LSE-PKU Double Degree in MSc International Affairs

Organised jointly by LSE and Peking University (PKU), this double master’s degree offers an outstanding opportunity for graduate students and young professionals to study the international relations of China and the Asia Pacific region, as well as the theory and history of global international relations.

You'll engage at an advanced level with the latest academic research and undertake your own research-based term work and dissertation. This programme will be a good preparation for further research work or for a career in education, public administration or the private sector, the media, politics and law.

Assessment is primarily by examination, although some courses also have an assessed course work component. The courses in London will be taught in English, while those in Beijing will be taught in Chinese or English, giving students a choice about which language they want to use for their study.

Once you successfully complete your studies at both institutions, you'll be conferred Master Degree of Law and Master Degree of Sciences by PKU and LSE respectively.

General reading

• Antony Best, Jussi Hanhimaki, Joe Maiolo, and Kirsten Schulze, International History of the Twentieth Century and Beyond (Routledge, 2014 3rd edition)

Subject specific recommendations

• Mark Mazower, Dark Continent: Europe's Twentieth Century (1999)
• Jeremy Friedman, Shadow Cold War: The Sino-Soviet Competition for the Third World (2015).
• Elizabeth Economy, The Third Revolution: Xi Jinping and the New Chinese State (2019).
• Hazel V Carby, Imperial Intimacies: A Tale of Two Islands (Verso 2019)
• Kristina Spohr, Post Wall, Post Square, How Bush, Gorbachev, Kohl, and Deng Shaped the World after 1989 (YUP, 2020)
• O. A. Westad, The Global Cold War: Third World Interventions and the Making of Our Times (2011)
• Desmond Dinan, ed, Origins and Evolution of the European Union (OUP, 2014) (for HY411)
• David van Reybrouck Congo: The Epic History of a People (2014 edn)
• Nelson Mandela, Conversations with Myself (2010)

First year, at Peking University

At Peking University, you'll take a compulsory course on Thesis Writing and complete your first year with a dissertation. If you're a non-Chinese student, you're required to take a compulsory Chinese Language Course offered by the PKU Chinese Language Centre in the first semester and a compulsory course on Chinese Politics and Diplomacy in the second semester.

Chinese mainland students are required to take a foreign language course, and the following courses: "The Theory and Practice of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics in the New Era" AND "Marxism and Social Science Methodology" or "Introduction to Dialectics of Nature".

Students from Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan are required to take a foreign language course and a compulsory course on "Chinese Politics and Diplomacy" in the second semester.

Required electives and free electives courses

You can select required electives and free electives among the wide variety on offer in the School of International Studies. You must obtain six credits for required electives and six credits for free electives. Extra credits obtained from required electives can be substituted for credits of free electives. Chinese students need to complete at least six credits from free electives taught in English. All courses are three credits, except one, which is two credits. Learn more about which core and elective courses are available at PKU.

Dissertation

Dissertation and oral defence: you complete the first year programme by writing and defending a dissertation on a topic relevant to their studies. The dissertation can be written in English or in Chinese.

Progression to Year 2

In order to successfully progress to year 2 at LSE, you must obtain 20 (18+2 for the language course) credits and complete your dissertation at Peking University. NB: Even though it's compulsory to complete a dissertation at PKU, the PKU dissertation doesn't carry any credits.

You'll progress to Year 2 at LSE upon meeting the following standards:

You're required to achieve minimum pass grades in all courses and dissertation as formulated by PKU for this programme.

Failure to achieve pass in any courses (including the dissertation) will lead to retaking the courses and re-sitting the exams in the following year.

In addition to passing all PKU required exams to progress to Year 2, you're required to pass your PKU dissertation defence before 15 July, which is the date when the progression list is sent to LSE. If you fail who failto pass the thesis defence you will NOT progress to the second year study at LSE. As per PKU regulations for graduate students, all the study and assignments should be completed within two academic years. If you cannot meet this requirement and need to defer graduation due to delay in thesis defence, you must formally request an extension by submitting the extension application form to the university.

PRC students who cannot achieve the English language proficiency qualifications required by the LSE for this Programme by 15 July of Year 1 won't be allowed to progress to Year 2 and consequently drop off from the programme.

Students in their Year 1 at PKU will receive visa invitations to the UK (including the CAS code) and information on registration at LSE only after LSE has received the progression list from SIS/PKU in mid-July. This list contains the names of students who are qualified for progression to Year 2 at LSE.

Second year, at LSE

At LSE, students take core courses in both the International Relations and the International History Departments, take a third course from the wide range of options offered by the two Departments, and complete the programme with a research dissertation on a relevant topic in the history of international affairs. Course assessment is by assessed coursework (in some courses) and by a final exam.

Watch videos about the International History courses

Watch videos about the International Relations courses

Dissertation

This component of the degree reflects our belief that master's level history students should be willing to engage in detailed historical research. In preparing this piece of work, students are provided with guidance about how to choose an appropriate topic, how to identify and locate the necessary sources, and how to write up their research findings. This is done through a combination of departmental workshops and discussions between individual students and their dissertation supervisor. But ultimately the dissertation is a test of the research abilities and writing skills of each individual student.

While in London, students preparing dissertations can take advantage of numerous world-class research libraries and archives. These include the National Archives (formerly the Public Record Office), the British Library, the libraries of specialised schools of the University of London such as the Institute for Historical Research, the School of Oriental and African Studies, and the School of Slavonic and East European Studies, and the LSE's own library, the British Library of Political and Economic Sciences. The LSE's archive also contains much valuable research material, as do the collections of the Imperial War Museum, the Warburg Institute and many others.

History is a wide ranging and challenging subject to study. It seeks to understand the past and to make sense of the present, adding an important dimension to the understanding of many aspects of human society. The department is world renowned in its field, offering a unique perspective on the history of relations between states, peoples and cultures. We pride ourselves on giving students the benefit of ground-breaking research throughout our teaching programmes.

Our degrees will give you a broad international perspective on the past. We give attention both to domestic and international issues and many of the courses we offer deal with major events in the history of international relations.

Since the behaviour of countries in the international arena cannot be understood without a knowledge of their distinct social, political, economic and cultural characteristics, we provide courses covering major aspects of the history of ideas and mentalities.

LSE was founded in 1895 originally as an institute of higher education for graduate students. The department reflects this tradition and takes its responsibility for undergraduate teaching and supervision very seriously. We admit nearly as many undergraduate students as master's students. We have one of the most cosmopolitan undergraduate communities in London and one of the most vibrant and dynamic.

Learn more about our programmes, research, public events and people.

Department of International History

Who's who

Dr Ronald C. Po

Programme Director

Department of International History

• China
• British Empire
• Globalisation
• Asia

This programme is ideal for graduate students and young professionals. You'll spend your first year at the School of International Studies at Peking University, and the second year at LSE. It will allow you to:

• experience a full academic programme in both China and Europe
• take courses in both the International Relations Department and the Department of International History at LSE
• combine an empirical and a theoretical approach to contemporary international affairs
• study in small seminar groups of no more than 15 students
• engage at an advanced level with the latest academic research and undertake your own research-based term work and dissertations.

Year 1 (at PKU, 2026/27):

International (non-Chinese) students: to be confirmed, but for reference in 2025/26 students paid RMB95,000 (provisional)
Chinese students: to be confirmed, but for reference in 2025/26 students paid RMB 8,000 (provisional)

Year 2 (at LSE, 2027/28):

Home students: £32,000 (provisional)

Year 1 (at PKU, 2026/27):

International (non-Chinese) students: to be confirmed, but for reference in 2025/26 students paid RMB95,000 (provisional)
Chinese students: to be confirmed, but for reference in 2025/26 students paid RMB 8,000 (provisional)

Year 2 (at LSE, 2027/28):

Overseas students: £32,000 (provisional)

The courses in London will be taught in English, while those in Beijing will be taught in Chinese or English, giving you a choice about which language you want to use for your study. All taught courses are required to include formative coursework which is unassessed. It's designed to help prepare you for summative assessment which counts towards the course mark and to the degree award. LSE uses a range of formative assessment, such as essays, problem sets, case studies, reports, quizzes, mock exams and many others. Assessment is primarily by examination, although some courses also have an assessed course work component. An indication of the formative coursework and summative assessment for each course can be found in the relevant course guide.

To successfully progress to the second year at LSE, you must obtain 22 credits and finish a dissertation in Year 1 at Peking University. Please note that while its completion is compulsory, the PKU dissertation doesn't carry any credits. To progress to the second year you must also achieve minimum pass grades in all courses and the dissertation defence before 15 July.

Failure to achieve pass in any courses (including the dissertation) will lead to retaking the courses and re-sitting the exams in the following year. Students who have failed the defence in July will have another chance to defend their thesis either by 10 September of the same year or by 15 July of the following year. In the latter case, the student will not be allowed to progress to LSE in the second year. In case of a second failure to defend the thesis, the student will drop off from the programme.

PRC students who cannot achieve LSE’s required English language proficiency qualifications required by 15 July of the first year won't be allowed to progress to the second year. Students who qualify for progression for the second year at LSE will be included on a progression list sent from PKU to LSE in mid-July. These students will then receive information about applying for their visa and registration at LSE.

Upon successful completion of studies at both institutions, students will be conferred Master Degree of Law and Master Degree of Sciences by PKU and LSE respectively.

The programme provides an excellent preparation for careers in academia, business or consulting, government or international agencies, the media, politics and law.

Further information on graduate destinations for this programme

At PKU

The department, alongside the Student Career Centre, International Student Division and the Alumni Association organise a job fair for our students. Students are encouraged to actively participate in various career planning and job guidance activities to strengthen competitiveness.

Learn more

At LSE

The department is committed to supporting students' options after graduation in the world of work or futher studies by organising a careers programme tailored specifically to International History students with the help of LSE Careers. Also, many leading organisations give careers presentations at the School during the year, and LSE Careers has a wide range of resources available to assist students in their job search.

Find out more about the support available to students through LSE Careers

Find out what some MSc International Affairs students have been doing since graduating