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IB SL Global Politics

This course explores global politics through four core units: power and sovereignty, human rights, peace and conflict, and development and sustainability. It allows students to develop an understanding of political activity and processes, as well as explore political issues affecting their own lives. The course focuses on political theory, while helping students to understand abstract political concepts by grounding them in real-world examples of events and case studies from the past decade, such as the Palestinian bid for statehood, North Korea’s authoritarian state, the civil war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Arab Spring. It also invites comparisons among such examples and case studies to ensure a wider and trans-national perspective. Students also explore politics through a unique “engagement activity,” which requires them to combine academic research with political action to explore a political topic of their own interest. In this way, students are encouraged to explore the relationship between people and power and how this manifests on local, national, and international levels.

This course consists of 3 mods: Power, Peace, and Well-being; Sovereignty, International Organizations, and Human Rights; and Case Studies in Global Politics. Descriptions of these mods can be found under the IB HL Global Politics (HIS437Z) description.

Students are required to take the IB SL Global Politics examination in May. Students interested in the topics but not interested in taking the IB exam may take either or both of the first two mods of this course by registering for 1 or 2 credits of Topics in Global Politics (HIS436H).

A summer assignment is required for this course and students must sit for the IB exam.

Min-Max Credit Hours: 3.0-3.0