The Department of Politics and International Relations is involved in a number of international exchanges which provide Leicester students both with the chance to study abroad, and the experience of studying alongside visiting students from other countries when they are in Leicester.

Information for Visiting Students

If you are currently at a university in another country and would like to spend some time studying Politics in Leicester, you may be able to come either under the Department of Politics and International Relations Study Abroad Programme (for non-EU students), or as part of the Department Erasmus Programme (for EU students).

Further information for prospective visiting students.

ERASMUS opportunities for Leicester Students

BA Politics and BA International Relations students may spend one semester of their second year studying elsewhere in the EU as part of the Department of Politics and International Relations ERASMUS programme.

BA History and Politics students may spend a whole year abroad in Europe on the Department of History's ERASMUS programme. The School of Historical Studies can provide more information about this.

We have five partner universities:

• Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia
• Justus Liebig University, Giessen, Germany
• Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany
• University of Liège, Belgium
• University of Pécs, Hungary

Advantages of studying abroad

Studying abroad for a semester is not just for people who are learning a foreign language. It is about acquiring life skills that are becoming increasingly valuable for a wide range of jobs in the modern globalised society. Whether you go on to work in the private sector, the state sector, a non-governmental organisation or are self-employed, nowadays you may suddenly find that you need to travel abroad for business purposes.

If you have spent a semester abroad as an ERASMUS student, you will take this in your stride. Even if you are sent to a country you have never lived in (which is most likely), you will adapt more easily to different bureaucratic and organisational procedures, and will be much more sensitive to the practical effects of cultural differences. You will have experience of communicating effectively with colleagues who are not native English speakers, and you will know how to exploit to the full minimal or more advanced knowledge of a foreign language in practical everyday situations. And even if you never go abroad again, our ERASMUS students tell us that when they return to Britain, they feel more confident about dealing calmly, assertively and flexibly in difficult or unfamiliar situations at home.