Bachelor of Arts in Global Affairs and Trade
Africa is negotiating its economic future, in the Continental Free Trade Area, in climate and resource diplomacy and in a contested global order, with too few professionals trained to represent it competently at the table. Global affairs and trade is a practical discipline of analysis, negotiation ...
Employment thesis
What this programme is designed to produce
Forward publishes the destination of every programme before you enrol. If the thesis stops holding, the programme is reviewed and, where necessary, retired. Next review: 2032.
Roles
- Global affairs analyst
- trade and negotiation specialist
- diplomatic and foreign service track
- policy analyst
- international organisation officer
- political and country risk analyst
- strategic communication specialist
- development professional
Employer types
- Foreign service and government
- trade and regional integration bodies
- international and regional organisations
- development and humanitarian organisations
- think tanks and research institutes
- multinational firms and their public affairs functions
- risk and consulting firms
- civil society organisations
- and the graduate's own venture
- incubated through the Forward Venture Studio
Target outcomes we hold ourselves to
- This programme targets strong graduate compensation in international and trade careers and supports remote analytical employment. Progression routes include the MPA, the MSc in Global Affairs and doctoral study.
Compulsory · The Forward Core
How the Core works →Every Forward programme, including this one, carries the same five cross-cutting requirements. They are graded, not optional.
- AI Fluency
- Quantitative Reasoning
- Ethics and African Context
- Human-Advantage Skills
- Enterprise
Includes 12 months paid work-integrated learning
Students complete COP 190 Workplace Immersion in the Year 1 recess term, COP 290 Co-operative Education Placement I (six months, paid, assessed) and COP 390 Co-operative Education Placement II (six months, paid, assessed), totalling not fewer than twelve months. Placement hosts are contracted by the Co-operative Education Office. The employer completes a structured capability assessment carrying 40 to 50 per cent of the placement mark and signs the capability claims that enter the Capability Passport. Online students are placed with accredited hosts in their own city or country under remote academic supervision, or have their existing employment accredited as the placement site under Part D4. Read the co-op commitment
Am I eligible?
Check yourself against the published requirements
7 questions written specifically for Bachelor of Arts in Global Affairs and Trade. Every answer is checked against a requirement Forward has published, and the result tells you which page that requirement comes from. Indicative only, the admissions office decides on your full file.
What is the highest qualification you hold or are completing?
Curriculum structure
The same degree, in both pathways
Every Forward programme is published in both pathways: Path One, the term plan of two six-month terms, and Path Two, the block sequence of twelve four-week blocks. Same competencies, same assessments, same award. Toggle to see this programme in each.
Path One term plan shown
Path One · The Term Model
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 101 | AI Fluency I: How Intelligent Systems Work Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| BGAT 110 | International Relations: Theory and Practice Both | 5 | 3-2-2 |
| BGAT 111 | African International History and Political Economy Both | 5 | 3-2-2 |
| BGAT 112 | Data and Quantitative Methods for Global Affairs Performance | 4 | 2-2-4 |
| BGAT 113 | Academic and Diplomatic Writing Both | 4 | 2-2-2 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 102 | Quantitative Reasoning and Evidence Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| BGAT 130 | International Law and Institutions Both | 5 | 3-2-2 |
| BGAT 131 | International Trade, Finance and Development Both | 5 | 3-2-2 |
| BGAT 132 | Negotiation Practicum I: Bilateral and Multilateral Method Performance | 4 | 2-2-4 |
| BGAT 133 | Working Language I Both | 4 | 2-2-2 |
| COP 190 | Workplace Immersion (4 weeks, recessterm) Performance | 0 | 0-0-0 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 201 | Ethics, Society and the African Context Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| BGAT 210 | Regional Integration and the African Union System Both | 5 | 3-2-2 |
| BGAT 211 | Security, Conflict and Peace Processes Both | 5 | 3-2-2 |
| BGAT 212 | Technology, Data Flows and Digital Trade Governance Performance | 4 | 2-2-4 |
| BGAT 213 | Political and Country Risk Analysis Both | 4 | 2-2-2 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 202 | Human Advantage: Argument, Writing and Teams Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| COP 290 | Co-operative Education Placement I (6 months) Performance | 10 | 0-0-0 |
| BGAT 230 | Working Language II Both | 5 | 3-2-2 |
| BGAT 231 | Negotiation Practicum II: Live Simulation Performance | 3 | 1-2-2 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 301 | AI Fluency II: Building, Evaluating and Auditing Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| FDC 401 | /402 Capability Portfolio, Governance and Day One Block Both | 6 | 2-2-2 |
| BGAT 310 | Climate, Energy and Resource Diplomacy Both | 5 | 3-2-2 |
| BGAT 311 | Global Affairs Specialisation Elective Performance | 4 | 2-2-4 |
| BGAT 312 | Global Affairs Capstone: A Negotiation Brief or Policy Commission Both | 3 | 1-2-2 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 302 | Enterprise, Employability and Financial Literacy Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| COP 390 | Co-operative Education Placement II (6 months) Performance | 10 | 0-0-0 |
| BGAT 330 | Public Diplomacy and Strategic Communicati on Performance | 8 | 2-2-8 |
Total credit units: 132
Curriculum source
Forward University Curriculum Compendium
Assessment
Assessment follows Part E without variation. Across the programme the aggregate weighting is 35 per cent continuous assessment and built artefacts, 25 per cent authentic performance including practical examination and oral defence, 30 per cent external practitioner assessment in the final year, and not more than 40 per cent written examination in any single course. The capstone is client verified and the Day One Assessment contributes 5 per cent of the final year mark. Assessment principles. Assessment is authentic, criterion referenced and, for every capability claim above Level 2, verified by someone other than the teaching lecturer. There is no compensation between competencies: a student must master each one, and a marginal performance in one cannot be offset by strength in another. Feedback is returned quickly, within seven days of a block closing in the Block Sequence, so that it can inform the next unit. A student who does not yet meet the standard is given a further, structured attempt under Part E rather than being carried forward, which protects the value of the award while supporting progression. Reasonable adjustments for disability are made under Part D without altering the competency standard.
Work-integrated learning
Students complete COP 190 Workplace Immersion in the Year 1 recess term, COP 290 Co-operative Education Placement I (six months, paid, assessed) and COP 390 Co-operative Education Placement II (six months, paid, assessed), totalling not fewer than twelve months. Placement hosts are contracted by the Co-operative Education Office. The employer completes a structured capability assessment carrying 40 to 50 per cent of the placement mark and signs the capability claims that enter the Capability Passport. Online students are placed with accredited hosts in their own city or country under remote academic supervision, or have their existing employment accredited as the placement site under Part D4.
Your week at Forward
A typical week on Bachelor of Arts in Global Affairs and Trade
Path One, the Term Model: your own pace across a six-month term, one live session a week, short flexible lessons, and assessment on demand.
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Curriculum explorer
Drill into the degree, step by step
Choose a study path, then a year, then a term or block, then a course. Credit totals add up as you go, and every course shows what comes before it and what it unlocks.
Step 1, choose a year
Step 2, choose a term
TERM 1 (SIX MONTHS) | FORMERLY YEAR 1, SEMESTER 1 | YEAR 1 | 22
Year 1 · this step is worth 22 CU
Cumulative
22
Programme total
132
22 CU of 132 CU completed by the end of this step (17%)
Step 3, choose a course
Pick a course to see the detail
Credits, assessment, prerequisites and what each course unlocks later.
The twelve Forward capabilities
What this programme develops in you
Every Forward degree develops the same twelve cross-cutting capabilities. The profile below is the level this programme is designed to develop and verify by graduation, on the four-level scale in Part B2 of the Curriculum Compendium. Every claim above Level 2 is verified by someone other than the teaching lecturer.
- C1Intelligent Systems FluencyLevel 3 of 4, Independent
- C2Quantitative and Evidential ReasoningLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C3Ethical and Contextual Judgement CriticalLevel 3 of 4, Independent
- C4Communication and Persuasion CriticalLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C5Disciplinary Mastery CriticalLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C6Technical Production and CraftLevel 3 of 4, Independent
- C7Problem Framing and Systems ThinkingLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C8Collaboration and Multidisciplinary TeamingLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C9Enterprise, Value and Commercial LiteracyLevel 3 of 4, Independent
- C10Professional Conduct and Workplace PerformanceLevel 3 of 4, Independent
- C11Learning to Learn and Adaptive CapacityLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C12Stewardship and Public ContributionLevel 4 of 4, Leading
Critical capabilities for this programme: Ethical and Contextual Judgement · Communication and Persuasion · Disciplinary Mastery. A graduate cannot pass out of this programme below the stated level on any capability marked critical.
Programme Learning Outcomes
What you will be able to do
Each outcome is assessed, and each is tagged with the Forward capabilities it is verified against.
- PLO 1Analyse an international or trade situation with theory and evidence.
- PLO 2Build and defend a negotiating position and negotiate an outcome.
- PLO 3Apply international law, institutions and trade rules to a real problem.
- PLO 4Analyse political, country and trade risk with data.
- PLO 5Communicate strategically in writing and speech to an international audience.
- PLO 6Analyse the African Union and continental trade and integration system.
- PLO 7Apply data and intelligent tools to global affairs analysis.
- PLO 8Work across cultures and C3, C7 languages in a diplomatic setting.
- PLO 9Cost, frame and defend C8 a policy or trade position to decision makers.
- PLO 10Acquire and demonstrate C10 a new capability without formal instruction, evidenced in the Capability Passport.
Why this programme exists
Africa is negotiating its economic future, in the Continental Free Trade Area, in climate and resource diplomacy and in a contested global order, with too few professionals trained to represent it competently at the table. Global affairs and trade is a practical discipline of analysis, negotiation and strategic communication, not a survey of current events, and the region mostly teaches it as the latter. This programme builds the analyst and negotiator who can read a geopolitical or trade situation, build the evidence, and argue a position, with negotiation practica, real data and a working language from Year 1.
Admission requirements
Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education with two principal passes; plus Uganda Certificate of Education with five passes including English. Applicants sit a structured reading, reasoning and writing task scored against Capabilities C3 and C4. Equivalent international qualifications are assessed against this profile. All applicants must demonstrate competence in English, the language of instruction, through their qualifications or an approved proficiency test under Part A. International and non standard qualifications are assessed for equivalence against the profile above under the Credential Portability provisions, so that a suitably prepared applicant may enter from anywhere in the world. Selection considers the whole application, including the structured admission task, and is conducted without discrimination under the University's admissions policy. Alternative pathways: Foundation Year, diploma entry with advanced standing, mature age entry and recognition of prior learning, all governed by Part A5 and Part G. Online applicants additionally complete the compulsory Digital Readiness orientation under Part D6.
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