How we teach you
Teaching methods underline the collaborative nature of the learning process. Lectures accompany most units but our main emphasis is on small tutorial groups where you will be able to share the results of your research with fellow students. Assessment is by unseen written examinations and coursework (such as essays, reports and the dissertation).
Lectures, seminars and classes are all designed to develop your knowledge and understanding. Teaching and learning resources are provided through the library and e-learning facilities such as Blackboard. Each student is allocated a personal tutor – a member of the academic staff of the School - who will offer support, advice and counsel on changing issues during your time in the University. We also have a Staff Student Forum, with representatives from each year of study, who discuss and advise on academic issues.
What sets Reading apart?
Wide Choice: You will have a wide range of modules to choose from. Politics modules can be combined with modules from any department in the university in the first year, and you will specialise as you progress during the degree programme by selecting your modules of interest from a wide range of available options.
Research Excellence: Our staff are experts in their areas, and focus on a range of the most pressing issues facing the world today, such as climate change, conflict in the Middle East, the morality of war, and reform of democratic politics. All final year modules in the School are based on the key research interests of staff members, so you will be exposed to cutting-edge research by leading experts in the field.
Independent Research: All students on our degree programmes write a major dissertation that is submitted in the final year. You will pick your own topic in your second year and work with a staff supervisor to produce a significant piece of your own independent research.
Hands-on Approach: We don't just make you sit in lectures and read books, and our students have the opportunity to engage with topical issues outside the classroom. We provide simulation exercises that put students in the shoes of real political actors and require creative solutions to real-world problems. You will also have the opportunity to participate in academic placements, where you investigate a political issue of your own interest while working outside the University in a host institution.
Wide Skill Set: We use a wide range of teaching methods to give you a wide range of transferable skills. Students of politics at Reading have the opportunity to develop skills of critical reading, analysis, statistical reasoning, writing, and oral presentation, all of which will be invaluable in your future careers.
Student-Staff Contact: We provide a tutorial system so that you will be assigned to one member of staff (your tutor) who will be an important point of contact throughout your degree. You can talk to your tutor about both academic and non-academic issues. Students can also influence School policies and teaching methods through our Student-Staff Committee, which meets regularly throughout the year.
Support for students and their learning
University support for students and their learning falls into two categories. Learning support includes IT Services, which has several hundred computers and the University Library, which across its three sites holds over a million volumes, subscribes to around 4,000 current periodicals, has a range of electronic sources of information and houses the Student Access to Independent Learning (S@IL) computer-based teaching and learning facilities. There are language laboratory facilities both for those students studying on a language degree and for those taking modules offered by the Institution-wide Language Programme.
Student guidance and welfare support is provided by Personal Tutors, the Careers Advisory Service, the University's Special Needs Advisor, Study Advisors, Hall Wardens and the Students' Union. Students are provided with Department Handbooks which outline the course, provide guidance on study skills, and contain information on staff, facilities and specialised sources of help within the University. Additional support is given in the study of Politics module in Part 2. There is also written feedback on essay work and a photocopier available for student use. Support for students in their studies is provided through the University's Personal Academic Record (PAR) scheme, in which students are invited to meet their personal tutors regularly to review their progress.
Opportunities for study abroad and for placements
You may choose to spend part of your second year studying at a University in another European country, via the Socrates programme, or in the United States, via the American Studies exchange programme. While such exchanges may involve some additional financial expenditure and some adjustments to coursework at Reading, the Department believes these exchanges offer an excellent opportunity to broaden educational and life experience. In the first instance interested students should see their personal tutor.
The Department creates opportunities for students to undertake work placements of various lengths. All students are now able to undertake a full year of work placement between the second and third year of study. This work placement year means you will pursue a four-year BA, with one dedicated year of work. We can provide assistance to you in locating an appropriate placement opportunity (though you will also have to show initiative in pursuing a work placement that interests you) and we will ensure that your work experience informs your wider academic studies.
Shorter placement opportunities are also available as part of individual modules. For example, all students taking the British Government and Politics module spend two weeks working with a host institution outside the University, and write a report on the experience that reflects on the way in which British politics works in practice. All students also have the opportunity to undertake an 8-12 summer placement after second year that will form an integral part of their dissertation projects.