MSc Humanitarian Action

This is a module that examines responses to conflict-related emergencies. At its core is an understanding of the power relations, systems and processes that generate violence, and responses to it. This module provides the skills to analyse humanitarian action, drawing on theories and case studies; these skills are central to effective policymaking and implementation in humanitarian contexts. The history of humanitarian action dates back over a hundred years, however, the nature of war has changed. The war in Ukraine, Sudan, Gaza, Syria and other places has increased the security concerns for humanitarian workers, mass displacement and climate related hazards. The complexity and longevity of the wars challenges how humanitarian principles are applied and the way these emergencies are identified and responded to. This core module focuses on responses to crises relating to war and other forms of violent conflict, and how lives are saved under difficult, complex and sometimes compromising conditions.

This is the dissertation for the online programme MSc International Development, MSc Humanitarian Action and any other online programmes launched by the department.

This is the dissertation for the online programme MSc International Development, MSc Humanitarian Action and any other online programmes launched by the department.

This is the dissertation for the online programme MSc International Development, MSc Humanitarian Action and any other online programmes launched by the department.

A dissertation gives you a unique opportunity to pursue a long-standing or new interest and/or to explore, in some depth, a topic that is relevant to your anticipated career plans. The 10,000 word dissertation must be submitted by September in the final year of study. The topic is chosen by the student, with the aid of tutors, during the second term of the academic year.

This module assists students in understanding the nature of poverty, its causes, its consequences, trends in poverty reduction, and debates over the drivers of these trends. There is an emphasis on assisting students to gain a rigorous and critical understanding of key concepts used in international poverty debates, and on showing how the definitions of poverty that we use affect our evaluation of poverty incidence and trends, and the policies prescribed to tackle poverty.

This module provides a foundational overview of the relationships and challenges of climate change and global development. It provides a grounding in the science of climate change and different theories and models of development before critically analysing the potential for low carbon and climate resilient development pathways in the future. It introduces students to a range of climate policies, financing and programming mechanisms across different scales including international agreements, governments, businesses, communities and individuals. The module is aimed at postgraduate students and professionals from different disciplinary and professional backgrounds who want to understand more about the theory and practice of integrated responses to climate change and development challenges. It provides a foundational understanding of natural and social science processes, and of technical and policy issues, from which students can develop more specialised interests and knowledge. Providing a multi-disciplinary approach across physical sciences, economics, political and social science, the module provide students with skills to understand and critically review the central global development challenge of tackling climate change.

This module offers a deep dive into the concept of sustainable development, equipping students with a nuanced understanding of its definitions and implications for policy and decision-making. It critically examines the evolution of sustainable development, addressing the contradictions and challenges inherent in this broad approach. Students will engage critically with current debates, exploring mainstream and alternative perspectives of sustainable development around issues such as justice, equality, ethics, and decoloniality. The course will also tackle pressing global challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and gender disparities, highlighting their impacts on the planet and its inhabitants. Students will gain critical analysis and research skills as well as the opportunity to contribute their own understandings, reflections and experiences of sustainable development.

The module examines food (in)security structured around the internationally recognised pillars of food security. Students will explore the challenges of nutrition in a world where a growing number of countries (and households) suffer from the double burden of undernutrition and obesity as well as situations of food crisis such as conflict and climate change. This module introduces key concepts related to food security and social protection, including the themes of poverty, vulnerability and the different approaches to addressing food insecurity. Students will evaluate a variety of social protection approaches aimed at mitigating food insecurity and are encouraged to reflect on the political economy that influences context and outcomes.

This module examines the theory and practice of adapting to climate change. It considers the underlying global political and economic conditions which influence differences in vulnerability to climate impacts and how the processes governing how we adapt are fundamentally intertwined with development.

This module explores current challenges and trends in urbanization, focusing on their connections to social and environmental sustainability issues. Students will investigate historical urban development and essential components of sustainable urban systems including water, energy, the built environment, transport, communication, food, and health. The module will examine how these elements contribute to city functionality, their evolving nature, and the policies and approaches that seek to ensure sustainable, just and equitable urban environments. Students will develop research skills in data collection and case studies while also honing reflective skills based on their personal experiences and contexts.

This course provides a grounding in analytical approaches to the political economy of violence, conflict and development. It will discuss empirical trends, difficulties of data collection and the importance of categorization and boundaries to matters of violence before moving onto some of the foundational theories on conflict and violence including gender perspectives, debates about the origins of human violence, and the role of violence in historical change.

This module examines the meanings, mechanisms and agents of security, acknowledging shifts from the traditional notion of national security to forms of Human Security and critiques of the state. The module investigates processes and phenomena that pose direct threats to groups of people and, in doing so, potentially destabilise or aggravate situations. The module also incorporates analysis of contingent – and differentiating – social factors such as age, gender, class and identity and the way that these shape and are shaped by experiences of security.

This module provides a critical introduction to and overview of the processes that trigger and affect forcibly displaced populations such as refugees, asylum seekers or internally displaced persons, and critically interrogates some of the responses that are set in place to address these movements. Drawing on interdisciplinary approaches from the social sciences and intermixed with case studies from around the world, the module develops a set of knowledge and skills. These include an in-depth understanding of the various types of forced migrations, their causes, meanings and consequences, and how the current and potential responses to displacement by states, UN organisations, NGOs and other local/global actors are affected by the development contexts and politics in which they occur

This module introduces students to the study of gender as it intersects with, and is embedded in, the field and discourse of development, through a range of issues, debates, and concepts. The module is founded on the understanding of gender as a social construction and an understanding of development as a construction with competing and contested frameworks. Students identify, analyse, and critique how different approaches and policies in development both impact upon and are impacted by gender.