Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Ethics, Religion and Philosophy

at Manchester Metropolitan University United Kingdom

From ragworms and rhinos to locusts and lemurs, the animal world is an ever-changing and always fascinating place to explore. On our BSc (Hons) Animal Behaviour and Conservation degree you can delve in and discover it all – developing an understanding of the vast range and huge importance of animal behaviour.

With us, you’ll consider the drivers of different types of animal behaviour, looking at the interaction of genetics, evolutionary history and present-day environments. You’ll also investigate how and why behaviour changes over an animal’s lifetime, from genetic and hormonal factors to the physiological and environmental mechanisms. You will be equipped with the tools needed in conservation and will study real-world examples of how species and their habitats can be conserved.

Through a blend of laboratory and fieldwork, we’ll show you how to record behavioural data and use professional-grade software for its analysis – vital tools in improving the welfare and management of domestic, wild and zoo populations. Our animal behaviour course also provides the option of spending an extra year expanding your horizons, either studying with one of our partner universities overseas, or working on a placement with a business or non-governmental organisation. This will be subject to national and international travel restrictions.

MFA Fine Art provides a stimulating environment in which you will be guided to develop your creative aspirations, reach a critical maturity, and gain the self-confidence and skills that will enable you to work as a successful artist.

The course is studio practice-driven and relies on experimentation and critical reflection supported by individualized mentoring, lectures, seminars and group critiques. It emphasizes the articulation of ideas, development of working methods and the realisation of independent work. Seminars are structured to investigate a broad range of themes relevant to the practicing artist and provide a rich diet of inspiration.

A degree in English and American literature offers the opportunity to study writers and writing from cultures both united and divided by a common language.

Reflecting the varied and flexible nature of English and American literature, this course enables you to explore both in equal depth, as you look at how writers from the entwined cultures have reflected and shaped the worlds around them.

You’ll explore English literature in all its major forms – prose, poetry and drama – and from all periods since the Renaissance. At the same time, you’ll look at literature from the USA, from its inception to the present day, relating it to key social and historical contexts, while considering American writers’ enduring struggle to articulate national identity.

The course engages with a range of theoretical perspectives on literature and culture, drawn from English and American Studies, and related disciplines. But, crucially, it also recognises that American literature is integral to, rather than separate from, the study of literature in English.

You may have the opportunity to spend a year expanding your horizons, either studying abroad with one of our partner universities, in the US or elsewhere, or working on placement within industry in Britain or abroad.

In your final year you will get the chance to explore your interests in depth with a substantial piece of project work presented as a thesis, building on the knowledge and skills you've been developing over previous years.

Our lively department is home to internationally renowned writers and critics, and there's a strong research culture, creating a learning environment that is both supportive and intellectually challenging. We pride ourselves on our excellent teaching and highly positive student feedback. And with our extensive cultural links both in Manchester and further afield, you'll be in the right place to begin building a creative network for your future.

The Joint Honours BA (Hons) English and Philosophy course route is distinctive because of its richly interdisciplinary approach to key ethical and intellectual challenges. BA (Hons) English and Philosophy is a popular Joint Honours combination which brings together two subjects with highly complementary approaches and interests.

As well as offering a balance of core and optional units rooted in each of the two subjects, this course has been designed so that your growing knowledge and skills in each subject will help you develop a distinctive perspective and distinctive strengths in the other. You may have opportunities to study abroad and, if you wish, can take your third year as a placement – in Britain or abroad. In your final year, you will have a chance to explore your interests in depth with a substantial piece of project work that presents a thesis, building on the knowledge and skills you've been developing over previous years.

The English and philosophy subject groups are staffed by internationally renowned writers and academics, and there’s a strong research culture, creating a learning environment that is both supportive and intellectually challenging. We pride ourselves on our excellent teaching and highly positive student feedback. And with our extensive cultural links both in Manchester and further afield, you are in the right place to begin building a network for your future.

The philosophy at Manchester Metropolitan is a centre of internationally recognised research, covering the History of Philosophy, critical social theories, Philosophy of Art, Metaphysics, Philosophy of Education, History and Philosophy of Science, and much more. We pride ourselves on covering Anglo-American and Continental European philosophy, and many of our research-active staff are regularly invited to give keynote papers at international conferences and workshops. Our teaching is research-led, so you can be sure you’re learning from experts at the forefront of various philosophical disciplines.

Data can provide insights to shape decision-making, power scientific innovation, improve business operations or inform government policy. But it takes state-of-the-art statistical and computational methods to unlock that power. Our MSc Data Science course lets you master those methods.

On this data science masters, we’ll equip you with the knowledge and skills to acquire, curate, manage and analyse data for solving real-world problems. You will gain essential, transferable computational and statistical thinking skills to create and deploy data-driven products and knowledge. And you’ll look at ways to solve challenges in a range of potential, data-rich, application domains, such as health, climate, transportation and sales.

You will have the flexibility to set the direction for your postgraduate studies with a master's project of your own design. While you’ll have the one-to-one support of your supervisor, it’s a solo project – as much about developing computing skills as it is about building confidence and autonomy, vital skills for the workplace.

We’ll help you put the technical skills into a real-world, professional context – helping you communicate your findings in the workplace, and address any of the legal or ethical questions that come with data processing.

Placement options

Strengthen your skillset by spending time in real-life situations, applying the skills you’ve learned throughout your academic studies in a practical industry environment.

This course is available with an optional placement year, which you’ll commence in your second year after you’ve completed your academic credits. The placement provides an opportunity to develop a professional career development plan. You’ll be able to apply the skills you’ve learned throughout your postgraduate studies in a practical workplace, and tailor your knowledge to suit a specific industry or skillset.

Students are expected to behave in a professional and business like manner when on placement or conducting projects with external partners.

Manchester has been identified as one of the major games industry hubs outside of London* (*source: 'A Map of the UK', Nesta, 2020). As home to organisations such as Gameopolis, the city is a driving force for building and coordinating the future of the games industry.

With our MSc in Computer Games Development, you’ll gain the skills required for an exciting career within this growing industry, both here in Manchester and beyond. You’ll learn the core essentials of programming for games and you’ll conduct playtesting sessions and user research to ensure that your games are fun, impactful, and that they effectively reach their target audience.

You will also complete a masters project. While you’ll have plenty of support along the way, it’s a solo research project designed to develop confidence, autonomy and self-sufficiency – qualities that can take you far in the workplace.

By the time you complete your masters, you’ll not only have the technical knowledge, you’ll also have gained key employability skills such as team working, communication, project management and negotiation skills. With the mentorship of passionate games-focused staff at Manchester Met, you will be able to build a refined and diverse portfolio, to help you work towards securing a job in the games industry.

Strong management of financial performance and accounts are key to the success of any organisation. At Manchester Met, we’ll help you find new ways to deal with the issues facing businesses.

Home to global businesses
Manchester is one of the largest financial centres outside London, so you’ll have businesses like Deloitte and KPMG on your doorstep and plenty of opportunities to network with employers.

We also provide training courses for HMRC, BNY Mellon and PwC staff, so our teaching is current and relevant to industry professionals. We teach them in areas of tax, auditing and financial performance management.

Building your expertise
We’ll cover a whole host of areas including international financial reporting standards (IFRS), corporate reporting, governance and risk management. You’ll also apply tools and models of finance theory to understand current challenges.

Your dissertation will put your expertise to the test. It might involve working with an employer to investigate a business issue or answering a challenging research question.

Past students have explored nuclear companies, exchange rate fluctuations, and alignment between performance measurement and strategy.

There are few aspects of business more fundamental than people: they’re a vital ingredient of any organisation. It’s down to the HR professionals to deal with a vast range of business-critical issues, shaping workplace policies like redundancy, maternity leave and rewards, and supporting strategic decisions on areas like recruitment.

The best HR professionals have an in-depth understanding of how organisations operate and what the business objectives are – helping them advise employees and partner with the business.

We’ll help you explore the latest thinking in the subject, starting with first principles of managing people, analysing information and understanding behaviour. From there, you’ll expand into topics like managing across cultures and leading change. And, in your final year, you’ll also be able to pick your own subject as a research topic.

By the time you graduate, you won’t just have extensive knowledge of the role, you’ll also have a deeper understanding of the business and legislative landscape. In other words, you’ll leave ready to start your career in the world of HR.

Product designers at Manchester Met explore why, examine how, and ask ‘what if?’ We are investigative and critically responsive to human and global needs, developing innovative design-led solutions that connect the consumer experience of products, systems and services. As a product design student, you will be creative with purpose, gaining critical understanding of the emergent issues affecting design across society and culture, learning how to be a designer of products that enhance functionality, interactions and relationships with people and the places we inhabit.

 You will develop essential skills in creative methods, research, design thinking, prototyping and design strategy, applying design intelligence to the creation of new product opportunities and solutions. You will discover how to design products that embrace both traditional and contemporary approaches to production and manufacturing, generating value through the application of materials, processes, and technologies. This course will enable you to produce innovative crafted design solutions and develop the creative and professional skills required to support a sustainable career in product design.

Product Design at Manchester Met builds on the success of our previous programme, BA Three Dimensional Design, which has produced influential and award-winning graduates including designer and architect Thomas Heatherwick, jeweller Ruth Tomlinson and ceramicist Joe Hartley.

Sport is part of Manchester’s DNA. It’s a big feature of the city’s history, character and economy. And it’s a big part of Manchester Met too. We created one of the first sports marketing degree in the country and we’ve worked with experts in the industry to make it as useful as possible for your career.

Throughout the course you’ll learn what makes sports marketing so special. You’ll develop key skills in areas like brand management, digital marketing and commercial sponsorship.

The course prepares you for real life in the industry. So, you’ll complete practical projects like developing a sponsorship proposal, creating a digital marketing campaign or putting together a business plan for a new sports enterprise. To add even more to your CV, you can spend a year on placement with an employer, or go abroad to study at one of our partner universities.

We provide plenty of opportunities for you to learn from experts in the industry. We organise guest lectures and help you volunteer at sports organisations and events. We have links with the likes of Manchester City Football Group, GB Taekwondo and British Cycling.

Study Abroad

Instead of a placement, you’ll have the opportunity to spend up to a year overseas, studying with one of our partner institutions across Europe, or beyond. Go abroad in the third year of your degree, and you’ll not only learn about other cultures, improve your language skills and discover more about yourself – you’ll also boost your career prospects.

Having first-hand knowledge of another country’s cultures and traditions can take you far in a range of careers. And, by going abroad you’ll also demonstrate the kind of independent spirit and adaptability that many employers want.