- The Academic Year consists of three terms: Michaelmas Term (September – December), Lent Term (January – April) and Summer Term (May – June). MSc dissertations will be due in August.
- There are 11 weeks per term for both Michaelmas and Lent Terms. You will typically have 1 lecture and 1 class/seminar per course per week during term time. While there is generally no teaching in Summer Term, courses with exams may run revision sessions in the first weeks of term.
- You will have a Reading Week in Week 6 of Michaelmas Term and Lent Term, which is a break from lectures and seminars to allow you to catch up on readings and assessments.
- You can find out the dates of our terms atLSE Term Datesand view an overview of teaching weeks.
What is the difference between a 'course' and a 'programme'?
The term'programme' refers to your degree as a whole – either the 3 years of the BSc International Relations or the year-long MSc degrees.
The term ‘course’ refers to individual courses such as ‘IR100 Theories and Concepts in International Relations’ or'IR487 International Relations: Critical Perspectives'. They can either be full year courses (ie teaching takes place in both the Michaelmas and Lent terms) or half unit courses (with teaching taking place in just one of these terms).
You may also find your academic mentor referring to ‘papers’.These are the individual components of your ‘degree programme’.A ‘paper’ may entail a single compulsory course (ie Paper 2 on the BSc IR degree is IR101 Contemporary Issues in International Relations or Paper 1 on the MSc IR is IR487 International Relations: Critical Perspectives) or it may entail a choice from a selection of courses.
Don't worry, it will all make sense after the welcome orientation sessions and your first meeting with your academic mentor!
What is the difference between a 'class' and a 'seminar'?
Classesare held for undergraduate students to provide an opportunity to discuss issues raised in lectures and as a result of private study.In the 1st and 2nd year, classes normallyhave up to 14 students and meet for one hour a week.In the 3rd year,many of the specialist half unit optionsmeet for 90 minutes or take the form of a two hour taught seminar.Most classes involve student presentations as a way of starting discussion.
Seminarsare similar to classes but are held for postgraduate students and will normally have up to 15students.They are normally 1.5 hours in length.
How many hours a week are given over to lectures and classes/seminars? How is teaching distributed across the three terms?
For each examinable course that you will be taking, there will normally be a weekly 1-hour lecture and an accompanying 1-hour or 1.5 hour weekly class (for undergraduates) or 1.5 hour weekly seminar (for MSc students). These normally run during Michaelmas and Lent Terms with a revision session in Week 1of the Summer Term. In Week 6 of both the Michaelmas and Lent Terms there will be a reading week with no lectures or classes/seminars.
Sometimes you will also be advised by the Course Coordinator to attend a complementary set of lectures. Details of the teaching arrangements for individual courses can be found in the relevantUndergraduate course guidesandPostgraduate course guides.
You can also view the onlineSchool Timetable. This will tell you the terms in which teaching is held, ie: MT = Michaelmas Term, LT = Lent Term, ST = Summer Term, the week in which teaching for a given course begins, the room and any room changes that are due during the course of the year. You will need your LSE username and password. Postgraduate courses can be viewed from mid-August onwards and Undergraduate courses from mid-September onwards.
More information on undergraduate teaching and assessment
Information on taught masters teaching and assessment
Each course has its own detailed reading list, which is accessed via the School's virtual learning environment (VLE) called Moodle.
The department's teaching philosophy places great emphasis on independent study and student initiative.You are expected to read widely and deeply enough to be able to contribute to class discussions and take part in formative assignments.
The readings will normally be divided into a short section listing ‘essential’, ‘required’ or ‘recommended’ readings and longer ‘general’ or ‘further’ readings. The essential readings are meant to identify keys readings for that week’s class discussions and will be online readings. These can be accessed both on the LSE campus and remotely.
The further readings are meant to provide a wider range of readings that you can draw on in making class presentations, writing essays, and taking part in other activities set by your class teacher. You are free to choose from these readings as you judge appropriate for the topic at hand, as well as seek advice from your class teachers and/or academic advisor on which of the further readings may be of relevance to the ideas and arguments you wish to develop.
- At the beginning of the year, you will be assigned an Academic Mentor, who will be your key point of contact in the Department. You will be able to meet with them regularly throughout term time, and they will keep an overview of your academic progress and overall wellbeing during your time at the School.
- All academic faculty, including your course conveners, seminar leaders/class teachers and Undergraduate Department Tutor and post-graduate Programme Director hold Office Hours, which are published on our website and course Moodle pages.
- You can book office hours with any faculty member using Student Hub. You will be able to access the platform once you finish your registration.
Both undergraduate and taught postgraduate IR single honours students canapply for a 50% reduction in fees for a Language Centre non-degree course.
Take a look at this page for full details of the courses on offer.
The vast majority of non degree language courses commence inweek 4 of the Michaelmas Termwhich is the week commencingMonday 17 October 2022.
To apply:
DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS: 3 October 2022 9.00am.All applications will be reviewed and applicants will be contacted by 10 October.
As both the Government and International History Departments run separate language course subsidy schemes, joint honours students are not eligible to apply to the International Relations subsidy programme.
Please note: the subsidy takes the form of a reimbursem*nt.You need to register andpay the full cost of the course, and you will then be reimbursed 50% of the cost. This process will be completed once registration closes. This means you will receive any reimbursem*nt, as early as possible, during November 2022.
Undergraduate Year 3 Dissertation Supervision
- In Year 3 of your studies, you will have the opportunity to do a dissertation. If you choose this option, you will be assigned a Dissertation Supervisor during Michaelmas Term.
- In addition, LSE Life provides excellent dissertation resources.
MSc Dissertation Supervision
- You will be assigned a Dissertation Supervisor during Michaelmas Term. Dissertation supervision will continue until the end of Summer Term in June. In July and August, you will work on your dissertation independently.
- In addition to your programme’s dissertation lectures and workshops, LSE Life provides excellent dissertation resources. Where possible, the Department also provides “dissertation surgeries” in the summer which are run by our PhD students.
Undergraduate class timetabling
Undergraduate classes are automatically allocated centrally by the Timetables team using the schools central software.
Find out how to request a class change
All requests to change class group must be approved by theDepartmental Tutor.
Taught masters lecture and seminar timetabling
The Teaching Timetable is available on-line shortly before teaching begins (seeCurrent Students Timetable).
Timetabling is undertaken by the School rather than by departments. Clashes are kept to a minimum but are sometimes inevitable because of the number of optional courses offered across the School. You should therefore only make your final course selection after having checked carefully the scheduling of relevant lectures and seminars in the Teaching Timetable.
You will haveformativeassessment andsummativeassessment. For the formative assessments during Michaelmas and Lent Terms, you receive a mark and feedback, but it does not count towards your grade for the course. The summative assessment determines your grade for the course.
The assessment periods take place during January and in Summer Term, this is when most of your summative assessments are due and when exams take place.
The IR department uses a variety of assessment mechanisms at both the individual course level and the programme as a whole. Assessments are usually written exams and/or essays, but they can also be seminar presentations, group projects, blogs, videos/films, and/or dissertations.
Different forms of assessment are linked to the material covered in a particular course and its learning outcomes. In some cases, this will take the form of an unseen examination at the end of the year. These encourage you to develop the ability to synthesise a significant amount of material, developing concise, effective arguments in your own voice. Examinations develop the ability to write and argue concisely, a set of transferable skills that will prove valuable whatever career path you choose.
In other cases, this will take the form of summative assessed essays or a dissertation. These require you to pursue guided research projects, formulating research questions and developing your ideas and arguments, marshalling the relevant evidence to sustain your argument. This form of assessment offers a greater reward for originality and creativity than in an unseen exam.
Some courses entail collaborative projects, films and videos, or writing blogs. In each case, the nature of the assessment is linked to the particular learning outcomes for that course – as well as developing transferable skills that you will draw on and make use of after completing your degree.
All of these forms of assessment are complemented by formative assessment. These are usually short essays (about 1,500 words in length) which are marked but the marks don’t count towards your final degree.
Formative work allows you the opportunity to explore and experiment in developing your ideas and arguments, and to make and learn from mistakes without the adverse consequences of the work counting towards your final grade. They provide the basis for detailed feedback on how far you have come in terms of the learning objectives of an individual course. Whether a course makes use of unseen exams and/or assessed coursework, formative assessment allows you to develop ideas and arguments that you will make use of in summative assessments.
As part of your assessment, all BSc IR students can choose to write a 10,000 word dissertation in their third year (IR398). The dissertation is a piece of research that must be entirely the candidate's own work, but you will get advice and feedback from a supervisor and the IR398 Course Co-ordinator. Further information regarding the Dissertation is provided in the IR398 Course Guide and the School Calendar.
The combination of these methods within individual courses and across the degree as a whole is designed to provide feedback to you on your learning, help you improve your academic performance and develop transferable skills. It also allows the department to gaugeyour achievements – what you have learned, what you know, your critical analytical skills - and assists the department and School in making decisions about progression from one year to the next, and as well as forming the basis for decisions on final degree classification.
- You will have formative coursework due during Michaelmas and Lent Terms. These do not count towards for your final grade, but they are a good opportunity to get useful feedback to prepare you for your summative essays and exams.
- The assessment periods take place during January and in Summer Term, this is when most of your summative assessments are due and when exams take place.
