International relations professionals who are just starting out on their journey face immense challenges. Increased globalism and technological advances are competing with emerging megatrends and unforeseen crisis situations. The entire market landscape has been completely transformed!
In the Bachelor in International Relations, your challenges become our challenges. To ensure success, you need a more resilient program that adapts to these new circumstances. What’s more, you need an improved learning path that leads you to your desired destination, equipped with the skills of impact.
Well, we’ve just one thing to say to that—challenge accepted.
A liquid makeover
To ensure a more active, personalized and collaborative learning experience that molds to the needs of potential employers, we have decided to apply the Liquid Learning model to our Bachelor in International Relations. Liquid Learning at IE University emulates our hybrid life in an agile and flexible way. It gets rid of the false dichotomy of “online” and “in-person,” instead embracing a blend of each, allowing your education to flow through various tech and real-world environments.
Following this more streamlined and adaptable approach, you gain the entire holistic skill set to create transformative and sustainable change in today’s world. But what does this mean in real terms?
High-impact content
The study plan of the Bachelor in International Relations has been carefully designed in collaboration with the United Nations System Staff College. With their input, the entire academic journey has been adapted to fall in line with the most important global impact projects, such as the 2030 Agenda which includes the Sustainable Development Goals.
Delivered in a flexible, liquid format, you are able to gain frontline sector knowledge, whether you’re on campus or connecting remotely. The online aspects can take the form of synchronous learning (everyone virtually present at the same time) or asynchronous learning (forums, pre-class tasks or other similar interactions).
Expert-led classes
Our classes are exclusively led by the most prestigious professors and international practitioners, who are active on the front line in multinational organizations. And it’s far from your traditional sit-and-listen setup. In the Bachelor in International Relations, classes are an active affair, with high levels of participation and the innovative application of learning technology. For example, to better understand more complex problems, you may be challenged through on-campus virtual reality simulations that recreate real-world scenarios.
The asynchronous aspects are just as involved. These forums, projects or pre-class tasks feature highly personalized material such as real-world case studies or learning paths created by IE University. You will also have the opportunity to interact with customized online platforms that have been specially designed by the United Nations.
Hands-on activities
Liquid Learning is not just online learning—it’s a blend of hybrid environments. This is particularly notable when it comes to strengthening skills through applied professional activities. As part of the program, you will have to take part in activities like the EU hybrid simulation. Over a few days, you are tasked with negotiating trade agreements between the European Union and the United States, guided by professionals from the European Commission.
This is just one example of the many practical learning opportunities open to students. You could also take part in international competitions like the United Nations cybersecurity competition. Then there is the IE University Model UN competition, where students from around the world come together to discuss burning issues such as climate change economics, financial crises or humanitarian situations.
Competitions and simulations are further complemented by incredible internships or lab opportunities. These can range from the Policy Lab or the Econ Datalab to taking part in summer research programs and writing papers on international policy. Students even get the chance to provide consulting services to real clients through our capstone projects.
Primed for success
Once our students leave our program, they are brimming with potential to drive high-level impact. But if you can’t join institutions of change, all that potential will go to waste.
As part of the Bachelor in International Relations, you will participate in skills workshops where you learn how to access avenues of impact. These workshops center on providing the most practical tools that budding professionals need, from performing at UN interviews and the best ways to contact a CEO to presenting an effective proposal to an investor.
Beyond this, you will find out how to devise your own professional and vocational path. You will gain insights into the mindsets and attitudes necessary to create sustainable, transformative change in today’s world. Going beyond data and numbers, this allows you to tap into our collective humanity and build healthy, prosperous relationships.
As part of this, students may participate in various field trips, such as the three-week trips to Bhutan and Nepal present in past years. Students who took part were able to learn about different cultures and spiritual perspectives, alongside discovering alternative political and economic approaches to societal organization.
In the Bachelor in International Relations, our challenge is to provide a holistic educational experience that prepares you for the realities of today’s world. Though Liquid Learning, we’ve not only accepted the challenge—we’re facing it head-on.
Now it’s your turn. Are you up for the challenge?