Master of Arts in Research Methods (Anthropology)

at Durham University United Kingdom

The three-year BSc Mathematics course gives you the opportunity to study a wide range of mathematics topics, with a particularly large choice of modules in your final year. It will prepare you for many graduate jobs as well as for further study including the PGCE and many MSc courses in mathematics or related subjects.

Our degree covers pure, applied, statistics and probability. You will cover the background to all areas in the first year, while in the second year you can begin to specialise if you want, allowing you to choose to fully specialise in one area, or to choose a broader range of modules in the third year. In your final year, you will develop your research and communication skills in the module Project III.

This course provides you with the systematic knowledge and intellectual tools to critically review developments in the theory and practice of international relations. It will enable you to evaluate in a sophisticated and critical fashion concepts, theories and paradigms within the broad field of international relations, drawing lessons from empirical studies involving both quantitative and qualitative investigations.

You will develop the ability to deploy research strategies and methods in an appropriately advanced fashion to critically evaluate current research and advanced scholarship. Each study route aims to provide advanced knowledge and understanding of the dynamics, including cultural and local political and ideological factors, which shape the contemporary international relations of the relevant area.

The course also provides an opportunity for studying international relations in comparative and historical perspective taking account of regional specific political and economic factors.

This is a four-year multidisciplinary degree in which the compulsory Chinese language and culture modules will be taught at the School of Modern Languages and Cultures (MLaC) and in the Department of History. You may choose a selection of other modules relevant to the study of China from other departments, including Anthropology, Education, Government and International Affairs, Economics, and Theology and Religious Studies.

In addition, you may choose to take additional modules offered by MLaC including European languages and Japanese. All students will spend their third year studying the Chinese language at a university in China. Students are not expected to have any previous knowledge of Chinese, but a pathway is available if you have an A level or equivalent qualification in Chinese.

The study of philosophy at Durham does not follow one particular school. The Department is unique in the UK in its wide-ranging expertise in anglo-american analytical philosophy and continental philosophy. Each of these has its own distinctive set of issues and approaches to resolving them. We also have special expertise in the philosophy of science, and social science, and the history of science and medicine. So at Durham, you will follow one of the widest-ranging philosophy degrees in the country.

At Durham, you will have the opportunity to study Philosophy as a Single Honours degree, or with another subject including: English, Music, Psychology, Politics or Theology. Philosophy can also be combined in a Joint Honours degree within the Natural Sciences course or as part of a Combined Honours degree.

Philosophy is a new subject for many students, so in your first year you will follow a range of introductory courses, introducing the fundamental philosophical subject areas.

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.

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.

Combining still and moving images, advanced academic study and practical skills development, the BA in Visual Arts and Film at Durham is a degree like no other. It draws on staff research spanning historical periods from classical Rome to the present, and is almost global in its geographical reach, with an emphasis not only on Western art, film, and visual culture, but that of the Middle East, Russophone Eurasia, and East Asia. The very conceptions of the visual and the image you will explore in this course are fundamentally shaped by this transnational perspective. With this transnational scope in mind, the degree offers extensive language-learning opportunities, while within Durham it draws on the outstanding collections of the University’s Oriental Museum, its distinguished Western Art collections, and the curatorial expertise of its staff. No previous study of art is required: just a desire to explore the vast world of visual art and film.

Criminology is concerned with understanding crime, deviance and institutions of criminal justice.

Criminologists seek to answer questions like: why are some people more likely to commit or be victims of crime than others; how can crime be effectively prevented or controlled; and from a more critical perspective, how do particular activities become defined as “criminal” in the first place and what does this tells us about the nature of power and authority in society?

Overall, the course progressively develops your critical understanding of Criminology through the examination of key concepts and theories as well as substantive issues related to crime and criminal justice. Alongside this, the course teaches critical analytical and methodological skills to equip students with the practical expertise required to engage with and carry out Criminological research. As such, by the end of the course, graduates will be able to draw upon conceptual and empirical material to critically analyse complex Criminological issues in a scholarly fashion.

The degree is based on a modular structure, with students required to take the equivalent of six modules (some of which may be ‘double modules’) within each year of study. Over the course of the degree, modules become increasingly focused on specialist topics and issues, with the chance to undertake a Sociological research project on a specific topic of substantive interest in the final year of study.

This course will provide you with advanced knowledge and understanding of Civil Engineering in three ways. Firstly high-quality taught modules will introduce advanced Civil Engineering topics such as structural design and highways engineering. Secondly, a substantial Civil design element will equip you with the ability to carry out structural design using appropriate design standards and numerical analysis tools. Finally, a major research and development project allows you to demonstrate the ability to work independently on a complex topic and demonstrate initiative in the solution of engineering challenges.

Durham University has many researchers tackling the challenge of ensuring sustainability and resilience of the infrastructure that underpins our society and economy. This sustainable infrastructure will form the topic of many of the substantial projects that you will undertake and you are uniquely placed to take advantage of a broad range of expertise in a general engineering department.

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.