Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Politics

at Durham University United Kingdom

The degree courses offered by the Department of Earth Sciences are intended to give you as much flexibility as possible while retaining the core Earth Science subjects. Individual degree courses are comprised of modules, and you will take a total of six modules (120 credits) in each academic year. This allows you to follow your own interests, as they develop.

In the first year, you will be introduced to major topics in Earth Sciences, developing the practical skills required to study rocks and fossils in the field. In Year 2 you will deepen your understanding of these topics. A key part of this year is to gain the knowledge and skills required to undertake your Dissertation. In Year 3 a mix of compulsory and elective modules allow you to specialise and study topics at the cutting-edge of Earth Sciences.

The MSci Earth Sciences course allows those with an aptitude to make the first steps to a research career. The majority of our degrees are accredited by the Geological Society of London, this gives you the assurance our teaching is of the highest quality, has been approved by an independent body of academics and industrialists and provides a fast track to Chartered Geologist status.

Our graduates secure employment in the fields of mineral exploration and petroleum geology, engineering geology, environmental and hydrogeology consultancies, GIS companies, geological surveys, as well as securing places on Masters and PhD courses. Numeracy, critical thinking and problem solving skills developed on the course are highly valued in a wide range of non-geoscience careers, including teaching, business management, insurance and accounting, banking and finance.

This course enables you to learn how anthropological ideas and approaches are vital for understanding the environmental, social and economic crises of the contemporary world. It teaches how to engage with local knowledge and community-based approaches, rather than rely on global blueprints for sustainable development.

The course is taught by an active, interdisciplinary team involved in world-class research on development issues. We offer comparative knowledge about achieving environmental and social sustainability through participatory approaches and active collaborations with projects for empowerment in the Global South. Geographical areas of expertise include Sub-Saharan Africa, South America, South Asia, South-East Asia, the Middle East, Europe and Melanesia. Staff also help students connect with Durham’s excellent research communities such as the Institute of Hazard, Risk and Resilience, and the Durham Energy Institute.

The MSc is based around core modules focusing on the challenges of pro-poor transitions to sustainability, aided by culturally informed perspectives on new themes in development such as resilience, and energy justice. Options allow you to pursue subject interests with specialist guidance. The dissertation enables you to conduct independent research under the supervision of an expert, and become a master of your chosen topic.

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.

This dynamic course brings together the rigour of the scientific laboratory and the excitement of fieldwork. It will help you to understand archaeology across the world, drawing on the latest scientific techniques, such as DNA analysis, bone chemistry and the study of archaeological bone and plant remains.

The Chartered Institute for Archaeologists (CIfA) and University Archaeology UK (UAUK) have accreditedthis degree confirming itprovide the skills relevant to a career in the historic environment.

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.

There are several areas of overlap between Anthropology and Sociology, making them particularly suitable for combination in a joint honours degree. The BA Anthropology and Sociology course combines modules from the BA Anthropology and BA Sociology providing a comprehensive understanding of humans as social and cultural beings.

Our BSc (Hons) course in Psychology follows the British Psychological Society(BPS) guidelines with an extensive range of options in the final year, drawing both from work in fundamental scientific research and in applied psychology. These final year modules include topics in social psychology, developmental psychology, cognition and behavioural neuroscience, as well as neurorehabilitation, education, and health.

Excellent research facilities are available, including a virtual reality suite, developmental testing facilities, and EEG labs. You are encouraged to get involved in experiments being carried out by your lecturers, thus gaining a deeper and more hands-on understanding of the issues you are learning about in your degree, and adding to your contextual experience.

Psychology is essentially concerned with understanding the mind and behaviour in humans and non-human animals, and it is closely related to a wide range of other disciplines, including biology, anthropology, philosophy, and education. You will get the chance to study people in terms of their internal mental processes, the biological mechanisms that underlie their behaviour, and the social and developmental context in which they act. The degree provides the opportunity for the development of extensive subject-specific and transferable skills.

With this route, you could study the same three subjects each year. You could also build on your first-year studies in one or two subjects and then combine advanced modules in these subjects with a new subject(s) in your second year.

You could then study two or three subjects in your third year, all of which you must also have studied in earlier years. With this route, you would graduate with a BSc (Hons) degree in Natural Sciences with your main subjects studied listed on the degree certificate.

At the end of Year 2, the BSc allows you the option of transferring onto either “with Year Abroad” or “with Placement” pathway. Note that these options are competitive and so applicants cannot apply for these pathways through UCAS.

This course combines a sound basis of advanced knowledge and understanding in the broader and more disparate field of International Studies with the opportunity to choose optional specialist areas of study from among those offered in the School, and other schools such as Modern Languages and Cultures. The particular interests reflected in the choice of options may then be developed through the researching and writing of a dissertation.

Throughout the course, you will gain advanced knowledge and understanding of:

• The extent to which the international community has developed and the driving forces shaping its development
• Factors determining humanitarian interventions
• The processes of globalisation in the political, economic, cultural and scientific fields
• The governance role of international organisations
• How the degree of integration of countries into the international political and economic system varies and the determinants of those variations
• Historical and/or contemporary issues and debates in the politics and political economy of specific states and/or areas and/or international institutions and organisations
• Regime analysis and the concept of soft power governance
• An appropriate topic in international politics of your choice

This course will provide graduates with advanced knowledge and understanding of Mechanical Engineering in three ways. Firstly, high-quality taught modules will introduce advanced Mechanical Engineering topics such as turbomachinery design, non-linear stress analysis, fluid mechanics, contact and friction. Secondly, a substantial group design element will equip students with the ability to carry out advanced design in multinational teams using appropriate design standards and sophisticated engineering analysis tools. Finally, a major research and development project allows the student 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 problems relevant to industry and society. These are organised into three research challenges: sustainable infrastructure, future energy systems and next generation materials and microsystems. These are broad interdisciplinary challenges and will form the topics of many of the substantial projects that student will undertake. Durham students are uniquely placed to take advantage of a broad range of expertise in a general engineering department.