Overview of the 1st Year PAIS modules

I have decided to construct this blog to help prospective students gain a greater understanding of the structure and administration behind the modules within the Politics and International Studies department here at Warwick. I will be outlining what studying each module entails from a student’s perspective; the 3 core modules will be addressed as it remains mandatory that all students study these while the 2 optional modules that I chose will also be briefly explored to give you a greater understanding of what you may want to select as your optimal modules for your first year. As always, if you have any specific questions or comments please feel free to contact me and I hope you all are staying safe and taking care of yourselves during this time.

Core modules: There are three core modules that all Politics and International Studies Students must take, these are designed to provide essential and foundational knowledge for your future studies and while there may be clashes with some of the content taught to those who took A level politics, the modules are created with the idea that students have no prior political studies and classes. 

1. Introduction to Politics: This module is exactly as it sounds: an introduction to the key political ideas that will be further built upon in other modules. Here you will cover questions like that addressing actors, institutions, and ideas as well as the prominent political structures in contemporary politics. 
2. World Politics: This module utilizes a more global perspective when addressing the core ideas in the international realm of politics, as a result, you will be exploring the global concepts of many political decisions like those of realism, liberalism, and feminism – there will also be a specific focus on the international economy in modern times and how that has been developed. 
3. Political Research in the 21st Century: This module focuses on how research is conducted in contemporary politics, providing students with crucial research comprehending skills that can aid your later research for your dissertation projects, the module explores topics like that of different historical archives, conspiracy theories and the work of pressure groups. 

Optional modules: As part of your first year, you will be able to select two optional modules, these will allow you to focus on subject areas that you are more interested in and will allow you to gain a greater understanding of the type of topics you may want to address in your later years. I will give you an overview of the two optional modules I selected this year and the topics covered by them. 

1. Social Analytics: This provided me with an introduction to quantitative research; this module explored specific research skills and combined them with minimal mathematical understanding – I have also written a review on this module as a whole.
2. Justice, Citizenship, and Democracy: This module outlines the questions of justice on a global scale and how concepts such as that of citizenship and democracy vary amongst the international realm in contemporary politics. 

Hopefully, you found this short overview and exploration helpful to your studies.