Refugee Studies MA

This course is in clearing with spaces available

Overview

Course options

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MA

  1. MA Refugee Studies

    • Home Applicant
    • Full time, 1 year
    • 10380 Per year
  2. MA Refugee Studies

    • Home Applicant
    • Part time, 2 years
    • 1730 Per 30 credit module
  3. MA Refugee Studies

    • International Applicant
    • Full time, 1 year
    • 15780 Per year

Course modules

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Forced Migration in the Global Era

Research Methods for Social Science

Independent Applied Research Project

Introduction to Conflict, Displacement and Human Security

International Human Rights

War and Human Rights

International Refugee Law

Global Development Now

Global Environmental Politics

NOTE: Modules are subject to change. For those studying part time courses the modules may vary.

Download course specification

Your future career

Your future career

This course is suited to people who are working in areas concerned with human rights, legal representation of refugees, counselling, education, social and community issues and refugee welfare.

If you are already working in this area, the course will give you the confidence and experience to apply for more senior positions.

If you are aiming to enter the field for the first time, it will give you the skills to apply for roles with NGOs, government departments or other organisations working closely with refugees. 

Our course will also prepare you to undertake further research in the fields of forced migration and diasporic studies, legal studies and social policy.  You will benefit from working closely with experienced academics in the field. If you are interested in continuing to PhD level, our course allows you to apply for ESRC funding through the UBEL Doctoral Training Partnership Programme

Explore the different career options you can pursue with this degree and see the median salaries of the sector on our Career Coach portal.

I found it to be an immensely interesting, well-taught and worthwhile Master's course. The knowledge I gained, through access to some excellent teachers and the Refugee Archive collection, was exactly what I hoped to get out of the course, which concerns globally important issues. I appreciated the fact that the modules were all taught from a refugee-centred point of view and enabled us to understand research methods from different perspectives."

Jane Greenstock,

MA Refugee Studies

How we support your career ambitions

We offer dedicated careers support, further opportunities to thrive, such as volunteering and industry networking. our courses are created in collaboration with employers and industry to ensure they accurately reflect the real-life practices of your future career and provide you with the essential skills needed. You can focus on building interpersonal skills through group work and benefit from our investment in the latest cutting edge technologies and facilities.

Career Zone

Our dedicated and award-winning team provide you with careers and employability resources, including:

  • Online jobs board for internships, placements, graduate opportunities, flexible part-time work.
  • Mentoring programmes for insight with industry experts 
  • 1-2-1 career coaching services
  • Careers workshops and employer events 
  • Learning pathways to gain new skills and industry insight

Mental Wealth programme

Our Professional Fitness and Mental Wealth programme which issues you with a Careers Passport to track the skills you’ve mastered. Some of these are externally validated by corporations like Amazon and Microsoft.

See more details

We are careers first

Our teaching methods and geographical location put us right up top

  • Enterprise and entrepreneurship support 
  • We are ranked 6th for graduate start-ups 
  • Networking and visits to leading organisations 
  • Support in starting a new business, freelancing and self-employment 
  • London on our doorstep

What you'll learn

We consistently review and develop our courses and modules to ensure they are up-to-date with sector and industry graduate skills demands. Course structure, modules and options are subject to change.

The core modules give you a wide-ranging introduction to forced migration and a detailed study of research methods. You will also have the opportunity to study specialist options on social, cultural, political, legal and psychosocial aspects of refugee studies and community development. 

A distinguishing feature of the course is its emphasis on the lived experience of refugees and of refugee communities. You will develop a full appreciation of refugee experiences, achievements and needs.

You will study refugees from the point of view of the law, politics and anthropology and you will analyse their experiences on a global and local scale.

The course looks at how NGOs and the United Nations work with refugees and also how some people have sought to criminalise them.

The course will equip you with advanced skills in interdisciplinary analysis and research.

You will learn from the first-hand experience of refugees and people who have worked with refugees.

Your studies will focus on four core modules: Forced Migration in the Global Era, Research Methods, Policy and Practice of Humanitarianism and Independent applied research/dissertation. You also study two specialist option modules in the area of social, cultural, political, legal and psychosocial aspects of refugee studies and community development. This will prepare you to begin a dissertation during the summer term for submission in September.

How you'll learn

One of the most rewarding elements of the course is that it attracts students from diverse origins and with widely differing experiences, including refugees from Africa, Asia, the Middle East, the Americas and Western and Eastern Europe.

In addition to lectures and seminars, you will benefit from access to workshops and conferences organised by the Centre for Migration, Refugees and Belonging, the Centre for Social Justice and Change, the Feminist Research Group and other university-wide groups.

This means you have the opportunity to link up with key researchers in the area and gain an insight into the latest thinking on critical issues.

You will also benefit from access to the Refugee Archive at the University of East London, which is one of the largest collections of materials on refugees and forced migration.

The archive contains materials on refugees in all parts of the world, with special emphasis on the UK. For more than 30 years it was housed at the Refugee Council – the lead organisation in Britain on refugee issues.

As an optional extra, you may also be involved in internships with local and international organisations and agencies working with refugees. 

Our academic staff are actively involved in some of the key international research and are therefore well connected with major bodies such as UNICEF as well as government departments and NGOs.

How you will be assessed

We assess you by your coursework, which includes essays, reports, presentations, research proposal and your dissertation. All modules will be assessed and the final award takes account of all module marks.

Campus and facilities

Water Lane, Stratford

Who teaches this course

This course is delivered by School of Education and Communities

The teaching team includes qualified academics, practitioners and industry experts as guest speakers. Full details of the academics will be provided in the student handbook and module guides.