Master of Arts in Professional Writing

at University of Westminster - Regent Campus United Kingdom

The Criminology BA Honours aims to enthuse, inspire and equip you with the skills for a successful career in today's competitive job market.

Criminology draws on a wide range of human and social science disciplines, and the course has been designed to develop your knowledge and understanding of criminology as an interdisciplinary subject area. It will also equip you with the transferable and cognitive skills necessary for lifelong personal and professional development.

Westminster's criminologists are concerned with who commits crimes and how offenders should be punished, but at the heart of criminology are fundamental questions about how 'crime' is defined, how criminal law is made, and how definitions of crime and justice vary historically and cross-culturally.

Top reasons to study with us

• Work experience opportunities – our work experience module in Year 3 will allow you to gain valuable practical experience. Many of our students find placements in a range of criminal justice agencies
• Award-winning leadership – our course leader was awarded the British Society of Criminology award for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (2016) for his design and implementation of the curriculum
• Field trips – In Year 3 you'll have the opportunity to take part in a field trip, which in recent years took place in Berlin. You'll also be able to take part in field walks around London including visits to theatres, prisons and the High Court of Justice

The English Language and Literature MA aims to allow you to explore the interconnections between language and literature. It will provide you with a thorough understanding of the linguistic features of English from a wide range of perspectives (theoretical and applied, synchronic and diachronic), as well as leading you to explore a wide array of texts in connection with the social, historical and political circumstances from which they emerge. Furthermore, the MA will equip you with the intellectual perspectives and the scholarly skills that will prepare you to conduct independent research.

The MA is suitable for students who have taken English language and/or literature modules at undergraduate level, and others who have taken allied disciplines such as TESOL. It is of particular interest to those wishing to pursue further study and those teaching English who wish to gain a further qualification and investigate recent and current developments in the field.

Immigration, crime, social injustice and youth unemployment make headline news almost daily. These are the key issues of our time. If you’re interested in such issues, and want to understand how societal structures impact on people's everyday lives and interactions, or how criminal justice relates to social justice, then you should consider studying sociology and criminology. Combined, these two disciplines develop your sociological and criminological imagination and answer questions about society and its various institutions.

You’ll be taught by active researchers, whose expertise includes human rights, migration, comparative and transnational criminology, convict criminology, youth justice, terrorism studies, psychology of crime, education, gender and sexuality, 'race' and ethnicity, social movements, families, media and cultural studies. You’ll have access to a wide range of specialist option modules in both disciplines, and you’ll have the opportunity to take a work experience module where you can put into practice the personal and professional skills you've developed while studying.

This combined degree enables you to sufficiently specialise in criminology to enter professions connected to the criminal justice system, but also benefit from the broader careers available to sociologists. You'll also gain the transferable skills necessary for lifelong personal and professional development.

Our students go on to careers in the police and police-supporting organisations, crime prevention, the probation service, the charity and non-governmental organisations sector, local and central government, teaching, social work, youth work, and many more.

This course offers a unique curriculum. A distinctive feature of the course is our use of London as a learning and teaching resource, with several modules offering field trips around the city such as museum visits and themed street walks. You’ll be part of a diverse and international student culture, and you can also gain valuable experience studying abroad for a semester.

Top reasons to study with us

• Study in a multicultural city – London is one of the world's most diverse cities, making it a fascinating place to study sociology and criminology. We make the most of our central location, with field trips around the city, museum visits and themed street walks
• Thrive in an academically supportive environment – you'll be taught by friendly, dedicated lecturers who are all active researchers
• Engage critically with contemporary issues – our curriculum focuses on social and criminal justice and, together with students from diverse backgrounds, you'll explore some of the most important issues facing the world today
• A wide-ranging learning experience – by combining sociology and criminology you'll have access to a broad range of specialist modules, giving you a well-rounded learning experience that enables you to pursue a variety of careers

The question of security now dominates contemporary international politics. Issues such as the 'War on Terror', pre-emptive self-defence and humanitarian intervention constitute seminal international concerns that have implications for all states and all peoples.

This course provides you with a detailed understanding of the nature of the contemporary security agenda, its origins, theoretical foundations and future trajectory. You will examine the theories of international security and those key security issues that have dominated security discourse in the post-Cold War era. You will also develop your analytical skills in order to facilitate understanding of the seminal contemporary security issues in a broader theoretical and historical framework.

The Specialised Translation MA prepares you for a career in the translation market. The course is open to native and non-native speakers of English, who combine English with any of the following languages: Chinese, French, German, Italian or Spanish. At the heart of the Specialised Translation MA lie our weekly practical translation classes between English and one of the languages listed above. Building on your existing language skills, you will learn how to research specialised subjects to produce, with and without the use of translation memory software tools, commercially viable translations of a broad range of specialised texts, applying insights drawn from linguistics and translation theory as well as from professional practice.

If you are studying the Specialised Translation MA with English and one other language, you will also attend modules that introduce you to audio-visual and computer-assisted translation, revision, editing, post-editing, quality assurance, and project management skills for translators. If you are a native speaker of English and would like to study translation with two of the above languages, you can choose to replace the Audio-visual and Computer-Assisted Translation and Quality Assurance and Project Management for Translators modules with two Specialised Translation modules in your second foreign language. You will also engage with a comprehensive programme of professional development activities and will further complement the knowledge and skills acquired on the core modules by choosing either Translation as Cultural Practice or International Organisations and Institutional Discourses as an option module. At the end of the course, you will submit an MA Translation Project or an MA Dissertation.

The English Language and Linguistics MA aims to provide you with a thorough understanding of the linguistic features of English from a wide range of perspectives: theoretical and applied, synchronic and diachronic. It will enable you to understand and evaluate critically a wide spectrum of ideas put forward in the study of the English language (particularly in connection with linguistic variation in terms of space, time, communicative context and linguistic contact) and will equip you with the intellectual perspectives and the scholarly skills that will prepare you to conduct independent research.

The English Language and Linguistics MA is suitable for students who have taken English language and/or linguistics modules at undergraduate level, and others who have taken allied disciplines such as psychology, philosophy or TESOL. It is of particular interest to those wishing to pursue further study and those teaching English who wish to gain a further qualification and investigate recent and current developments in the field.

Our English Literature and Language BA gives you the opportunity to study English literature by focusing on both the wider social context and the language that is being used.

You'll be able to engage with an exciting variety of texts, both traditional (such as Shakespeare, Jane Austen, and Charles Dickens) and non-traditional, alongside all sorts of other aspects of culture. You'll become a sophisticated reader of texts in their wider cultural contexts, at the same time as sharpening your skills in research. This training in critical and creative reading is particularly suitable if you are considering English teaching, the publishing or journalism industries, or any career that involves sophisticated communication skills and an advanced level of language use. It is of particular interest to those wishing to develop their skills as a writer. Our degree is strong in promoting the transferable and cognitive skills that employers value, and that contribute to lifelong personal and professional development.

We begin the course with an examination of what literature is and the tools that we use to discuss it, alongside focusing on how the English language works and the ways it is used to create different kinds of texts. As you progress through the course, you'll have the choice of a wide variety of literature from Old English, through Shakespeare, the 19th and 20th centuries to the present day; this may include texts from outside the traditional literary canon such as genre fiction and new forms of digital content.

Top reasons to study with us

• Learn from experts – You'll be taught by experts in their field, both in English literature and language and in neighbouring disciplines
• Benefit from small group learning – We offer weekly small group tutorials of five to eight students per tutor in addition to our regular seminars, which are designed to support your individual learning needs during the first two years of your degree
• Engage with a variety of texts – You'll be studying both traditional and non-traditional texts alongside all sorts of cultural works from film, the visual arts and museums
• Get experience before graduating – you’ll have the option to do a work placement as part of this course
• Learn transferable skills – Our degree will prepare you for a variety of careers by helping you to build your communication skills, research skills and creativity in problem-solving

Our Arabic and Linguistics BA trains you to be a competent linguist ready to enter graduate employment.

Our degree offers the exciting combination of the study of Arabic language and culture alongside the wider study of the forms, structures and varieties of language itself.

You'll develop a high level of competence in oral and written communication in Arabic, proficiency in language transfer skills, and a thorough knowledge of Arabic culture. On graduation, you'll be able to thrive linguistically in diverse cultural situations.

You'll study an integrated curriculum with a focus on applied language skills and cultural studies, supported by a rigorous development of your foreign languages skills in all areas. We teach in an integrated interdisciplinary way, exploring the connections between language and culture and the broader historical and cross-cultural contexts in which they are produced. 

We place particular emphasis on employability and the contemporary cultural context, and offer high-quality teaching in all language skills.

The linguistics component of your combined degree will develop your understanding and knowledge of language to an advanced and sophisticated level, while fostering and enhancing your skills in using English.

The Cultural and Critical Studies MA is part of the Cultural and Literary Studies Suite, a cluster of four MAs that bring together academics, curators and practitioners who share a commitment to investigating modern and contemporary culture from aesthetic, critical, literary and experiential perspectives. You will share classes with students from the Art and Visual Culture MA, the English Literature: Modern and Contemporary Fictions MA and the Museum, Galleries and Contemporary Culture MA, joining a fruitful and intellectually rigorous environment designed to facilitate interdisciplinary thinking. As part of our Suite, you may also choose an option module from the other three MA programmes (what is referred to as an ‘elective’ module), a fantastic opportunity to explore a facet of culture outside of your chosen MA programme.

The Cultural and Critical Studies MA offers you the rare opportunity to study contemporary critical and cultural debates across a wide range of fields. Exploring a variety of different visual, textual and popular forms of culture, the course will particularly appeal to those with wide-ranging interests in the arts and humanities, as well as those interested in cutting-edge theoretical debates.

Our degree offers the exciting combination of the study of Chinese language and culture alongside the wider study of the forms, structures and varieties of language itself.

You'll develop a high level of competence in oral and written communication in Chinese, proficiency in language transfer skills, and a thorough knowledge of Chinese culture. On graduation, you'll be able to thrive linguistically in diverse cultural situations.

You'll study an integrated curriculum with a focus on applied language skills and cultural studies, supported by a rigorous development of your foreign languages skills in all areas. We teach in an integrated interdisciplinary way, exploring the connections between language and culture and the broader historical and cross-cultural contexts in which they are produced. 

Top reasons to study with us

• Enhance your language skills abroad – You'll have the option to spend a full academic year abroad in your third year, or shorter periods ranging from a few days to a full semester
• Mix language with culture – Develop your Chinese language skills alongside your cultural knowledge of the Chinese-speaking world with our integrated curriculum
• Expert teaching – You'll study with world experts in creoles, pidgins and sociolinguistics
• Be supported – You'll receive individually focused academic support through our tutorial modules