Master of Arts in Research Methods (Anthropology)

at Durham University United Kingdom

Our taught MA course in Twentieth- and Twenty-First Century Literary Studies offers choice, flexibility and the opportunity to specialise within this field. You can learn from the rich variety of research expertise in the Department and you also have the chance to concentrate on a particular area of literary study within the field. Our commitment to research-led teaching means that students are able to explore the cutting edge of the discipline - from the beginnings of the literature of revolution, to life writing, to contemporary US crime narrative. We provide an intimate, dynamic and supportive environment for students of all backgrounds and nationalities.

Our course offers up-to-date training in research methods and skills. You will choose three modules, at least two of which are from within the pathway, and you will write a dissertation on a subject related to twentieth- and twenty-first-century studies.

An MA in Twentieth- and Twenty-First-Century Literary Studies is often the platform for further research at PhD level, as well as providing an excellent grounding for jobs in education, the arts and the media.

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).

Through MISCADA’s FinMath specialisation, students will be introduced to the mathematical principles behind modern financial markets, and elements of programming and communication in the context of the financial industry. Financial mathematics draws on tools from probability theory, statistics, partial differential equations, and scientific computing, and is widely used in investment banks, hedge funds, insurance companies, corporate treasuries, and regulatory agencies to solve such problems as derivative pricing, portfolio selection, and risk management.

The aim of the MSc Developmental Psychopathology is to provide advanced research training for students interested in pursuing careers in the field of research, child development and clinical or educational psychology. The subject-specific and generic postgraduate training, provided by the course, enables students to develop the knowledge, skills and understanding required of a professional conducting research in clinical, child development or other fields.

Research training forms a key focus of the MSc course. In addition to providing training in basic research, the course aims to integrate research perspectives from clinical and educational psychology. This distinctive emphasis is reflected in the learning outcomes, structure and assessment of the course.

Our Health and Human Sciences course synthesizes biological and evolutionary research into human genetics and physiology with comparative ethnographic approaches to the social, political, ideological and ecological contexts that shape health risks and treatments. This degree will equip you to critically debate discourse surrounding healthcare from an interdisciplinary, anthropological perspective that draws together local, regional and international scales of analysis.

This MA is designed for those who wish to explore the social dimensions of risk and resilience. The Department of Geography is especially well-suited to examine these in relation to environmental hazards, climate vulnerability and security-related risk, but you are encouraged to develop your own thinking in relation to any aspect of risk research, including broader environmental change, disaster risk reduction, risk and insurance, risk and health, risk and migration, risk and social policy, risk and governance, borders and terrorism. This course foregrounds the existence of multiple ways of understanding risk, from risk as an objective phenomenon managed through scientific tools (e.g. in the case of environmental hazards) to risk as a social construct and a political technique (e.g. in the case of risk and security).

Dealing with risks as a function of both the natural and social environments we live in, the course responds to the growing realisation that many risks are being created through social processes bound to questions of security and vulnerability, including the ways that risk techniques are emerging and being employed as a means of securing uncertain futures.

In studying BSc (Hons) Sport and Exercise Sciences here at Durham, a mix of core and optional modules enables you to explore traditional sport, exercise and health science disciplines (across physiology; psychology; physical activity, nutrition and health). Modules from the Sociology of Sport and Sport Development and Policy subject areas are also available to select across all three years, allowing you to develop a broader, more holistic knowledge base and skill set across the wider study of sport and exercise

Research and academic study skills will be developed through bespoke modules, and during the final year dissertation project you will engage in deeper investigation of a sport and exercise topic that particularly interests you. In addition, our employability-focused course provides further opportunities for you to take sport and exercise leadership and placement modules, as well as open modules from other departments across the University.

Here at Durham, our multidisciplinary expertise across the Department of Sport and Exercise Sciences allows you to tackle traditional and emergent sport and exercise problems from a variety of different perspectives. Learning, teaching and assessment approaches all emphasise the application of academic knowledge to real-life sport and exercise contexts and examples. As such, we enable you to develop your intellectual capacities and personal qualities, as well as to acquire a broad range of practical, professional and employability skills that can be applied to a range of future career paths and further postgraduate studies.

This course focuses on the political, social and cultural history of the Greek and Roman world, and their interactions with neighbouring societies. In your first year, you study core topics in Greek and Roman history, as well as a module focusing on ancient historical writing.

These courses prepare you for a wide range of more focused modules about politics, culture and society in the ancient world available in your second and third years. The course includes the option of beginning to learn Greek or Latin language (or continuing, if you have studied the languages already).

In broad terms, Sociology seeks to understand the relationship between individual people and the wider cultural and institutional contexts within which they live. In doing so, it strives not only to make sense of social and cultural systems but also to bring about transformative social change, drawing upon the systematic study of social issues to challenge inequalities and to inform the development of effective, evidence-based policy and practice..

The curriculum at Durham is informed by our core research themes, including: education and inequality; health and medicine; violence and abuse; and social justice. Alongside these and other substantive topics, you will study sociological theory and its development through to the present day, as well as learn the craft of sociological research and analysis.

As well as gaining detailed knowledge of sociological issues, you will also develop a wide range of transferable skills valued by graduate employers, including how to assemble and evaluate different kinds of evidence, how to turn evidence into an effective argument, and how to design social research and analyse different kinds of data.

The degree is based on a modular structure, you will be required to take the equivalent of six modules (some of which may be ‘double modules’) within each year of study. Over the course of the degree, modules become increasingly focused on specialist topics and issues, with the chance to undertake a sociological research project on a specific topic of substantive interest in the final year of study.

The course at Durham prides itself in combining the traditional and the modern in the study of music. The learning of techniques such as harmony, counterpoint and aural skills are juxtaposed with an investigation of the most up-to-date thinking in musicology, critical theory, composition (acoustic and electroacoustic), analysis, ethnomusicology and performance. Moreover, our teaching, essentially research-led, is enhanced by distinctive staff specialisations that include nineteenth- and twentieth-century British music, music of the Soviet Union, musical life in France and Germany, historically-informed performance, Korean and Indian music, popular music, music technology, conducting, music psychology, and contemporary composition.

Our one year, full-time MSc in Management programmes are designed to provide you with the tools, techniques and knowledge to succeed in business.

Effective management of human resources is vital to business success. The MSc Management (HRM) will develop your knowledge of human resource management and can help you prepare for a career in human resources.

Our MSc Management (HRM) is accredited by the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (CIPD). The CIPD is the largest professional body of HR and Learning and Development professionals with some 140,000 members across the globe. As a student on the MSc Management programme you have the option to join the CIPD (additional fee applies). Upon successful completion of your MSc (in line with the requirements of the CIPD) you will be eligible for the award of the CIPD’s Advanced Diploma in Human Resource Management; your CIPD membership will be automatically updated to Associate Member, confirming your credentials as prospective HR professional.

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