Placement Opportunities
Placement Learning Opportunities in Politics and International Relations
In the Faculty of Law, Governance and International Relations we recognise the importance of acquiring real-world experience to complement your studies and to provide the skills that employers are looking for. Consequently we place a great deal of importance on placements and internships. In recent years our some of our students have experienced working in the following organisations: the General Assembly of the United Nations in New York; Amnesty International; the Palace of Westminster as MPs’ assistants; and in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.
There are a range of opportunities available to our students. For example, there are work placement modules that are open to 2nd and 3rd year students, where short periods working for a political actor or organisation can lead to academic credit. These modules are supported by very experienced academic tutors and staff in the careers service who will help you find and successfully apply for a placement. There are also extracurricular opportunities, such as volunteering with a wide variety of charities and other organisations facilitated by Reach, part of the university’s Student Development and Activities Service. There are also many opportunities that are available to our students by virtue of our location in central London, such as the ParliaMentors scheme run by the Three Faiths Forum, which has placed a number of our students with MPs over the past few years.
Steven Curtis, one of our lecturers, has been involved in research projects exploring the benefits of placement learning for Politics and International Relations students and has published a number of articles on the subject. Along with Dr Peter Laugharne, our placement and dissertation tutor, he is very happy to advise students about how to get the most out of their placements. Steven is in the process of setting up a number of GIR internships with political actors and community organisations for our students.
