International Relations Leiden University

Overview

Understanding the complexities of world affairs requires an ability to think critically and to draw insights from a variety of perspectives, sources, and analytic frames. You will join the only master's programme in the Netherlands to offer five unique specialisations within the field of international relations. With a broad curriculum and flexible design, the Master’s degree in International Relations allows you to tailor your degree to suit your career goals. Five specialisations are available, each with their own thematic focus, and each with further scope for customisation. You will be able to specialise in areas ranging from the European integration process to the global political economy to the pursuit of global justice.

The MA International Relations is unique in its embrace of a humanities-based approach to international relations. Internationally, the programme is distinguished by the way it blends rigorous engagement of ideas in world politics with world-leading historiographical, cultural, and area studies teaching and research. Humanities-based international relations entails a humanistic, critical, and transdisciplinary approach to the study of international relations that comprehends how humankind in all its variety makes sense of the world and how international relations shapes social conditions and systems of meaning across and within countries.

What you will learn

Future employers are interested not only in the subject-related knowledge that you acquired during your study programme, but also in the ‘transferable skills’. These include cognitive skills, such as critical thinking, reasoning and argumentation and innovation; intrapersonal skills, such as flexibility, initiative, appreciating diversity and metacognition; and interpersonal skills, such as communication, accountability and conflict resolution. In short, they are skills that all professionals need in order to perform well.

It is therefore important that during your study programme you not only acquire as much knowledge as possible about your subject, but also are aware of the skills you have gained and the further skills you still want to learn. The skills you may encounter in the various courses are:

• Collaboration
• Persuasion
• Research
• Self-directed learning
• Creative thinking

Career prospects

The MA in International Relations offers outstanding preparation for students seeking a profession that requires comprehensive knowledge of world affairs and strong analytical and critical-thinking skills. Your master will qualify you for a wide-range of roles in almost every sector of the employment market. Many of our graduates work for public services, research institutes, international organisations, government bodies, NGOs, education, communications, policy development, political institutes and academia, amongst others.

Examples of the diverse roles of our graduates include:

• Policy advisor at a ministry of foreign affairs;
• Communications manager and project assistant at an NGO promoting reconciliation and peace;
• Consular spokesperson at a ministry of foreign affairs;
• Consultant at an NGO;
• Project manager at a company specialising in geo-services, international development and project management;
• PhD candidate and research assistant;
• Communications officer at an international student federation.

Accreditation

Accredited by NVAO, the Accreditation Organisation of the Netherlands and Flanders.