Master of Law in Legal Practice

at Birmingham City University - City Centre Campus United Kingdom

Black Studies is ground-breaking because it puts the experiences, perspectives and contributions of African and the African diaspora at the very heart of university education.

More importantly the aim of the subject is to break down traditional barriers and apply the work we do on campus to improving the conditions facing those who live off campus. In creating the BA (Hons) Black Studies (Criminal Justice) routeway we have taken the strengths of the Black Studies program and directly applied them to one of the most significant problems facing Black communities.

In Britain, Black people are more likely to be subject to stop and search, arrested, charged, given a prison sentence and even to die in suspicious circumstances after police contact. The situation is particularly bad for young people, where ethnic minorities represent half of all those held in young offenders institutions. None of this is new and there have been decades of campaigns and protests around the injustices in the system. The aim of this degree is to provide the context to understand the issues as well as the tools and experience to work to remedy these major social problems.

You will take Black Studies modules, which explore the history, politics and experience of Black communities as well as examining the issues in society that produce such stark inequalities. Alongside these modules, you will study Criminology-specific modules that explore the basis of, and issues with, the criminal justice system.

You will gain experience of the criminal justice system in the second-year placement. You will be encouraged and supported to find your own placement, however the course team is committed to ensuring all students have an appropriate placement. You will also be encouraged to draw on your learning and experiences to create a final year project that is applied to the real-world context.

Do you want to be a design thinker? Is your goal to use a design strategy to transform businesses, cultures, and lives? Alternatively, do you want to develop your own design business? If your answer is yes, then this course is for you!

This course invites designers and non-designers to apply design thinking and business-speak to create innovative and purposeful outcomes. On this course, you sharpen your strategic edge through expanding your entrepreneurial and business capabilities. If you are a non-designer, you learn to be a creative thinker.

You bring the knowledge from your past education and practice, combine them with the subject knowledge of design management, and create solutions that are not just aesthetically pleasing but also functional, viable, and purposeful. The course brings excellent networking opportunities for you to facilitate knowledge building and collaborative learning.

On this postgraduate course, we teach you the interdisciplinary issues that design managers work with, such as business, marketing, technology, and art. Immersed in practice, you acquire the skills and the confidence to manage and lead a project. You are encouraged to push the boundaries and to put forward new, improved ideas that are innovative and purposeful.

Design thinking, design strategy, creativity, research, and problem-solving are applied extensively to all the modules. You undertake projects individually and in a team, where you learn communication, management, and interpersonal skills. You work with industry partners with the utmost professionalism. You pursue an industry-based inquiry, which may be a placement. And, you acquire and apply people management, client management, and project management tactics while working on industry projects and teams.

Our Fashion Styling course focuses on your ability to develop a personal creative style, entrepreneurial abilities and a professional approach.

The course is primarily vocational and practical, and caters for those with career interests in contemporary fashion styling, visualisation and communications.

What's covered in this course?

Throughout the course, you’ll explore and use different research methods to investigate how styling is used to promote fashion through marketing, advertising, events management, publicity or public relations. You’ll learn the skills and knowledge needed for a professional career in fashion styling, with opportunities to collaborate with other fashion students and work on live projects with industry.

Based at our city centre Parkside campus, you will have access to relevant software and computer equipment, and have the opportunity to collaborate with a faculty full of creative students.

Your learning environment will encourage you to become an adaptable, flexible and knowledgeable graduate, equipped to pursue a career in the fashion industry.

Professional Placement option

The Professional Placement version of the course is optional and is offered as an alternative to the standard version of the course.

This will allow you to complete a credit-bearing, 20-week Professional Placement as an integral part of your Master’s Degree. The purpose of the Professional Placement is to improve your employability skills which will, through the placement experience, allow you to evidence your professional skills, attitudes and behaviours at the point of entry to the postgraduate job market. Furthermore, by completing the Professional Placement, you will be able to develop and enhance your understanding of the professional work environment, relevant to your chosen field of study, and reflect critically on your own professional skills development within the workplace.

The Business Management course will offer you a practical-based degree applicable to a wide range of sectors. You will be able to contribute to critical debates on industry-related contemporary issues and understand the dynamic needs of business managers in the 21st century to reflect current knowledge and best practices.

You will gain specialist knowledge on a number of core functions of management, building your self-confidence to prepare you for a progressive and successful career in management. Exciting opportunities including integrated work projects and business placements in the UK or abroad are all featured in your course, therefore your career can start whilst achieving your qualification. You will have the benefit of renowned industry speakers and live projects to inspire and help you to develop.

The international focus of the course is derived through a variety of means including the student body, the teaching team and the use of international teaching materials. Moreover, you can choose to spend a year or a full semester studying your modules overseas at a partner institution. Similarly, the Business Management course embeds the UN Sustainable Development Goals as an integral part of the course.

Our BA (Hons) Fashion Business and Promotion degree course enables you to explore a range of roles within the fashion industry, beyond the making and production of clothing.

Guided and supported by a knowledgeable, industry-experienced staff team, you will gain an education across the different fashion sectors and develop skills in order to undertake a number of industry roles, including Buying, Marketing and PR, Trends forecasting and Event Management.

What's covered in this course?

You will learn how fashion roles work together, as well as commercial and consumer and competitive awareness.

You will work on a live project, as well as industry-focused briefs across the first two years and  benefit from regular industry guest speakers.

Throughout the course, we will develop your business knowledge and language, preparing you for delivering presentations, teamwork, writing reports and build skills in creating both paper and digital visual work with the aid of CAD packages.

Want to study both psychology and sociology at University? Our BSc (Hons) Psychology with Sociology degree combines both subjects and allows you to take a year-long industry placement.

Our innovative course will give you a deep understanding of how the core and specialized areas in psychology and sociology contribute to our understanding of contemporary issues. You will apply scientific reasoning and evaluate patterns of behaviour, gaining key transferable skills in communication, teamwork and problem-solving.

Sociology helps us make sense of the societies in which we live and our place within them. Our Psychology with Sociology course brings together two closely interrelated areas, allowing you to gain significant knowledge and insight.

What's covered in this course?

Over your three years of study, your Psychology modules will help you gain an understanding of a person’s mind, behavior and actions, while the Sociology side will equip you with the knowledge of group interactions and society as a whole. Practical in nature, our course will enable you to apply both Psychology and Sociology to human behaviour and society.

Our focus on contemporary and innovative learning practices will help you gain key employability skills, such as communication, teamwork and problem-solving, as well as key skills in two innovative, intriguing disciplines.

Through encouraging and promoting experiential learning, the MA Interior Architecture and Design course embraces the truth that designing is a creative adventure.

This twelve-month program will enable you to form an understanding and appreciation of theoretical, practical and professional issues that are informing the evolution of contemporary interior architecture and design professional practice. 

What's covered in this course?

On the MA Interior Architecture and Design program you will explore the distinctive qualities associated with the interiors of inhabited architecture.

By looking at the cultural, practical and atmospheric aspects of interiors created by architects, artists and designers, as an innovator you will be able to strategically develop creative interfaces and determine how users will perceive and behave in the spaces that your are conceiving.

Making speculative work is an important aspect of the program. As individuals you will establish your professional identity as autonomous creative practitioners by blending philosophy, artistry and practicality in order to compose an interior design scenario that is future-focused and personally and culturally meaningful. By exploring innovative practices embedded within your own design process, this reflective practice will act as a stimuli for you to challenge existing assumptions about interior design and push the international platform for the profession forwards into new and versatile directions.

A key aspect of the course is that it will encourage a spirit of 'internationalisation', which will contribute to the establishment of a culturally rich, vibrant and diverse learning studio environment. Fostering the ambition of ‘lifelong learning’, you will create a dynamic continual development plan. This will allow you to draw on the expertise and global networks associated with the institution, reflecting the full spectrum of opportunities that can help you to enrich and nurture your career. Previous postgraduate students on the program have been employed at leading international architectural practices as architects, interior designers, or as design lecturers in further and higher education institutions, with the pathway to postgraduate Doctoral PhD study also opened up as a result.

Professional Placement option

The Professional Placement version of the course is optional and is offered as an alternative to the standard version of the course.

This will allow you to complete a credit-bearing, 20-week Professional Placement as an integral part of your Master’s Degree. The purpose of the Professional Placement is to improve your employability skills which will, through the placement experience, allow you to evidence your professional skills, attitudes and behaviours at the point of entry to the postgraduate job market. Furthermore, by completing the Professional Placement, you will be able to develop and enhance your understanding of the professional work environment, relevant to your chosen field of study, and reflect critically on your own professional skills development within the workplace.

Want to study a Master’s in finance management? Our MSc Management and Finance degree is accredited by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI).

Our Management and Finance course teaches you the fundamental skills and attributes you need to become a successful international manager in the finance sector. You’ll become adept at strategic and tactical business decisions, developing core skills in managerial finance and managing and motivating staff in businesses on an international scale.

What's covered in this course?

Initially in the first stage, you will examine the key challenges faced by global businesses to fully appreciate the complexity and dynamics of leadership and management practice. This will see you broaden your skills in organisation, communication and working with others, particularly within an increasingly diverse cultural context.

During the second stage of your course, you will explore international financial management, including international investment strategies, Capital Asset Pricing and the financial aspects of national and international merger and acquisitions. You’ll learn how to navigate the risks of foreign exchange rates and the intricacies of dividend policy theory and practice for international firms.

You’ll be taught international business strategy while also developing your research skills in preparation for your major project. In addition to the Major project, you will also study both personal and institutional portfolio management, covering key areas such as shares, bonds, property chattels and commodities, and fund management principles and issues.

Professional Placement option

For our Management Master's degrees, you will have the opportunity to take the Professional Placement version of the course, which is offered as an alternative to the standard version of the course.

This will allow you to complete a credit-bearing, 20-week Professional Placement as an integral part of your Master’s Degree. The purpose of the Professional Placement is to improve your employability and transferable skills. The placement experience will allow you to evidence your professional skills, attitudes and behaviours at the point of entry to the postgraduate job market.

Want to study both criminology and sociology at University? Our BA (Hons) Sociology and Criminology degree combines both subjects and allows you to take a year-long industry placement.

This course will enable you to develop an understanding of society and social factors and how this affects crime and criminals, giving you a solid human understanding that will put you in a good position for range of careers or further study.

What's covered in this course?

Combining sociology with the study of criminology gives you a chance to benefit from the cutting-edge thinking of the University’s Centre for Applied Criminology, a research Centre of Excellence. The recently launched Centre for Critical Social Research also brings sociological concerns to the fore.

This course is taught with an equal number of Sociology and Criminology modules.

You’ll share a common first year with the Sociology BA, giving you a wide range of understanding and letting you see what your options are before advancing. The course introduces you to sociological theories and contexts allowing you to situate and to inform your studies in criminology with a focus on crime, criminals and the operation of criminal justice agencies.

You’ll develop communication and research skills through our wide range of assessments, as well as a clear understanding of social policy and criminology.

Our BA Hons Costume Design and Practice degree course will prepare you as a designer practitioner within a breadth of performance genres.

Develop a range of career-specific skills within costume design and practice in a city culturally rich with dance, theatre and the creative arts. You will develop a range of skills applicable to a career within costume design and practice. Birmingham is a city culturally rich with dance, theatre and the creative arts, and collaboration with many of these creative partners is encouraged and embedded within course content. Staff delivering the course are both practitioners and researchers who continue to contribute to their discipline.