Politics, Sociology and East European Studies

Politics, sociology and East European studies is a combination that brings together two social science disciplines and a regional specialism in one of the world's most politically significant and intellectually rich areas of study. Politics provides the frameworks for understanding political institutions, power, and decision-making at national and international levels. Sociology examines how societies are structured, how inequalities are produced and maintained, and how social change happens.

East European studies brings both disciplinary lenses to bear on a region that has experienced extraordinary political, social, and economic transformations over the past century, from the rise and fall of communist regimes to the ongoing dynamics of democratic consolidation, EU integration, and geopolitical tension.

At University College London, this four-year degree develops your knowledge and analytical skills across all three dimensions. You will engage with political theory, comparative politics, and international relations alongside sociological theory, social research methods, and specific knowledge of the history, politics, culture, and languages of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. UCL's School of Slavonic and East European Studies is one of the world's leading centres for the study of this region, and the degree benefits from exceptional faculty expertise and library resources in East European politics, culture, and languages.

The combination produces graduates with both strong disciplinary foundations and deep regional expertise.

Graduates from this programme are well placed for careers in international affairs, diplomacy, and policy work focused on Central and Eastern Europe. Government departments, foreign offices, and international organisations dealing with European security, EU enlargement, or post-Soviet affairs hire graduates with this background. Think tanks and research institutes focused on European politics, Russia, or Eastern Europe provide further destinations.

Journalism covering the region, roles in humanitarian organisations working in Eastern European countries, and academic research through postgraduate study in East European politics, sociology, or area studies are further pathways.