Master of Arts in International Relations (East Asia)

at Durham University United Kingdom

Advances in fields such as Physics, Engineering, Earth Sciences or Finance are increasingly driven by experts in computational techniques. Notably, people skilled to write code for the most powerful computers in the world and skilled to process the biggest data sets in the world can truly make a difference.

The MSc in Scientific Computing and Data Analysis offers an application-focused course to deliver these skills with three interwoven strands:

• Computer Science underpinnings of scientific computing (algorithms, data structures, implementation techniques, and computer tool usage)
• Mathematical aspects of data analysis
• Implementation and application of fundamental techniques in a domain specialisation (presently astrophysics, particle physics, financial mathematics, or earth and environmental sciences).

MISCADA’s Astrophysics specialisation aims to equip students with the background needed to address some of the biggest research questions in fundamental science, such as how we can use large surveys and supercomputer simulations to probe the nature of the dark matter and dark energy. The courses include stellar structure and evolution, galaxy formation, large-scale structure and simulations of structure formation.

This course aims to bring you, in 12 months, to a position where you can embark with confidence on a wide range of careers, including taking a PhD in Mathematics or related disciplines. There is a wide range of taught modules on offer, and you will also produce a dissertation on a topic of current research interest taken from your choice of a wide range of subjects offered.

This is a degree offered in collaboration with other departments in the Faculty of Social Sciences. It is designed to provide a strong all round training in research methods allied to further specialisation within the fields of politics, international relations and security for those intending to go on to register for a PhD. As such it implements the ESRC research training guidelines for '1+3' PhD students, and includes compulsory elements in a wide variety of techniques including statistics and quantitative methods, but contains less subject-specific content than the other MA courses.

Earth Sciences is a four-year Master's degree course that has been designed to provide a comprehensive and rigorous education in all aspects of Earth Sciences with the opportunity to interact with staff at the cutting-edge of scientific research. It provides you with the opportunity to follow the Geology or Environmental Geosciences or Geophysics with Geology or Geoscience for the first three years and undertake a detailed independent research project in the area of your choice in the fourth year.

The MSci Earth Sciences course incorporates a substantial amount of independent (and group) project work which will involve you in high-level quantitative investigations, in addition to advanced key skills training.

If you have been accepted on the BSc degree course you can choose to transfer to the four-year MSci degree in Earth Sciences at the end of your second year. This will depend on your progress in the first two years.

Single Honours in English Studies offers a comprehensive syllabus, which combines traditional areas of literary study with new and developing areas of the discipline. It aims to develop your conceptual abilities and analytical skills by exposing you to a variety of literary critical approaches, to promote and develop clarity and persuasiveness in argument and expression, and to enable you to develop, to a high degree of competence, a range of skills which are subject-specific and transferable. A degree in English Studies will equip you for a wide variety of professions and employment, as well as for advanced postgraduate study of English and related disciplines.

This course focuses on the Catholic theological tradition, within the more general context of Christian theology. Durham has a strong interest in and engagement with contemporary Catholicism, with a Centre for Catholic Studies, the Bede Chair in Catholic Theology and the St Hilda Chair in Catholic Social Thought and Practice.

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.

Our taught MA course in Twentieth- and Twenty-First Century Literary Studies offers choice, flexibility and the opportunity to specialise within this field. You can learn from the rich variety of research expertise in the Department and you also have the chance to concentrate on a particular area of literary study within the field. Our commitment to research-led teaching means that students are able to explore the cutting edge of the discipline - from the beginnings of the literature of revolution, to life writing, to contemporary US crime narrative. We provide an intimate, dynamic and supportive environment for students of all backgrounds and nationalities.

Our course offers up-to-date training in research methods and skills. You will choose three modules, at least two of which are from within the pathway, and you will write a dissertation on a subject related to twentieth- and twenty-first-century studies.

An MA in Twentieth- and Twenty-First-Century Literary Studies is often the platform for further research at PhD level, as well as providing an excellent grounding for jobs in education, the arts and the media.

There are numerous areas of overlap between Anthropology and Archaeology, making them particularly suitable for combination in a joint honours degree. The BA (Hons) Anthropology and Archaeology course combines modules from the BA/BSc (Hons) Anthropology degrees and BA (Hons) Archaeology, providing a comprehensive understanding of humanity both past and present.

Students also have the opportunity to study a foreign language by taking a module from the University’s Centre for Foreign Language Study in any year.

The Primary Education degree offers Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) and is ideal for those committed to a teaching career in a primary school. In addition to preparing you to teach the whole curriculum, the course enables you to become a specialist in a particular curriculum area: English, Mathematics or Science.

The degree aims to help you develop an appropriate repertoire of professional knowledge and understanding to provide a foundation for effective teaching in a primary school; an in-depth knowledge and understanding of the core subjects of the National Curriculum; personal skills which would enable you to contribute to a school as a curriculum specialist in one of the core areas; knowledge and understanding of the other subjects in the primary curriculum to a level which will support effective teaching; understanding of schools and the National Curriculum as the framework within which children’s formal learning takes place; classroom effectiveness by drawing upon the expertise of practising teachers; a personal educational philosophy and a professional approach to your work; an understanding of the responsibilities and roles of the primary teacher.

The Primary Education degree offer closely aligns with the research focus and outputs of the department, offering evidence-based, recent and relevant materials alongside other academic elements, which will fully support the developing primary practitioner. There is an opportunity to personalise the degree from the range of optional modules on offer in Years 1 and 2. There are excellent opportunities for the consideration of international and intercultural perspectives; increasingly relevant with current UK policy looking to overseas pedagogies to inform curriculum development.

The course also offers forward-looking professional development opportunities such as the development of the role of the teacher-researcher and the opportunity to explore the role of subject leadership within schools for future career development.