Teaching Methods

Teaching staff of the Geneva School of Diplomacy & International Relations employ a number of methods of instruction. Consistent with the School’s quality assurance and enhancement practices, each method is designed to ensure that you derive maximum benefit from the lectures and seminars, and that you use independent study time to its full advantage.

Teaching on all BA-IR, MIR, EMIR and DIR programmes is by lecture/seminar format, small group work, and simulations as appropriate. For each module (course), there is a formal lecture each week for at least 1.5 and 2 hour’s duration respectively. Each lecture is intended to provide you with an introduction to a particular theme or topic, to make you aware of main issues through a structured summary of the current state of debate on a topic, and to provide you with navigation points through the main literature. Each lecture is followed by a small group seminar (discussion group) for at least one further hour each week. The seminar is intended to provide you with the opportunity to engage with other students and with the course lecturer for a structured discussion of substantive issues, and to clarify the designated reading material. Where appropriate, the seminar is a forum for students to present project work.

Both full-time and part-time students attend the same lecture. However, it may also be the case that the groups are mixed for seminars, which adds an important dimension to the programme: full-time students benefit from the contributions of different types of practitioners of international relations, whether they be from diplomacy, the military, industry, or international organisations.

You will be encouraged to work both independently, and as part of a group. Independent study is vital to develop research skills: for the preparation of essays, term papers, and the dissertation/thesis. All of this written work is designed to help you develop the skills necessary to distill complex arguments and issues to their essential elements, and to express your own critical ideas succinctly, clearly, and in an organised manner. You will also be encouraged to work independently on presentations that you may be asked to make in seminars, perhaps by leading the discussion on a particular topic, and to contribute generally to seminar discussions to develop oral communication skills. This is to develop the ability to organise and to think quickly about complex issues, and to develop skills necessary for reasoned argumentation. However, you will also be encouraged to work in groups for the preparation  of specified projects to develop skills necessary for cooperation in group project work, as well as to develop entrepreneurial and leadership qualities.