Bachelor of Arts in Geography

at Durham University United Kingdom

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. You will also study modules in the Department of Sociology.

The BEng Electronic Engineering degree is a high-quality three-year degree designed to offer you the knowledge and skills necessary to join engineering teams on graduation. It is complementary to the four-year Durham MEng, and transfer is possible between the courses up to the end of the second year. It is important to highlight that you also can transfer between the different Engineering programmes that we offer (Civil, Mechanical, Electrical, Electronic, etc.) up until the end of the second year, provided that you meet the relevant progression requirements. We believe that students should make an informed decision about their futures and allowing our students to transfer between programmes, once they understand the different disciplines, demonstrates our commitment to this and the Department’s General Engineering philosophy.

In the first two years, the BEng covers the same broad base of engineering education as the MEng degree. The BEng prepares you for an exciting career in modern engineering, with the flexibility to respond to changing technologies.

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.

Our specialist BSc Finance degree places considerable emphasis on the key quantitative and analytical skills needed to pursue a career in finance and financial markets. The degree prepares you for a career in the financial environment by providing a technical curriculum to strengthen the link between academia and practice. The BSc Finance enables you to acquire a critical understanding of theories, empirical evidence and practical application whilst maintaining a rigorous academic underpinning. In particular, you will learn about corporate finance, investments, financial institutions and the vast array of sophisticated financial products traded in today’s global financial markets. Furthermore, you will develop the quantitative techniques needed to analyse, in depth, financial data and financial securities.

Advances in fields such as Physics, Engineering, Earth Sciences or Finance are increasingly driven by experts in computational techniques. Notably, people skilled to write code for the most powerful computers in the world and skilled to process the biggest data sets in the world can truly make a difference.

The MSc in Scientific Computing and Data Analysis offers an application-focused course to deliver these skills with three interwoven strands:

• Computer Science underpinnings of scientific computing (algorithms, data structures, implementation techniques, and computer tool usage)
• Mathematical aspects of data analysis
• Implementation and application of fundamental techniques in a domain specialisation (presently Astrophysics, Particle Physics, Financial Mathematics, or Earth and Environmental Sciences

The first year of the History degree offers you the opportunity to study a range of periods and approaches to history. Many of the modules cover quite large topics or long periods; these are intended to introduce you to subjects which may be unfamiliar and which pose new questions and new problems, showing you how wide the study of history really is.

You will take ‘Making History’ which will enable you to develop more advanced study skills through working in a small, intensive seminar. These require extensive reading, discussion, and writing about problems of historical interpretation in a defined area, and will focus on both primary and secondary sources. The module is divided into different strands from which you will make your choice.

In addition, you will choose four further modules from a list of approximately 12. You must choose at least one Medieval, one Early Modern, and one Late Modern module. Typically, you will have one weekly lecture and a small-group seminar every two or three weeks. For the seminar, you will be given reading to do in advance, and on the basis of this you and the other students in your group will discuss particular issues. Students are expected to lead the discussion in seminars. Most modules are assessed by coursework essays and by a two-hour examination in May/June, in which you write answers to two essay-style questions.

The modules on offer change each year, as they reflect the research interests of staff; we cannot guarantee in advance that a particular module will be running in any particular year.

Our Computer Science degrees balance fundamental knowledge and practical application in order to provide you with both specialised and transferable skills that are greatly valued in the marketplace. The course emphasises from the start both programming and mathematical skills that allow, in the later year's engagement through the 'Individual Project' with cutting-edge research being done in the department.

This course provides an opportunity to develop an advanced knowledge of the law of the European Union, with particular emphasis upon its commercial aspects. If you are new to European law, there is a (compulsory) foundation course providing a solid grounding in the subject. Having completed your choice of taught modules, you will then undertake an extended dissertation on a European law topic of your choice, supervised by a member of staff with expertise in their chosen subject area.

Teaching is by a mixture of lectures and smaller, student-led, seminar or tutorial groups. The dissertation is pursued by independent research with individual supervision. Students attending the course are drawn from a broad range of countries, and their previous academic or professional experiences enrich the course.

The School is host to the Durham European Law Institute, and you are encouraged to participate in its many activities. The Library, which includes a European Documentation Centre, has extensive holdings of European materials.

The BA in Classical Civilisation offers a broad and varied exploration of the society and culture of Greece and Rome, and their importance for us today, as well as an opportunity to focus on particular areas which might interest you. The course includes the option of beginning to learn Greek or Latin language (or continuing, if you have studied the languages already).

This interdisciplinary and custom designed MSc offers the unique opportunity to look at conflict prevention and peacebuilding through the lenses of human security, social justice, and people’s diplomacy. Integrated into the MSc structure are opportunities to develop operational and vocational skills in humanitarian intervention, conflict mediation, everyday negotiation, conflict sensitive programme design, the use of peace indicators, participatory approaches to peacebuilding, and gender-sensitive approaches to security.

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

The MSc will provide you with advanced knowledge of the complex and specialised areas of peacebuilding, among it conflict analysis, conflict prevention, conflict resolution and conflict transformation, community driven reconstruction, peace processes within the context of contemporary conflicts and in the context of broader international (humanitarian) interventions. Integrated into the MSc structure are opportunities to develop operational and vocational skills for example in negotiations, conflict mediation, conflict sensitive programme design and programme management, or urban peacebuilding. You are provided with theoretical and empirical knowledge and with practical skills that are helpful for current and future employment opportunities. The courses are thus attractive to both graduates and mid-career practitioners. Whilst the academic and applied focus of the MSc comes through a peace and conflict studies analytic lens, course material will also draw from traditional strategic/security and development studies, enabling cross fertilisation between different perspectives. It allows the exploration of unique and new paradigms and practices in the fields of conflict, peace, security, defence, diplomacy, development and humanitarian intervention.