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MA Migration and Intercultural Studies

  • Year of entry
    2023/24
  • Course duration
    Full Time:  12 months Part Time: 24 months
  • Year of entry
    2023/24
  • Course duration
    Full Time:  12 months Part Time: 24 months

Examine the cultural, social and political issues at the heart of migration, and develop your language skills, with our MA in Migration and Intercultural Studies degree.

Study the multilingual and intercultural factors that influence policymakers and practitioners, and explore how these factors enhance their interaction with migrants and refugees.

This interdisciplinary programme covers a diverse range of topics, including:

  • language studies
  • applied linguistics and sociolinguistics
  • politics and international relations
  • human rights and philosophy
  • international refugee law.

You will also examine how language issues have political and socio-cultural importance in the experience of migrants and refugees.

Optional modules will allow you to explore specialisms in cultural studies, ethics, and environmental studies. You can also pursue your own interests, and develop your expertise, with a dissertation or extended project.

Research-based teaching will provide you with the analytical skills to understand, monitor, and critically investigate migration phenomena, trajectories and processes.

In addition to your theoretical and policy-based studies, you will have the opportunity to gain practical experience. For example, you will be encouraged to undertake an internship or conduct fieldwork with governmental or non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

Your learning environment

The Department of Languages and Cultures offers expertise in language and migration studies, translation and cultural change, post-colonial studies, and language teaching.

Our researchers and teachers have an international reputation in their areas of expertise. 100% of our research is of international standing (Research Excellence Framework 2021, combining 4*, 3* and 2* submissions – Modern Languages and Linguistics).

Your studies will be enhanced by diverse learning methods, including:

  • a variety of assessment formats such as media reports, blogs, digital radio programmes, video commentaries, and exhibitions
  • coursework that blends academic and professional skills, including online learning journals to accompany traditional essays
  • work placements that allow you to analyse policies and practice in a work-based environment.

Language options

Choose from a range of language modules delivered by our Institute-Wide Language Programme (IWLP). Options may include:

  • French, German, Italian or Spanish at beginner, intermediate or advanced level
  • Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin), Modern Greek, Japanese, Russian and British Sign Language at beginner or intermediate level.

Placement opportunities with MA Migration and Intercultural Studies

We can help you secure work placements with governmental and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in the UK and overseas. You’ll have the opportunity to undertake research and activities to support refugees, or work with institutions assisting migrants and refugees.

Overview

Examine the cultural, social and political issues at the heart of migration, and develop your language skills, with our MA in Migration and Intercultural Studies degree.

Study the multilingual and intercultural factors that influence policymakers and practitioners, and explore how these factors enhance their interaction with migrants and refugees.

This interdisciplinary programme covers a diverse range of topics, including:

  • language studies
  • applied linguistics and sociolinguistics
  • politics and international relations
  • human rights and philosophy
  • international refugee law.

You will also examine how language issues have political and socio-cultural importance in the experience of migrants and refugees.

Optional modules will allow you to explore specialisms in cultural studies, ethics, and environmental studies. You can also pursue your own interests, and develop your expertise, with a dissertation or extended project.

Research-based teaching will provide you with the analytical skills to understand, monitor, and critically investigate migration phenomena, trajectories and processes.

In addition to your theoretical and policy-based studies, you will have the opportunity to gain practical experience. For example, you will be encouraged to undertake an internship or conduct fieldwork with governmental or non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

Your learning environment

The Department of Languages and Cultures offers expertise in language and migration studies, translation and cultural change, post-colonial studies, and language teaching.

Our researchers and teachers have an international reputation in their areas of expertise. 100% of our research is of international standing (Research Excellence Framework 2021, combining 4*, 3* and 2* submissions – Modern Languages and Linguistics).

Your studies will be enhanced by diverse learning methods, including:

  • a variety of assessment formats such as media reports, blogs, digital radio programmes, video commentaries, and exhibitions
  • coursework that blends academic and professional skills, including online learning journals to accompany traditional essays
  • work placements that allow you to analyse policies and practice in a work-based environment.

Language options

Choose from a range of language modules delivered by our Institute-Wide Language Programme (IWLP). Options may include:

  • French, German, Italian or Spanish at beginner, intermediate or advanced level
  • Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin), Modern Greek, Japanese, Russian and British Sign Language at beginner or intermediate level.

Placement opportunities with MA Migration and Intercultural Studies

We can help you secure work placements with governmental and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in the UK and overseas. You’ll have the opportunity to undertake research and activities to support refugees, or work with institutions assisting migrants and refugees.

Entry requirements

IELTS: 6.5 overall with no element less than 6.0 (or equivalent)

Entry requirements: Normally a good undergraduate honours degree (2:1 or above), or equivalent from a university outside the UK. Those with other qualifications and relevant work experience may also be considered. 

Pre-sessional English language programme

If you need to improve your English language score, you can take a pre-sessional English course prior to entry onto your degree.

  • Find out the English language requirements for our courses and our pre-sessional English programme

Structure

  • Compulsory modules

Compulsory modules include:

X

Module details


Title:

Language and Migration

Code:

LSMLMGR

Convenor:

DR Tony Capstick

Summary:

In this module students will explore the role of language in migration by focusing on the multiple and complex ways that migration has been sustained and constrained through language use for centuries.

Students will be introduced to a range of theories from sociolinguistics, sociology and education studies and learn to apply these theories to different contexts of migration across the world.

Among the topics covered in the module are multilingualism and mobility, globalisation and language policy etc.

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.

X

Module details


Title:

Introduction to Migration Studies

Code:

MLMIMS

Convenor:

MR Federico Faloppa

Summary:

Students will be introduced to Migration Studies from an interdisciplinary perspective and through a wide range of topics such as historical, cultural and political contexts of countries of origins and destinations, post-colonial studies, migration trajectories to Europe, internal migrations in Europe, push and pull factors to human mobility, migration policies and human rights, social change and globalisation, climate change and mobility, representation of migrants in the news, etc. They will also be introduced to key migration related concepts, key-terms and key-literature, and to quantitative and qualitative methodological approaches to migration and human mobility. 

Assessment Method:

Assignment 40%, Oral 10%, Portfolio 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.

Code Module Convenor
LSMLMGR Language and Migration DR Tony Capstick
MLMIMS Introduction to Migration Studies MR Federico Faloppa

Optional modules include:

X

Module details


Title:

Dissertation

Code:

MLMDIS

Convenor:

MR Federico Faloppa

Summary:

The aim of the Dissertation is to allow students to engage in an original research on an appropriate, clearly delimited topic of their own choosing from an area of their MA programme, and to present their material in a convincing and persuasive manner. The Dissertation also allows students to collect, analyse and discuss original data from their fieldwork or placement (if any), and to write a solid piece of work which may introduce them to scholarly networks in the UK and abroad.

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.

X

Module details


Title:

Work Placement or Extended Project

Code:

MLMWPP

Convenor:

MR Federico Faloppa

Summary:

This optional module aims to provide an opportunity for career development through reflective learning. Students will either a) self-organise a placement (240 hours) to undertake in an NGO or organisation of their choice or b) undertake a detailed examination of an NGO, or organisation, or role of their choice. Students will then construct a written assessment which provides the opportunity for critical reflection on their placement or an extended project. 

Early in the year, a session will provide dynamic advice on how to secure a placement, and a list of partners organisations to contact for finding a placement. Students will work collectively to self-organise a series of relevant speakers from NGOs, national and international organisations, and will conduct research on the language-related aspects that most interests them (for instance, language policy in international NGOs, language and healthcare, language teaching through NGOs in refugee and migrant settings, etc.). Students will develop their approach to the written assessment supported by workshop discussion, and tutor and peer feedback, and in doing so will also develop their pitching and presentation skills.

Assessment Method:

Assignment 65%, Report 35%

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.

X

Module details


Title:

Global Environmental Change, Justice and Development

Code:

IDM099

Convenor:

DR Andrew Ainslie

Summary:

It’s an ever more interconnected world out there with complex, interacting drivers of change. You’ll learn about the trade-offs in environmental change and social justice that are now central to the development–environment nexus at all levels, from local to global. By exploring a range of conceptual framings of this complexity and then applying this learning to a number of exciting case-studies, you will develop the expertise to understand - and the confidence to tackle - socio-environmental challenges. And you will learn this all through reading, interactive small-group learning, film clips, seminars, study visits, and case-studies introduced and led by regional specialists.

Assessment Method:

Assignment 40%, Oral 10%, 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.

X

Module details


Title:

Human Rights Law, Policy, and Practice

Code:

LWMHRL

Convenor:

DR Steve Samuel

Summary:

This module introduces students to foundational human rights concepts, principles, institutions, challenges, as well as developments. Specifically, it considers the existence and nature of different types of human rights (civil, political, economic, social, and cultural), as well as different categories of rights (absolute, limited, and qualified). These are illustrated through the examination of different ‘hard’ law human rights instruments, particularly the International Civil and Political Rights 1966, and International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights 1966 as well as diverse ‘soft’ law and policy instruments (eg the UN Declaration of Human  Rights 1948, the treaty bodies, and independent experts). The module examines examples of different types of rights, particularly those that are most commonly violated in such contexts as responding to security threats or emergency situations (eg the right to life, prohibition against torture, denial of liberty). Similarly, it considers significant challenges associated with the realisation of other human rights, notably resource challenges for poorer states seeking the ‘progressive realisation’ of rights such as food, water, shelter, and adequate healthcare. It examines too a number of currently topical and emerging issues, for example in relation to third generation rights, global capitalism, and disasters.

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.

X

Module details


Title:

International Refugee Law

Code:

LWMIRL

Convenor:

DR Ruvi Ziegler

Summary:

This module explores a major area of public international law that regulates a (limited) exception to the principles of state sovereignty and migration control. The 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees concerns the protection of persons who have crossed an international border and are outside their state of origin owing to a well-founded fear of persecution in that state for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion. Global debates continue regarding the nature of the protection that refugees should be granted, the role of the international community, and the obligations of states of asylum. The module will provide students with a critical understanding of the international regime of refugee protection by highlighting its virtues and shortcomings. The first session will explore the history, structure, and aims of the 1951 Geneva Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. Subsequently, the module considers criteria for the attainment (‘inclusion’), exclusion from, and cessation of refugee status; the non-refoulement principle; complementary and subsidiary protection regimes; challenges arising in the context of displacement from conflict; and a case-study of the treatment of African asylum-seekers in Israel. The module concludes by appraising the limits of the international refugee protection.

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.

Code Module Convenor
MLMDIS Dissertation MR Federico Faloppa
MLMWPP Work Placement or Extended Project MR Federico Faloppa
IDM099 Global Environmental Change, Justice and Development DR Andrew Ainslie
LWMHRL Human Rights Law, Policy, and Practice DR Steve Samuel
LWMIRL International Refugee Law DR Ruvi Ziegler

These are the modules that we currently offer. They may change for your year of study as we regularly review our module offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Fees

New UK/Republic of Ireland students: £10,500

New international students: £21,350

Tuition fee information

The fees listed are for full-time study, unless otherwise stated. Fee information will be confirmed in offer letters sent out to successful applicants. You can find further information, including information for part-time study, through our dedicated fees and funding page.

EU student fees

With effect from 1 August 2021, new EU students will pay international tuition fees. For exceptions, please read the UK government's guidance for EU students.

Additional Costs

Some courses will require additional payments for field trips and extra resources. You will also need to budget for your accommodation and living costs. See our information on living costs for more details.

Financial support for your studies

You may be eligible for a scholarship or bursary to help pay for your study. Students from the UK may also be eligible for a student loan to help cover these costs. See our fees and funding information for more information on what's available.

Careers

Careers for MA Migration and Intercultural Studies graduates

Your degree will provide a solid grounding in the policies and practice of migration. You'll gain linguistic and vocational skills that will enable you to work with organisations assisting migrants and refugees.

Your knowledge and skills would be well-suited to a career in governmental and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), or in the charity sector. There is an increasing demand for graduates with linguistic and intercultural skills in the non-profit sector. National and international organisations often seek linguistic experts to:

  • work as mediators at the frontline of migration
  • contribute to research and monitoring reports.

Alternatively, you could undertake research or further study in the fields of migration or language studies.

Banner image credit: photo by Luca Prestia, from the project ​Beyond the Border.​

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