Master of Science in English Language and Linguistics

at University of Stirling United Kingdom

The University of Stirling Management School is the perfect place to sharpen your leadership skills and gain insight into today’s business landscape.

Our expert staff have a track record of preparing graduates for roles at some of the world’s best-known companies, and everything we do is designed to equip you with the practical knowledge you need to become an effective manager. You’ll learn how to solve complex problems through analytical decision-making, explore organisational structures, and develop personal skills in critical thinking, teamwork and leadership.

We'll teach you how to apply behavioural science in practice. Our recent students have worked on projects with Siemens, Tesco, Keep Scotland Beautiful, Volunteer Scotland, and Iceland’s Cancer Detection Clinic.
 
Our course motivates you to apply behavioural science to answer some of the biggest questions facing society – for example, ‘how can we improve people’s wellbeing?’, ‘how can we help people save more for the future?’, and ‘how can we foster more effective environmental behaviours?’. In addition, each year we award the Keep Scotland Beautiful Prize for Best Research in Behavioural Science relating to the Environment.
 
We have a regular series of seminars and events where students have an opportunity to chat to leading practitioners and researchers. Each year we host a conference focusing on an aspect of Behavioural Science. In the past these have focused on the ethics of behavioural science, behavioural science and health, and behavioural science in workplace.

If you have aspirations of working in the heritage, conservation or tourism sectors, our dedicated Heritage and Tourism degree is the perfect starting point. This course is a fully integrated degree taught in conjunction with Forth Valley College. You'll spend the first two years studying at the college and the final two studying at the University of Stirling campus, whilst benefitting from dual registration and the full range of their combined resources and facilities.

The course is supported and shaped by leading organisations such as Historic Environment Scotland, VisitScotland and Scottish Canals, and delivered jointly by the University of Stirling and Forth Valley College. Your studies will reflect the importance of combining academic knowledge with a firm grasp of management and business. You’ll learn about heritage, tourism, history, exhibition design, sociology, marketing and environmental studies – as well as the challenges facing the management and promotion of historic and natural environments in Scotland and beyond.

Every aspect of the course is informed by the internationally-recognised expertise of our academic staff and their extensive networks with professional partners, helping to distinguish our programme from other heritage and tourism courses. You can be confident that everything you’re learning is rooted in the latest academic and applied industry thinking, and designed to prepare you for a career in the heritage and tourism sectors. You’ll also apply your skills in real-world settings while you study – further sharpening the skills you’ll put to use when you transition into the exciting professional world of heritage and tourism.

Humans share this planet with other animals and our interactions are at the core of our everyday lives. We farm and eat animals, we keep them as companions and for work, as models for humans in laboratory research, in animal-assisted interventions for positive behaviour change, and in education, entertainment and ecotourism. Depending upon our perceptions and attitudes towards animals, and in relation to the impact they have on us and the environment, we may actively attempt to conserve them, domesticate them or eradicate them.

In this Masters in Human-Animal Interaction you will learn interdisciplinary approaches and a diverse range of methods used to research our relationships with other species. The Masters covers a broad range of topics and looks at human–animal interactions across a wide range of contexts – from pet owning to animal-assisted interventions, zoos, farms and conservation.

You'll learn about the importance of both human and animal behaviour in shaping human animal interaction, and the associated ethical issues, as well as learning to critically evaluate methods for measuring attitudes, interactions and their outcomes.

You'll carry out a practical placement and research project to get direct experience tailored to your individual career goals. You will also learn from our recognised experts in human–animal interaction, whose specialisms include:

• The study of animal behaviour and animal welfare
• Animal-assisted activities and interventions
• Human and animal coexistence

Food from aquatic systems is essential for much of the world’s population. However, with wild catches of seafood declining in many places, aquaculture is playing an increasing role as an alternative source of high-quality, nutritious food - and as an employer. Controlling disease is important to the ongoing success of this industry.

This Masters in Aquatic Veterinary Studies provides you with training in the wide range of disciplines and skills you need for the investigation, prevention and control of aquatic animal diseases. You’ll develop an understanding of the biology, husbandry and environment of farmed aquatic species, as well as specialist expertise in aquatic animal diseases.

You’ll study at the Institute of Aquaculture, one of the top institutions in this field. It’s internationally recognised for both research and teaching and has more than 70 staff and 80 postgraduate students.

The Institute of Aquaculture has received the UK’s most prestigious academic honour – the Queen’s Anniversary Prize 2019. The honour recognises outstanding work that shows quality and innovation, and delivers real benefit to the wider world through education and training. It recognises our pioneering work in the world’s fastest-growing food production sector and our bid to tackle global hunger.

The Institute of Aquaculture has pioneered the development of aquaculture disease management. We have over 40 years of experience in investigating and controlling fish and shrimp diseases worldwide, which it uses to improve your problem-solving skills, ultimately equipping you to make a real contribution to the sustainability of aquaculture.

Choose our Criminology and Sociology degree and you’ll benefit from studying two closely related disciplines; with training both in criminology and the theory and methods of applied social science. Learn how to ‘think like a criminologist’ and apply criminology to the context of modern life, social diversity and inequalities in society. Criminologists are interested in how activities are defined as criminal, explanations for crime and social reactions to crime.

You’ll explore fascinating questions surrounding the criminal justice system, the social contexts of crime, and the relationship between behaviour and punishment. Why and how do people break the law? How can the criminal justice system define this, and how do we police, prosecute and punish people?

Our Criminology and Sociology course reflects the latest developments in social research and is taught by experts in their fields.

Our BSc (Hons) Sport Psychology degree will enable you to develop an in-depth understanding of the diverse, complex, and wide-ranging territory of the disciplines of psychology and sport and exercise psychology. The course will explore academic knowledge and practice associated with sport and exercise psychology, analyse psychological issues across a range of sport and exercise psychology settings (for example, from local communities to high performance settings), examine research evidence associated with sport and exercise psychology, and investigate a myriad of contemporary issues facing practitioners. The course will provide you with the knowledge and skills needed to be a successful contributor to the disciplines of psychology, sport psychology, and exercise psychology at local, national, international and global levels. The course will also provide you with:

• Skills and abilities in critical thinking, problem solving and creativity, allowing you to apply these effectively in the sport and exercise psychology sectors.
• The ability to be an independent learner, capable of critical analysis and competent in communicating through a range of mediums to a range of audiences.
• Knowledge and understanding of the value of inclusion and diversity in sport.

Our MSc International Journalism stands enables you to tailor your studies by choosing a practice- or theory-led route depending on your career ambitions.

Our Masters course in International Journalism introduces students from a wide range of academic and professional backgrounds to the theory and practice of journalism in a global context. The course is internationally-focused and deals with the practice of journalism across different media, cultural and regulatory environments.

With a combination of practice and theory, the MSc International Journalism at Stirling enables you to tailor your studies by choosing a practice- or theory-led route depending on your interests and career ambitions.

The course is provided by our Division of Communications, Media and Culture, which has a strong international profile, and builds on our existing strengths in teaching and research. In journalism alone, the Division has staff from South Africa, Venezuela, Pakistan, China and Ireland, as well as the UK.

The Master of Science in Historical Research is a one-year research preparation course intended to prepare postgraduates for a research-based career and enable specialisation in social and/or economic history.

The MSc is designed to:

• train historians in social research methods
• demonstrate your ability to undertake interdisciplinary research to doctoral level at Stirling; or other universities in Britain and overseas
• provide a foundation for applications to research councils (AHRC, ESRC) and doctoral training partnerships (including SGSAH) that fund PhD research
• specifically prepare graduates to apply to the Scottish Graduate School of Social Science for PhD studentship funding in social and economic history (see below under professional accreditation)
• enhance career prospects and career development

These aims are achieved through the completion of independent study modules, taught modules in applied social research, optional study modules appropriate to your field of study, and skills training conducted under supervision. You’ll be allocated an individual supervisor to direct your dissertation and plan your programme.

Our course prepares you for further research by:

• compulsory taught modules in project design, qualitative and quantitative data analysis
• directed independent study in the historiography of a research topic
• skills development in statistical and database packages
• self-directed skills training
• practical experience in applying research methods to interrogate primary sources and datasets in the dissertation
• developing written and verbal critical analysis

This Masters course provides you with the skills and knowledge you need to carry out robust social research and evaluation.

You’ll learn how to collect, analyse and report qualitative and quantitative data, taking account of ethics, reliability and validity. You’ll also critically examine the theoretical foundations that underpin social scientific research. Finally, you’ll develop an understanding of the relationship between research and policymaking.