students with disabilities and dyslexia may be eligible for special arrangements for

examinations e.g. extra time, use of a word processor, amanuensis, enlarged

examination papers etc. In order to receive special arrangements a student must

provide medical evidence of their disability (or an Educational Psychologists report if

you are dyslexic) to the Disability Office. For School examinations you should

contact your Programme Director to request special arrangements at least 2 weeks

before the examination. For main College summer examinations you are given the

opportunity to declare that you require special provision on your assessment entry

form. Students who require provision should then attend an appointment with the

Disability Office to discuss and formalise the appropriate arrangements. The closing

date for making special examination arrangements in College examinations is the 15th

March and beyond this date consideration will only be given to emergency cases.

Further information

Full information on disability support can be found at:

http://www.bbk.ac.uk/mybirkbeck/services/facilities/disability

For further information or to make an appointment to see the Disability office, please

call the Student Centre on 020 7631 6316 or email disability@bbk.ac.uk.

Alternatively you can go to the Disability Office in room G12 between 4pm and 6pm

Monday – Thursday for during their drop-in hours.

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Annex: Useful contacts

Academic staff

Samantha Ashenden s.ashenden@bbk.ac.uk

Edwin Bacon e.bacon@bbk.ac.uk

Antoine Bousquet a.bousquet@bbk.ac.uk

Rosie Campbell r.campbell@bbk.ac.uk

Alejandro Colás a.colás@bbk.ac.uk

Diana Coole d.coole@bbk.ac.uk

Dionyssis Dimitrakopoulos d.dimitrakopoulos@bbk.ac.uk

Jason Edwards j.edwards@bbk.ac.uk

Ali Burak Güven a.guven@bbk.ac.uk

Dermot Hodson d.hodson@bbk.ac.uk

Eric Kaufmann e.kaufmann@bbk.ac.uk

Joni Lovenduski j.lovenduski@bbk.ac.uk

Deborah Mabbett d.mabbett@bbk.ac.uk

Rob Singh r.singh@bbk.ac.uk

David Styan d.styan@bbk.ac.uk

Matthijs van den Bos m.van-den-bos@bbk.ac.uk

Ben Worthy b.worthy@bbk.ac.uk

Sami Zubaida s.zubaida@bbk.ac.uk

Barbara Zollner b.zollner@bbk.ac.uk

Administrative staff

Irene Breckon 020 7079 0755 i.breckon@bbk.ac.uk

Nina Dartford 020 7631 6780 n.dartford@bbk.ac.uk

James Harding 020 7631 6789 js.harding@bbk.ac.uk

Jean Dhanji 020 7631 6780 j.dhanji@bbk.ac.uk

Simon Abbott 020 7631 6789 s.abbott@bbk.ac.uk

Politics

Department Office

020 7631 6780 pgpolitics@bbk.ac.uk

Other useful numbers

College

Switchboard

020 7631 6000

Registry 020 7631 6390/6309

College Library 020 7631 6239

Students Union 020 7631 6335

Student Financial

Support

020 7631 6362

Disability Office 020 7631 6336

ITS Reception 020 7631 6543

Telephone numbers are liable to change from time to time – please phone the

Department Office (020 7631 6780/6789) or the Birkbeck Switchboard (020 7631

6000) in case of difficulties.

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Annex: Disclaimer and Useful links

Regulations, procedures and codes of practice:

Ever effort has been made to ensure that the information provided in this programme

handbook is accurate at the time of going to press. For full, up-to-date information

about College regulations, please see:

http://www.bbk.ac.uk/reg/regs

Other useful links

Department of Politics

http://www.bbk.ac.uk/politics

Moodle:

http://moodle.bbk.ac.uk

Regulations, procedures and codes of practice:

http://www.bbk.ac.uk/reg/regs

Regulations for Taught Programmes of Study:

http://www.bbk.ac.uk/mybirkbeck/services/rules/casregs.pdf

Mitigating Circumstances Policy, Procedure and Guidance:

http://www.bbk.ac.uk/mybirkbeck/services/rules/mitcircspol.pdf

Break-in-Study Policy:

http://www.bbk.ac.uk/mybirkbeck/services/rules/bis.doc

College Policy on Plagiarism and other Assessment Offences

http://www.bbk.ac.uk/mybirkbeck/services/rules/assmtoff.pdf

Disability and dyslexia support

http://www.bbk.ac.uk/mybirkbeck/services/facilities/disability

Birkbeck data protection policy

http://www.bbk.ac.uk/hr/policies_services/policies_az/data_protection_policy

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Annex: Criteria for the Award of Honours

1. In order to obtain an Honours Degree in Global Politics and International Relations,

students must accumulate a total of 360 credits, where each module is worth 30 credits.

Students must therefore normally pass 12 modules in order to be awarded the degree,

except in cases where credit for prior study has been approved.

2. Students normally take 120 credits (4 modules) at level 4, a minimum of 60 and a

maximum of 120 credits (2 to 4 modules) at level 5, and a minimum of 120 and a

maximum of 180 credits (4 to 6 modules) at level 6.

3. The Study of Politics, Introduction to Global Politics, Political Transformations,

Introduction to International Political Economy, and War and Modern Society are all

designated as compulsory modules. Students must attend and take all assessment for these

modules. If any of these modules are failed in the first instance, students must retake or be

reassessed for the module (up to a total of three failed attempts).

4. A passing grade for a module is recorded when a student achieves an overall module

result of 40% or above.

5. If a student achieves an overall module result of between 30-39%, their grade is

recorded as a fail. Students may be reassessed for the failed elements of their assessment

on the module, up to a total of three failed attempts.

6. A student failing a module by a narrow margin may be awarded a Compensated Fail.

No more than two 30 credit modules designated as Compensated Fails may contribute

towards the 360 credits required to obtain a degree. No more than 30 credits Compensated

Fail (i.e. one module) contributing towards the final credit total can be at Level 6.

7. A student achieving a module result of less than 29% will be deemed to have failed the

module with an unsatisfactory performance. No credit will be awarded for the module and

students cannot be reassessed. Students may only retake the entire module, which requires

that they attend all scheduled contact sessions and complete all assessment on the module

on the next occasion that it runs.

8. The Politics Exam Board determines whether a student failing with an overall module

result between 30-39% is to be reassessed for the failed elements of assessment, or is

required to retake the entire module.

9. When calculating final degree classification, only Level 5 and Level 6 modules

contribute. The final classification is a weighted average of Level 5 and Level 6 modules;

Level 5 weighted at 1, and Level 6 at 2.

9.1 The College sets the class of Degree that may be awarded as follows:

First: 70% or above for the average weighted module results

Upper Second: 60% or above for the average weighted module results

Lower Second: 50% or above for the average weighted module results

Third: 40% or above for the average weighted module results

9.2 Where a student’s average result is within 2% of the next (higher) degree classification

the Politics Exam Board should consider the number of modules and credit for which the

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assessment falls within a particular class. If a candidate has preponderance of module results

in a higher class than that determined by the aggregate result, the higher degree may be

awarded.

9.3 A student may obtain a Pass classification if they have accumulated 300 credits, with

at least 120 credits at Level 6, and no more than 60 credits as Compensated Fail (of which

no more than 30 can be at Level 6).

9.4 A student may NOT attempt further modules above a total of 360 credits in order to

improve his/ her average result.

9.5. The Politics Exam Board may take into account such additional factors as may have

affected candidates’ performance and any special difficulties the candidate may have

experienced, such as illness. Discretion will be used to the benefit of the candidate and not

otherwise.