Master of Science in Global Politics

at Durham University United Kingdom

One of the principal challenges that our society faces is the need for increased agricultural productivity via improved crop protection and plant biotechnology. The number of novel crop protection and biotech products registered in the EU has been decreasing over the last 10 years. This is, in part, due to a sector covered by a reduced number of companies, a difficult legislative environment, and the lack of profesionals with skills and specific knowledge. Given the quality of the UK Plant-science research and education system, the socio-economical context and the increase in global warming-associated natural catastrophes, there has never been a more important time to train new scientists in plant biotechnology, to underpin economic growth.

Most of the Biosciences graduates finish their degree with limited practical and experimental skills, and the practical knowledge required for translating their ideas into commercial products. Furthermore, due to the rapidly evolving nature of the biosciences field, employers seek graduates with transferable skills beyond those established in their first degree. In order to fulfill the curriculum gap and to improve the employability and business development know-how of home and overseas bioscientists, academics at the DU Bioscience department have designed a postgraduate taught course in Plant Biotechnology & Enterprise.

Our MSc Finance programmes are designed to provide you with rigorous training at the frontier of research, as well as the advanced analytical and technical skills that are highly sought after by global employers and, if you wish to continue your studies, by world-leading PhD programmes.

Our MSc programmes have partnership status with the Chartered Financial Analyst Institute (CFA). The CFA is the world’s premier association for investment professionals and the accepted benchmark for technical excellence in financial markets. It guarantees you benefit from a curriculum of the highest standards and enables you to participate in the CFA Global Investment Research Challenge, as well as CFA employer network events and scholarships.

The programme consists of a set of core and elective modules, culminating in a practice-based business project or a research-based dissertation.

Core and elective modules:
You will study:

• Advanced Financial Theory
• Corporate Finance

Based on your prior knowledge and experience you will be streamed to study one of the following module pairings:

• Econometrics I and Econometrics II
• Econometric Methods and Financial Modelling and Business Forecasting

In the first year of Physical Geography, we introduce the range of our research specialisms and research methods, including residential fieldwork overseas (e.g. Portugal). Elective modules in the second and third years progressively lead to material at the cutting edge of research and include optional overseas fieldwork.

The majority of modules in the second and third year focus on physical geography and environmental topics. In the second and third year, you may take integrated modules (with a mixture of human and physical geography) and one module from the Geography BA (Hons) list (subject to timetable compatibility).

Our MSc programmes in Economics will give you the opportunity to equip yourself with the necessary skills and knowledge to pursue a career in economics and related disciplines.

The programme consists of a set of core and elective modules, culminating in a practice-based business project or a research-based dissertation.

Core and elective modules:
Core modules provide a foundation of essential knowledge and understanding.

• Advanced Macroeconomics
• Advanced Microeconomics
• Public Choice
• Public Economics

With conflicts becoming either increasingly drawn-out, asymmetric wars of attrition or normalise into states of no peace – no war, our understanding of conflict and conflict intervention is shifting. Conflicts are rarely determined by military victory, diplomacy or long-term development, but require securing populations through a comprehensive approach that sees to their political, and economic, as well as their security-related needs. Their outcome will be determined by how well the different arms of government and civil society, both locally and internationally, can work together and how well they understand each others' perspectives.

This interdisciplinary and custom designed MSc offers the unique opportunity to look at conflict, conflict intervention and post-conflict reconstruction through the lenses of defence, development and diplomacy.

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

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 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, Psychology, Politics or Theology. Philosophy can also be combined in a Joint Honours degree within the Natural Sciences degree or as part of a Combined Honours degree.

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

The MSc Global Politics aims to provide you with knowledge of the political, economic, cultural and moral debates about how and to what extent the effects of globalisation can be governed.

This course will provide the means for you to develop the analytical and conceptual skills necessary to understand and discuss:

• The key international and transnational structures, organisations and institutions that have developed in the era following the Second World War
• The range of the academic debates in the area of global governance
• Policy developments and innovations in the fields of economics, security, and environment
• The moral justification for different and sometimes competing regimes of global governance.

You will also benefit from the wide range of academic resources within the School of Government and International Affairs, the Law School, the Department of Geography, and Durham University Business School, making the MSc Global Politics a truly unique interdisciplinary course.

The MA in Creative Writing is an exciting new course at Durham University. Taught by award-winning writers Dr Paul Batchelor, Dr Naomi Booth, Kayo Chingonyi, Professor Claire Harman, Sunjeev Sahota, and Dr Sam Riviere. This is an academically rigorous degree that will develop your practical knowledge of writing poetry and prose fiction. You will receive structured support through writing workshops and one-to-one tutorials in order to develop their own ideas. You will also study a broad range of literature from the 20th and 21st centuries, and produce new work in response.

The MA in Archaeology can be studied on a full-time and part-time basis. Through sets of specialist modules, skills-oriented classes and workshops, and dissertation research it provides the opportunity to advance your skills and knowledge in archaeology with a view to progressing either to doctoral-level research or to gaining specialist and transferable skills to develop a career in commercial archaeology or in the wider employment market.

The MA Archaeology is designed to take advantage of the exceptionally wide research interests of the staff in Durham Archaeology, which range from the Palaeolithic of western Europe, through Neolithic, Bronze Age and Iron Age Europe, to the Classical archaeology of the Greek and Roman worlds, through Egyptology, the archaeology of the ancient and Islamic Near East and Arabia, to Buddhism in South Asia and trade in the Indian Ocean, and the archaeology of the medieval, post-medieval and historic periods.

From this widespread students are able to select a combination of specialist taught courses and a dissertation topic in precisely the areas that interest them. At the same time, they will form part of a large cohort of students taking this and associated courses creating a student community amongst whom some courses in research, presentation and practical skills are shared, along with discussions and events. This structure offers the opportunity for interdisciplinary exchange combined with specialist training in key archaeological skills and knowledge, as well as making friendships and contacts from around the world.