Global Challenges (Security) BASc

Everyone wants to feel secure. In a world which is becoming increasingly insecure and experiencing a resurgence of armed conflict, securing the safety of our resources and ourselves has never posed as big a challenge as it does today.

Alongside the core spine of your Global Challenges degree, you will take an in-depth look at issues affecting global security. There is a strong focus on military security and war studies and their integration with those security themes which impact peoples and populations in different ways. This includes topics such as violence and peace, regional and international organisations, gender and security and peace operations. There is an emphasis placed on professional skills development, game-based learning and simulation which ensures you graduate with a toolkit of practical skills and knowledge which are in-demand within a wide range of employment areas. Assessment is similarly structured, with a combination of traditional essay-based and professional skills-based assignments.

Your studies are structured into three levels which reflect the depth and breadth of the subject: integrated, applied and advanced security. The integrated security modules in your first year will introduce you to core foundational aspects of the study of security with a focus on international relations theory, international conflict, local security and strategic thought. In your second year you move on to look at applied security issues to help integrate your knowledge into key themes within security, intelligence studies and their historical contexts. Then, in your final year, you go on to look at more advanced security themes and understanding how to utilise simulation and wargaming in their analysis.

As part of your course, you will also investigate some of the measures adopted in crisis management. This interesting course will take you on a journey through variety of subjects including war studies, criminology, intelligence studies, politics and military history.

Throughout your course you will build your ability to work in a team as you build skills in project management, presenting and team pitches. A third year Enterprise Project will help to bring all these skills together as you work on a group project with a real organisation.

You have the option to apply for an internship at the end of your first year and can take a one-year placement between years two and three, giving you valuable work experience and a step ahead for your career when you graduate.

You can explore our campus and facilities for yourself by taking our virtual tour.

Your Global Challenges course is structured around a core spine of compulsory modules where you'll tap into the expertise of several departments from across the university.

In addition, you'll study a set of modules which are focused on your Security pathway to build your specialist knowledge.

Core elements of your degree have been developed to work in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). As the lead United Nations agency in tackling some of the most pressing challenges facing our world, this partnership ensures that what you’ll learn is timely, relevant and responsive.

In practice this includes working on real life case studies that bring the skills and experience of industry experts and academics to the student learning experience, to respond to live briefs aimed at supporting the UNDP’s international development priorities.

This connection not only ensures your project work will be specific and focused, but also develop your problem solving and project delivery skills in ways that, beyond supporting your future career, have the potential to bring real world impact through our partners.

This course can be studied 3 years full-time or 4 years full-time with placement, starting in September.

Please note that all modules are subject to change.

Read more about the structure of undergraduate degrees at Brunel.

Today’s workforce seeks graduates who are not only flexible and determined, but also have the awareness and ability to respond to the challenges faced by different industries across a rapidly-changing world.

Global Challenges is both a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Science. Having developed skills in scientific, social scientific and humanities fields, our graduates will be able to confidently engage with a range of perspectives, evidence bases and stakeholders.

Ultimately, graduates will be able to actively contribute and lead the necessary change needed to respond to emerging issues. You’ll be able to innovate and improve processes in a dynamic manner, and to actively contribute to improving outcomes for employers, or as an employer yourself.

Graduates from this programme will be equipped for roles in a number of industries including, but certainly not limited to, business, media and communications, systems design and consulting, international development, healthcare, government and diplomatic services.

Course assessments are synoptic in nature as they will draw on the knowledge you acquire across the various disciplines covered. Assessment methods may include presentations, written and audio-visual reports in the form of vlogs and blogs, essays, examinations, laboratory worksheets, coursework, and peer assessment.

Read our guide on how to avoid plagiarism in your assessments at Brunel.