Master of Arts in Sociology

at University of Warwick United Kingdom

In Global Sustainable Development (GSD) we take a critical approach to the dominant discourse of sustainable development. We are committed to understanding as well as challenging existing practice, and want you to join us as we seek innovative, transformative responses to complex global challenges. Based in the School for Cross-faculty Studies, our academic home is a natural place for future transdisciplinary leaders to flourish.

On this course you will work with Warwick’s GSD Department, the Institute for Global Sustainable Development (IGSD), and partner departments across the University. Our staff are at the forefront of their fields and share your passion for global sustainable development.

Core modules will support your development as an intellectual leader dedicated to bringing about positive change. They will help to deepen your understanding of the core global challenges we face, and develop your critical and reflective approach, as well as your technical and methodological skills. Your learning will be rooted in critical intellectual enquiry and philosophical understanding, which will support your personal development as a leader of thought and action. In addition, by having a wide range of optional modules, you can tailor the course to your own areas of interest.

In Term Three and the summer, you will have an exciting opportunity to ‘learn by doing’ as you undertake a transdisciplinary capstone project. We will offer you a choice of research, practice, and work-based experiences. Your chosen project will enable you to develop a skillset most suited to your future career goals.

By the end of this course, you will be equipped to play an authentic role in reflective global citizenship. You will also have a defined understanding of what is necessary to act as a leader of positive change. The route you choose upon graduation will be defined by your own interests and aspirations. Your learning from the course will equip you with what you need for a career in applied research, in policy, business, or in third sector activity.

Who is this programme for?
This programme is ideal for you if:

• You have prior experience of GSD
• You are new to this field of study with a first degree and a strong interest in GSD
• You have work and life experience relating to GSD

Skills from this degree
You will learn to:

• Think systemically, recognising connections and interactions between factors, and understand that actions often have many consequences
• Identify and analyse the risk that system complexity can lead to unexpected and novel outcomes, and contribute to the proactive management of this
• Describe complex issues in clear terms and communicate about them effectively and succinctly, both orally and in writing
• Work naturally and consciously, as part of a community of practice, by learning from others in a culture of respect, mutual understanding and empathy, and managing disagreement and conflict through socially non-violent means, even in the context of formal power hierarchies
• Support and foster intellectual leadership by challenging assumptions, critically analysing information and negotiating alternatives to current practices
• Create new and personal knowledge in GSD both through research and self-managed learning

This course will help you understand the importance of thinking critically about how we know and experience the world, and recognise the importance of linking precision in thought and analysis to a grounded understanding of different historical periods.

You'll learn to consider ideas for their own sake, while recognising that they are developed in particular contexts, for particular purposes, and reflect the conditions under which they are produced.

Students will be offered the opportunity at the start of their second year to apply for an optional Year Abroad. Following the application process, those students who are offered and take up a Year Abroad place transfer to the four-year History and Philosophy (with a Year Abroad) course, with the Year Abroad as the third of the four years.

Study abroad

History and Philosophy students have the opportunity to join history students for a term in Venice at the start of year and also to apply for an intercalated year abroad at one of our partner universities. The Student Mobility Team based in the Office for Student Opportunity offers support for these activities, and both Department's dedicated Study Abroad Co-ordinators can provide more specific information and assistance.

Warwick's Language, Culture and Communication degree is a globally unique interdisciplinary program that prepares students to forge careers in the international marketplace. The degree combines elements of linguistics, intercultural communication, social psychology and public relations.

You will develop a unique combination of intellectual, analytical, research and communication skills, and apply them in a range of authentic situations. You will also develop your expertise in communicating effectively in different contexts, cultures and languages, and acquire first-hand experience of living abroad and working in multicultural contexts.

Study abroad

• If you wish to spend a year abroad (which we thoroughly recommend), this will take place in your third year, meaning that you will complete your degree in four years instead of three. All students have the opportunity to apply for an intercalated year abroad at one of our partner universities.
• The Student Mobility Team offers support for these activities, and the Department's dedicated Study Abroad Co-ordinator can provide more specific information and assistance. Students who elect not to complete the year abroad, or who do not academically qualify for it, may complete the course without a year abroad.

All Engineering students at Warwick develop an in-depth understanding of the classical principles of Engineering by following a general engineering programme for the first four terms.

As a student on the Electrical and Electronic Engineering degree, you will continue to study the same modules as those on the Electronic Engineering programme until the end of the second year. The later years of the degree cover power electronics, electrical machines, systems modelling and the operation and control of power systems.

Electrical and Electronic Engineering graduates contribute to a variety of sectors and industries such as power electronics, electrical power generation, aerospace, automotive, marine engineering and a sustainable environment.

Study abroad

You may choose to take an intercalated year in industry, research or study abroad between years two and three (BEng and MEng) or between years three and four (MEng only). If you choose to take an intercalated year this will be reflected in your degree title, and add a year to your degree programme.

The MSc in Polymer Science is designed to not only introduce you into polymer synthesis and characterisation, but also demonstrate that macro-scale properties span into the nano- and meso- scale.

On this MSc course, you will have flexibility to choose from elective modules including business related modules from the Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG). These modules will improve your knowledge in business whilst becoming an expert in polymer science. The course is ideal if you are looking for a career, not only in a manufacturing company working in the area of plastics, advanced functional materials, nano-materials, but also a PhD level study in this growing and exciting area of science.

This challenging degree crosses subject boundaries, combining economics and political analysis. Policy-making is influenced by economics and many of the policies that we see today around the world are based on economic analysis.

By considering both disciplines, you will gain a broad perspective on how governments develop policy and the impact of this on consumers, firms and political structures. The degree is very current, looking at the key issues of the day and encourages debate and discussion around them.

You can maintain a breadth of study while focusing on areas that interest you, particularly during your final year. You can choose to major in one area and then you will have the flexibility to select up to six optional modules alongside a core module in Making of Economic Policy.

Study abroad

We currently offer an exciting range of opportunities for you to spend a year abroad studying in a higher education institution either in Europe, at the University of Monash in Australia, or with our partners in China and Canada. Studying overseas can add immeasurably to your personal development, future study and career opportunities. It will also offer you an opportunity to experience an alternative university system.

If you’re successful in gaining a Study Abroad placement, your degree programme will become a four year programme and, assuming you pass sufficient modules whilst abroad, the title of your course changes to add the suffix ‘with Study Abroad’ to the existing title (e.g. BSc Economics with Study Abroad).

The programme is designed for opening up professional development pathways for diverse groups of educational practitioners, Muslim educators and faith leaders who work within the context of formal and informal Islamic and general educational settings. The programme is also open to religious education practitioners who wish to deepen their knowledge and understanding of Islam and be able to respond effectively to the educational and spiritual needs of Muslim children and young people under their care.

Islamic Education is a new exciting interdisciplinary field of scholarly study, empirical research professional development. It has growing national and international interest among Muslim and wider education practitioners.

The programme enables students to develop critical academic competence in theory and practice of Islamic Education facilitating reflective practice among a specialist community of educational practitioners and researchers. Students will explore diverse perceptions of education and pedagogic practice in historical and contemporary Muslim societies, engage with modern educational theories, pedagogic models and develop essential research skills necessary to be able to identify personal areas of further research in the field. The course adopts an integrative approach to teaching leaning which facilitates student engagement through strategies of self-organised learning and blended learning i.e. combining online resources, platforms as well as face to face workshops, seminars and lectures.

The emphasis on the course will be on the importance of contemporary educational research into Islamic Education, especially research springing from the Social Sciences directed towards pedagogy and curriculum development. The course will enable students to develop the competence to ‘think educationally’ about Islam and critically examine the theory and practice of Islamic Education in the modern Muslim world and across the Muslim communities in the West.

Students will have the opportunity of critically examining the existing Islamic Education textbooks, curriculum and the syllabuses. Furthermore, they will discuss the educational challenges facing Muslim communities in the Western Diaspora with special reference to exploring the educational needs of Muslim youth. The course will critically examine how best to develop appropriate educational strategies to tackle religious extremism and address issues concerning the faith development of Muslim young people in Britain.

The course attracts a wider range of practitioners within the field of faith-based and religion-related practitioner education by explicitly identifying and responding to the professional development needs of practitioners engaged in Islamic Education. As such the programme, in a distinctive way, opens professional development pathways for diverse groups of Muslim educators, faith leaders and those who wish to engage with Islamic Education as an area of further academic development.

Skills from this degree

• Critically analyse and explain the origins and sources of Muslim Educational thought and practice as well as evaluate critically current theory, literature, research, advanced scholarship and methodologies in Islamic Education, Islamic Pedagogy and Education Studies
• Identify and critically analyse the contemporary educational issues and challenges facing diverse Muslim communities in contemporary Muslim majority and minority communities
• Application of research skills in developing and evaluating scholarly and empirical research in Islamic Education
• Develop competence to identify areas of research and structure personal research interests and projects in the field
• Deal with complex issues both systematically and creatively, make sound judgements in the absence of complete data, and communicate their conclusions clearly to specialist and non-specialist audiences
• By adopting a learner-centred, inquiry-based delivery strategy, students will develop competence for reflective practice
• Demonstrate self-direction and originality in tackling and solving problems, and act autonomously in planning and implementing tasks at a professional or equivalent level

Research and write a 40,000-word Dissertation on a topic of your choice under the supervision of one of our internationally-leading experts. Suitable for students who already have considerable research skills and a clear idea of their own particular area of interest for further research.

Before you arrive, you will be matched to one or more of our expert supervisors and during the course. You will meet with them frequently for guidance on the conceptualisation, research and writing of your Dissertation. This will include reading and discussion of draft material.

You will also be expected to participate in the research culture of the School, for example by attending research seminars.

This programme will enable you to acquire knowledge and understanding of the central normative conceptions, the debates they have generated, and their implications of different approaches for public policy, institutional design and the law. This interdisciplinary approach is supported by the close cooperation fostered by the Centre for Ethics, Law and Public Affairs, which is situated in our Department and which includes members from Law, Philosophy and Sociology.

This programme provides an advanced education in normative issues that will prepare you for doctoral study that includes normative inquiry, giving you a wide range of experience that will be attractive to employers.

With around 400 million speakers in the world, Spanish is one of the most important languages for commerce and cultural exchange.

This degree offers an innovative approach to studying the Spanish language alongside a diverse range of Hispanic cultures and history from across the world.

You will work with leading researchers and have access to outstanding facilities and resources; including flexible learning spaces and a vast selection of print, digital, and multimedia learning materials. You will normally spend your second or third year abroad, consolidating and enhancing your learning.

Study abroad

We strongly recommend that you take a year abroad as part of your modern languages degree, if you are able to. If you are unable to take a year abroad you may move to a three-year degree. In such cases, you will be required to complete further language reinforcement work. You will also be encouraged to spend time abroad in other ways, during vacation times.

You will usually spend your year abroad doing one of three things:

• Working as a language assistant teaching English in a primary or secondary school
• Studying full-time at a partner university in your chosen country
• On a work placement