Bachelor of Arts in Sociology

at Durham University United Kingdom

The MA in Geography (Research Methods) - or MARM - aims to give a broad training in social science research methodology as well as more specific training in the approaches and techniques used in human geography. There is a balance between theory and practical application. The course includes skills training and reflection on personal experience, and those who are going on to MPhil/PhD work are encouraged to relate what they learn to their future research. Most of the teaching is in small groups and emphasises student engagement and discussion.

The MARM is an ESRC recognised Masters training course and all modules are designed and delivered in line within the ESRC's requirements. All modules include formative and summative assessment. The teaching is delivered in Terms 1 and 2. From Easter onwards you will work on your dissertation with the support of an allocated supervisor.

This MA aims to introduce you to the issues involved in global cultural heritage management as a foundation for both professional and academic paths. It benefits from Durham University’s unique situation, living and studying within a UNESCO World Heritage Site and examines tangible and intangible heritage from international, national and local perspectives. Durham University established the first ever UNESCO Chair in Archaeological Ethics and Practice in Cultural Heritage, held by Professor Robin Coningham. The degree has strong links with the Durham World Heritage Site and with other local, regional, national and international heritage sites and organisations, many of whom offer placement opportunities.

There are two routes through the MA: the Cultural Heritage Research route which concludes with a dissertation. The Professional Practice Route which concludes with an analytical case study report.

The LLB degree is a highly flexible three-year, full-time course. There are approximately 300 students on each year of the LLB. While providing a solid grounding in the main areas of English and Welsh law, it also allows for individual specialisation through a variety of optional modules offered by the School and other departments in the University.

The degree course provides the opportunity to obtain a Qualifying Law Degree as recognised by the Solicitors Regulation Authority and the Bar Standards Board. (Please note: whether or not a degree exempts a student from the academic stage of training to be a solicitor or barrister depends on the modules that the student studies. In practice, virtually all of our students choose to study the modules that are required by the Law Society and Bar Council, and do gain a Qualifying Law Degree.)

Study abroad
The LLB with a Year Abroad (YA) comprises all of the content of the three-year regular LLB, plus an exciting additional year spent at one of our European or international partners during the third year of study. At present, Durham Law School has partnerships with universities in Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Italy and Singapore.

This course offers students from a wide variety of backgrounds the opportunity to develop their legal knowledge and skills in some of the most intellectually challenging and practically relevant areas of trade and commercial law. The course has a particular emphasis on the international aspects of these areas of legal knowledge and practice.

During the first two terms of the course, you will study taught modules drawn from a wide variety of topics on international trade and commercial law. You then complete your studies by writing a dissertation on a topic chosen by you and supervised by a member of staff with expertise in your selected subject area. Teaching is a mixture of lectures and smaller, student-led, seminar or tutorial groups. The dissertation is pursued by independent research with individual supervision.

Students attending the course are drawn from a broad range of countries, and their previous academic or professional experiences enrich the course. The School is host to the Institute of Commercial and Corporate Law, and students on the LLM are encouraged to participate in its activities.

Bioarchaeology is a branch of archaeology that focuses on the study of biological materials found in archaeological contexts to provide information about the life and environment of humans in the past. It is a fast-paced and continually evolving field, with new breakthroughs and discoveries emerging almost every month. Studying the subject at Durham University opens the door to the latest developments in archaeological science, including human bioarchaeology and palaeopathology, stable isotope mass spectrometry, ancient DNA, and environmental archaeology.

The Bioarchaeology Research Group at Durham works in cutting-edge laboratories, specialising and teaching in the areas of human health and well-being, diet and lifeways, human and animal identities, dispersals and mobility, the reconstruction of palaeoenvironments, and human-animal-environment relations. Many of the assemblages our students work with for their research derive from staff research projects, or the excavations of our in-house commercial unit, Archaeological Services.

Durham University’s unique MSc Bioarchaeology is aimed at inquisitive graduates from archaeology or science backgrounds, and those with professional experience in commercial archaeology or museums, who are interested in learning how biosciences can be applied to field research or museum collections. It provides high quality training in analytical, research, and communication skills, which prepares students for progression to doctoral research in bioarchaeology.

Education Studies is a broad multi-disciplinary degree, designed for the intellectually and practically curious. From the philosophical foundations of schooling to the political implications of policy, education is a vast field that has multiple avenues to approach a seemingly straightforward subject. Our degree goes far beyond any classroom and considers education, people and their relationship to the ever-changing world.

The breadth of our modules allows for the creation of pathways through the course. This may be linked to one of the degree's four strands of educational expertise: pragmatic; sociological-philosophical; psychological; and international-intercultural education.

The MEng Engineering degree is a four-year first degree that delivers the breadth and depth that you will need in the world of engineering. It is designed to produce graduates who will go on and lead engineering teams. Your first two years offer you a broad-based engineering education. You are then able to specialise in your third and fourth years.

At Durham in each year of your degree you will take six modules, the year is divided into three terms and there are examinations at the end of each year.

This interdisciplinary and custom designed MSc offers the unique opportunity to look at conflict prevention and peacebuilding through the lenses of human security, social justice, and people’s diplomacy. Integrated into the MSc structure are opportunities to develop operational and vocational skills in humanitarian intervention, conflict mediation, everyday negotiation, conflict sensitive programme design, the use of peace indicators, participatory approaches to peacebuilding, and gender-sensitive approaches to security.

The MSc is designed for graduates with a career in government, inter-governmental organisations, NGOs, humanitarian organisations, or academia in mind, and for practitioners looking to enhance their practical skills while placing these within a broader theoretical perspective.

The MSc will provide you with advanced knowledge of the complex and specialised areas of peacebuilding, among it conflict analysis, conflict prevention, conflict resolution and conflict transformation, community driven reconstruction, peace processes within the context of contemporary conflicts and in the context of broader international (humanitarian) interventions. Integrated into the MSc structure are opportunities to develop operational and vocational skills for example in negotiations, conflict mediation, conflict sensitive programme design and programme management, or urban peacebuilding. You are provided with theoretical and empirical knowledge and with practical skills that are helpful for current and future employment opportunities. The courses are thus attractive to both graduates and mid-career practitioners. Whilst the academic and applied focus of the MSc comes through a peace and conflict studies analytic lens, course material will also draw from traditional strategic/security and development studies, enabling cross fertilisation between different perspectives. It allows the exploration of unique and new paradigms and practices in the fields of conflict, peace, security, defence, diplomacy, development and humanitarian intervention.

We offer post-A level courses in French, German, Italian, Russian and Hispanic Studies. These courses are open to students who have an A level (at least grade A) or equivalent qualification in that language. We also offer beginners’ courses in Arabic, German, Italian, Spanish and Russian. Beginners can take cultural modules alongside post-A level students, and completely merge with the advanced stream in the final year.

Here are some examples of how to combine languages

• You might choose to study one language (chosen from French, German, Italian, Russian and Spanish [Hispanic Studies]). You will need an A level at the appropriate grade pass in your chosen subject. However, if you wish to study Arabic as a single language, you will need an A level at the appropriate grade pass in at least one other foreign language. You take four modules in the language area of your choice, along with a further two modules in a subsidiary subject of your choice outside the School in both your first and second years. You then take your year abroad and return to your final year to take either six modules in your chosen language or five modules in your chosen language and one module from a subject studied in your second year. Subsidiary subjects may be chosen from those available in departments outside of the School, subject to module availability, individual entry requirements and timetable compatibility.
• You might choose to study two languages (chosen from Arabic, French, German, Italian, Russian and Spanish [Hispanic Studies]). These languages can normally be divided 3 modules +3 modules between two languages, or 4+2 as you prefer (subject to some variation in module availability between the languages).
• You might initially choose to study three languages (chosen from Arabic, French, German, Italian, Russian and Spanish [Hispanic Studies]), which you study in equal proportions (2+2+2). After your first year, you will be required to drop one of these and study no more than two languages in Years 2 and 3.

The BEng Electrical Engineering degree is a high-quality three-year degree designed to offer you the knowledge and skills necessary to join engineering teams on graduation. It is complementary to the four-year Durham MEng, and transfer is possible between the courses up to the end of the second year. It is important to highlight that you also can transfer between the different Engineering programmes that we offer (Civil, Mechanical, Electrical, Electronic, etc.) up until the end of the second year, provided that you meet the relevant progression requirements. We believe that students should make an informed decision about their futures and allowing our students to transfer between programmes, once they understand the different disciplines, demonstrates our commitment to this and the Department’s General Engineering philosophy.

In the first two years, the BEng covers the same broad base of engineering education as the MEng degree. The BEng prepares you for an exciting career in modern engineering, with the flexibility to respond to changing technologies.