MSc Public Policy

Title:

Economics of Public Policy

Code:

ECM184

Convenor:

PROF Giovanni Razzu

Summary:

This module introduces and examines key economic tools for the analysis of public policy. Threshold concepts and tools will be applied to and illustrated through a range of public policy problems. Seminars will enable and further prepare students to apply critical analysis to current public policy issues.

Assessment Method:

Project 70%, Class test 30%

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Title:

Advanced Academic Skills

Code:

PIM1

Convenor:

DR Kerry Goettlich

Summary:

This module will introduce new students, especially those studying in the UK for the first time, to the academic expectations associated with postgraduate study.  It will identify common challenges, suggest strategies for overcoming them, and facilitate the development of advanced study skills.  In particular, it will focus on the requirements for successful academic writing at postgraduate level.  It will also identify the key sources of support available to postgraduate students at the University of Reading.

Assessment Method:

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Title:

Politics of Public Policy

Code:

PIM49

Convenor:

DR David Marshall

Summary:

This module introduces students to the nature of the processes through which policy decisions are made and implemented. It considers how these vary across policy areas and policy-making venues.

Assessment Method:

Assignment 40%, Oral 10%, Report 50%

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Title:

Dissertation in Public Policy

Code:

PIM91

Convenor:

DR David Marshall

Summary:

To provide students with an opportunity to analyse in some depth a specific topic within the realm of their studies on public policy; to display the ability to carry out primary and secondary research.

Assessment Method:

Dissertation 100%

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Title:

Microeconomic Policy

Code:

ECM101

Convenor:

DR Andy Chung

Summary:

This module is intended to give an understanding of the core theories necessary to understand microeconomic policy. It is aimed both at master’s students without previous economics and as a refresher course for other master’s students.

Assessment Method:

Exam 60%, Set exercise 40%

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Title:

Development Economics

Code:

ECM171

Convenor:

DR Nigel Wadeson

Summary:

This module focuses on both microeconomic and macroeconomic issues of development. It will provide a theoretical and empirical foundation to the economics of developing countries. The module will also expose students to research in different facets of development economics that use a wide range of research methods.

Assessment Method:

Assignment 100%

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Title:

Economics of Social Policy

Code:

ECM185

Convenor:

PROF Simonetta Longhi

Summary:

This module is intended to cover the most important social economic policy issues of the day. Consequently, the topics may vary from year-to-year in order to reflect contemporary relevance. The emphasis will be on how economic analysis can contribute to the solution of domestic and international social problems. Indicative topics are: poverty, social exclusion, unemployment, migration, gender and racial wage gaps.

Assessment Method:

Oral 50%, Project 50%

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Title:

Capstone Project

Code:

ECM200

Convenor:

PROF Giovanni Razzu

Summary:

Working in small groups and overseen by a faculty member, the students complete a project on behalf of an external organisation, which can be business companies, government agencies, not-for-profits, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). The program is designed to give our students hands-on experience, and to give external organisations an opportunity to benefit from an independent analysis of an existing or prospective initiative, policy or area of concern. Students will work in teams, with interdisciplinary backgrounds if appropriate to the nature of the project and external organisation’s requests, to deliveran agreed output on time and to high standard. An academic supervisor will provide guidance through-out the project. The project will require a significant amount of research and inquiry and help students to negotiate successfully the transition to the next stage of their career. 

Assessment Method:

Project 100%

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Title:

Economics of Corporate Strategy

Code:

ECM620

Convenor:

DR Kiran Karrouchi

Summary:

This module seeks to provide a foundation to the economic analysis of corporate decision-making – such as price-setting, output-setting, mergers, and anti-competitive behaviour. In this context, firms’ incentives and strategic interactions among firms are emphasised.  Both the role of market competition  and the imperatives for government intervention are discussed.

Assessment Method:

Exam 60%, Assignment 40%

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Title:

NATO Strategy during and after the Cold War

Code:

PIM100

Convenor:

DR Kenton White

Summary:

This module focusses on NATO’s Strategic Concepts which have developed since NATO was formed in 1949. Defence against the Soviet Union was the stated aim of NATO during the Cold War, but how has that aim changed with the dissolution of the Soviet Union? What were the consequences of the ‘New World Order’ for NATO following the Soviet Union’s break-up? The validity, applicability and practicality of the strategic concepts will be analysed in the context of the prevailing security environments. The current remodelling of NATO’s security concept will be considered in light of the renewal of immediate threats to it border in Eastern Europe. Where necessary the module draws on historical examples to illustrate the concepts and their applicability.

Assessment Method:

Assignment 90%, Oral 10%

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Title:

Philosophical Issues in the Social Sciences

Code:

PIM54

Convenor:

PROF Alan Cromartie

Summary:

A research training module for doctoral students and MA students equipping themselves for future doctoral study.  This module provides training on research design alongside theoretical and philosophical perspectives on research in the social sciences.

Assessment Method:

Assignment 60%, Report 40%

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Title:

International Relations Theory

Code:

PIM63

Convenor:

DR Amanda Hall

Summary:

The module introduces students to the advanced study of International Relations through a survey of the principal theoretical approaches employed in the academic discipline of International Relations.

Assessment Method:

Assignment 100%

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Title:

International Security Studies

Code:

PIM64

Convenor:

DR Andreas Behnke

Summary:

This module introduces students to concepts and issues of international security with a particular focus on the changing logic of security in the post-cold war era.

Assessment Method:

Assignment 100%

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Title:

Strategic Studies

Code:

PIM65

Convenor:

DR Kerry Goettlich

Summary:

This module is a graduate-level introduction to Strategic Studies, the study of the relationship between political aims and organized violence, covering both the tradition and current debates. With an eye to the latest developments in contemporary warfare, it asks fundamental questions about the nature and purpose of war. Is war purely a means to an end, or does it have its own nature? Is there such a thing as a ‘just war’? How does warfare change historically? Is counterinsurgency a strategy or an ideology? What, if anything, do technologies such as airplanes, nuclear weapons, and cyberweapons really change about war? Is grand strategy possible, and does it offer anything to a post-Brexit UK?

Assessment Method:

Assignment 50%, Oral 10%, Project 40%

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Title:

Contemporary Diplomacy

Code:

PIM66

Convenor:

DR Sarah Von Billerbeck

Summary:

This module aims to provide students with an understanding of concepts and practices of contemporary diplomacy. It introduces key concepts in international diplomacy, shows the evolution of diplomatic practice since the Second World War across a range of actors, including states, international organisations, and non-state actors, and the application of different types of diplomacy, including public diplomacy, digital diplomacy and coercive diplomacy. The module aims to provide an understanding of ideas and concepts relating to diplomacy, the way diplomacy relates to the complex process of policymaking, both domestic and international, and how these measure up against actual diplomatic practice, explained by practitioners. Students will become familiar with key academic works on the subject, to give them the conceptual analytical tools to study international diplomacy. The course will also normally have an input from current and former diplomats or other civil servants  and includes a practical section in which students get to ‘be the diplomats’ by engaging in a series of hands-on exercises and simulations.

Assessment Method:

Assignment 50%, Practical 20%, Oral 30%

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Title:

Terrorism in a Globalising World

Code:

PIM74

Convenor:

DR Christina Hellmich

Summary:

This course examines central issues and theoretical dimensions in the study of terrorism in a globalising world, including the complex nature of asymmetrical conflict, the evolution of different terrorism types, the internationalisation of terrorism, the phenomenon of suicide attacks, challenges to counter-terrorism and the ongoing war against terror. Particular emphasis is placed on developing interdisciplinary perspectives and critical approaches to the issues discussed.

Assessment Method:

Assignment 100%

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Title:

Introduction to Qualitative research methods in Politics and International Relations

Code:

PIM85

Convenor:

DR Joseph O' Mahoney

Summary:

This module covers the basics of research design and focuses attention on a range of widely used qualitative research methods in the study of politics and international relations. The main topics covered normally include case studies and within-case analysis or process-tracing, small-n comparative analysis, historical approaches, archival research, interview technique, critical discourse analysis, ethnographic methods and qualitative comparative analysis. 

Assessment Method:

Assignment 60%, Portfolio 40%

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Title:

Introduction to Quantitative research methods in Politics and International Relations

Code:

PIM86

Convenor:

DR Jonathan Golub

Summary:

The purpose of this module is to introduce students to the basics of research design and a number of the principal quantitative methods used in political science and international relations. The course discusses the best practice for the collection and analysis of information about human behaviour and institutions. To help students understand and apply research methods, the discussion and many of the examples used in the module will be taken from existing quantitative research in international relations, comparative politics and public policy. Students are then required to test hypotheses using the methods they have learned in the course. 

Assessment Method:

Assignment 50%, Class test 50%

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Title:

Applied Research Project and Placement

Code:

PIM92

Convenor:

DR David Marshall

Summary:

This module gives students an opportunity to do a work placement or an internship with an external organisation specifically related to the general sphere of public policy. Based on the work experience gained, the student will write a research report which develops their capacity for independent, critical research in a specialised domain.

Assessment Method:

Project 100%

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Title:

Worlding International Relations

Code:

PIM93

Convenor:

DR Andreas Behnke

Summary:

This module is directed to students interested in the history and current development of International Relations. It addresses the challenges formulated in diverse parts of the world to the Western dominance of the field of International Relations. Focusing on how central concept of IR are understood in different parts of the world, the module investigates how scholars from around the world think about central concepts such as sovereignty, the state, war, peace, religion and ‘the international’. Highlighting the conceptual differences in non-Western approaches, the module casts light on their implication for IR and the study of world politics.

Assessment Method:

Assignment 100%

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Title:

Building Peace

Code:

PIM94

Convenor:

DR Sarah Von Billerbeck

Summary:

Building peace in fragile and conflict-affected states is one of the major challenges of contemporary security and development policy. Donor states, UN peacekeepers, and multilateral institutions are not only engaged in a growing number of fragile states, but their involvement also extends deeper into the domestic politics of these states than in the past.

In this module, we will evaluate different approaches to building peace in fragile and conflict-affected states, and examine the record of peace- and statebuilding operations. We will look both at different approaches to and elements of peacebuilding, such as post-conflict institution building or security sector reform, the different actors involved in these activities, and particular cases of peace- and statebuilding, such as Kosovo, DR Congo, or Liberia. 

Assessment Method:

Assignment 40%, Oral 30%, Report 30%

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Title:

Appraisal of Agricultural and Rural Development Projects

Code:

APME61

Convenor:

PROF Chittur Srinivasan

Summary:

You will appreciate the role of project appraisal in making informed decisions on the allocation of resources for agricultural and rural development projects in developing countries. You will learn the concepts and techniques of cost-benefit analysis and their application in the presence of market failures, imperfections and distortions. You will develop skills in the appraisal of real world development projects from an economy wide perspective and in environmental and social appraisal. You will understand how macroeconomic policy and management issues affect the outcome of development projects.

Assessment Method:

Assignment 50%, Class test 50%

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Title:

Gender and Development

Code:

IDM012

Convenor:

DR Sarah Cardey

Summary:

Examine how gendered roles and perspectives influence development outcomes. Explore the specific ways in which underdevelopment and the process of achieving greater social and economic security may be experienced differently by women and men. Evaluate theories and methods of analysing gendered aspects of development and learn how these may be used in policy formulation and project design. Learn through a combination of lectures, guided preparatory readings, and student-led group discussions.

Assessment Method:

Assignment 100%

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Title:

Planning Theory, Politics and Practice

Code:

REMP02

Convenor:

PROF Gavin Parker

Summary:

The module discusses various conceptions of planning intervention in theoretical terms and relates this to the politics of planning in practice.

Assessment Method:

Exam 50%, Assignment 50%

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.