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: