Regulations for the Master of Arts in Politics and International Relations (MAPIR)
Subject to Academic General Regulations, and the Faculty of Social Sciences Special Regulations, the following special regulations shall apply.
The programme of study shall be offered for the award of the Master’s Degree in Politics and International Relations (MAPIR).
3.1 The minimum entrance requirements shall be a Bachelor’s degree in the Social Sciences with at least a second class second division or equivalent. Preference shall be given to majors in Political Science or an associated discipline.
3.2 Applicants who hold a university degree other than in the Social Sciences, may be admitted if they passed with at least second class, second division, or its equivalent, and with at lest two years relevant work experience. Such applicants may be required to attend an interview and/or take a qualifying examination.
3.3 Work experience in areas covered by the programme will be taken
into account, but will not outweigh formal academic qualifications.
4.1 The Master’s degree shall be offered as follows: option one (course work and dissertation); option two (course work and research essay; option three (course work only).
4.2 To successfully complete the programme a student shall be required to obtain a total of 48 credits.
4.3 There shall be a total of eight core courses of 3 credits each.
4.4 A student pursuing course work and dissertation (option one) shall be required to complete 24 credits of core courses and successfully complete POL 719 Dissertation, which is equivalent to 24 credits. In addition, a student shall be required to demonstrate a capacity for independent research and obtain an average of at least 60% in core course work in order to take the dissertation option.
4.5 A student who chooses to do course work and research essay shall in addition to the 24 credits of core courses and 12 credits of options, take POL 718 Research Essay, which shall be equivalent to 12 credits.
4.6 A student pursuing course work only (option three) shall be required to complete 24 credits of core courses and 24 credits of optional courses.
4.7 A student shall complete the core courses before embarking on the dissertation or research essay.
4.8 The following shall be the required Core Courses:
POL 610 Theories of International Relations
MPA 718 Ethics and Accountability in Public Administration*
POL 611 Africa and the International System
MPA 603 Research methods and Computer Application*
POL 612 World Politics Since 1945
POL 613 Globalisation: Theories and Practice
(co-coded/ DVS 605)
MPA 610 State and Development Policy in the developing countries*
POL 614 Democratisation: Potentials and Constraints
4.9 Optional Courses shall be selected from the following:
POL 710 Human Rights in World Politics
POL 711 Security, Conflict and War
MPA 615 Environmental and Natural Resources Management*(co-coded with ENV610 Integrated EnvironmentalAnalysis and Management 1*; or with ENV 629
National Resource Use Policies*
MPA 716 International Organisations*
POL 712 Foreign Policy Analysis
POL 713 Diplomacy and State Craft
POL 714 Selected Issues in International Politics
POL 715 Select Topics in Political Thought
POL 716 Select Issues in Politics
MPA 715 Southern Africa in the World Economy*
DVS 606 Gender and Development*
POL 717 Government and Politics in the North: the US and the EU
ECO 701 Development Economics*
ECO 713 International Trade Theory and Policy*
ECO 706 Resources and Environmental Economics*
LAW 608 International Criminal Law*
LAW 609 International Human Rights Law*
LAW 610 World Trade Law and Developing Countries*
LAW 613 International Environment Law*
LAW 615 Alternative Dispute Resolution*
POP 702 Population, Environment and Development*
POP 703 Gender, Population and Development*
DVS 610 NGOs and Development*
DVS 703 Social Impact of Structural Adjustment Policies in Africa*
DVS 704 Dynamics of Poverty in the Third World*
ENV610 Integrated Environmental Analysis and Management*
ENV 621 Economic Aspects of Resource Utilization and Management*
ENV629 National Resource Use Policies*
ENV 634: Waste Management and Pollution Control*.
* indicates already existing courses. The presentation of specific Options in a particular semester will be determined by staff availability and student enrolment: a minimum of three students will influence course presentation.
Research Courses
POL 718 Research Essay
POL 719 Dissertation
5.1 The normal length of the programme shall be four semesters by full-time study and six semesters for part-time study.
6.1 A student shall be required to submit a research topic to the head of the PAS Department before the completion of course work and a dissertation proposal shall be presented to the Departmental Board for consideration and ap-proval.
6.2 Only once a proposal has been approved by the Department Board can a student be considered to be formally pursuing this option.
6.3 Supervision and examination of dissertation and research essays shall be governed by Academic General Regulations 40.7 to 40.73.10.
6.4 The dissertation will be graded in order to promote excellence in students’ research.
7.1 The assessment of a student shall be based upon participation in class discussion, one or more written pieces of work, and a final examination at the end of the semester in which the course is taken, except Dissertation (POL 719) and Research Essay (POL 718), which will be governed by Academic General Regulations 40.73.
7.2 The Department reserves the right to review the mode of assessment from time to time, and shall specify mode of assessment prior to any intake or at the start of the semester in which the course is taken.
7.3 All examination question papers and examination scripts shall be moderated.
7.4 The ratio between assessed written work and final examination shall be 1:1.
7.5 Passing a course and calculation of cumulative GPA shall be in accordance with Academic General Regulations 40.533 and 40.532.
8.1 Progression shall be governed by Academic General Regulations 40.61 to 40.63.
9.1 The MAPIR degree shall be awarded to the student on successful completion of all programme requirements