Running in an innovative studio format across 5 weeks, this module will provide learning through practice by setting you a live brief which you will work towards in group projects. Offering learning in project management and practice at an advanced level, projects will centre on how interdisciplinary humanities approaches can be applied to contemporary place-based challenges.

You will apply learning from your specific topic of expertise (e.g. Artificial Intelligence, Society and Global Challenges, Global Affairs, Sustainability and Environmental Futures, Global Medical and Health Humanities) to address these multi-dimensional challenges through multifaceted approaches.

Projects may be based on academically significant topics, thereby enabling you to become exposed to areas of contemporary research. Alternatively, they may be linked to ‘real world’ issues and external clients, thereby developing your abilities in professional practice.

This project-based module will incorporate studio sessions with lectures from a range of disciplinary experts and external stakeholders, workshops to support practical skills, and student-led group working in the studio space.

Running in an innovative studio format across 5 weeks, this module will provide learning through practice by setting you a live brief which you will work towards in group projects. Offering learning in project management and practice at an advanced level, projects will centre on how interdisciplinary humanities approaches can be applied to contemporary global challenges encompassing multiple locales and contexts.

You will apply learning from your specific topic of expertise (e.g. Artificial Intelligence, Society and Global Challenges, Global Affairs, Sustainability and Environmental Futures, Global Medical and Health Humanities) to address these multi-dimensional challenges that require multifaceted approaches.

Projects may be based on academically significant topics, thereby enabling you to become exposed to areas of contemporary research. Alternatively, they may be linked to ‘real world’ issues and external clients, thereby developing your abilities in professional practice.

This project-based module will incorporate studio sessions with lectures from a range of disciplinary experts and external stakeholders, workshops to support practical skills, and student-led group working in the studio space.

This module equips you with a range of practical skills required to lead the development and implementation of innovative solutions to global challenges within education, academia, business and society. As well as theories of leadership and followership, you will learn skills for leadership and collaboration which may include project and self-management, entrepreneurship, research and information literacy, communication, and partnership building.

A critical, decolonial lens is applied throughout, enabling you to reflect on your own positionality and prior learning and experience and connect these with discourses of leadership (and leadership ethics) in a range of contexts. Emphasis is placed on a humanities-led approach to leadership, grounded in critical, creative and collaborative skills, a holistic approach to the role of leadership in society, and humanistic thinking.

The teaching and learning are designed to be flexible and prioritise self-directed study, enabling you to develop your own unique set of leadership skills and traits which will prepare you for a wide range of leadership roles, further study or employment outside of academia. You will participate in workshops and work in self-directed Action Learning Sets which meet independently on a regular basis outside of the classroom.

This project module is a core component of the MA programmes in the School of Global Affairs. Students will be encouraged to explore and experiment with topics, ideas and methods during the core modules of their programme in order to devise and design their project. The project will normally be realised as a piece of individual work and can take a number of formats, which may include: a long form written dissertation, a multi-media formatted project, a creative intervention or a policy document. The School of Global Affairs will support students in working collaboratively and identifying external partnerships through which to develop the project. Students will be expected to draw on the multi-disciplinary aspects of their MA programme to devise critical, creative and future facing work.

This module will introduce you to the critical concepts, theories and practices of global affairs, and develop your ability to apply them to the concrete challenges facing today's world. Through a critical understanding of the global, you will build insights into key questions concerning the nature of the global and global affairs; how global challenges are evolving, transforming and manifesting across different sectors, disciplines and localities, and the nature of the local in an era shaped by globalisation, deglobalisation, and global challenges.

Building on these critical intellectual foundations, you will explore the connections and intersections between global geopolitical, economic, sociocultural, ecological, and technological challenges, covering topics such as modernity, colonisation, and legacies of empire; ecological challenges in the anthropocene; traditional and critical approaches to geopolitics and security; global economic development and sustainability; global governance and leadership; human rights, social movements and community activism; global health and pandemics; AI, information, the digital divide and other global technological challenges; and media, culture, and representations of global futures.

This module revolves around different aspects of Asian Security and looks at some of Asia’s trouble spots. The course will also examine the politics of intervention in these conflicts, and the attempts made to manage and prevent conflicts, and transform these conflict zones into more peaceful situations. The case studies that this module looks at include Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and China.

The module aims to provide you with an in-depth knowledge of the different facets of contemporary Asian conflicts and how international organisations and Western and Asian governments have attempted to deal with these challenges in recent times. Conceptually, the course will examine the principles of state failure; terrorism, ‘New Wars’, the New Security Agenda, nationalism and sub nationalism, international conflict prevention; peace keeping; and global governance. The course also covers topics like the rise of Islamism and Hindu nationalism in contemporary South Asia. This module provides you with an overview of the key security concerns of South-Central Asia.

• To firstly identify trouble spots in contemporary Asia and the different layers of conflict in each case study;
• To analyse the politics of intervention;To examine the basis of political identities, the nature of nationalism and sub nationalism and their implications for the nation state, regional stability, security, peace, cooperation and development;
• To identify methods of conflict resolution for these violent conflict zones and to look at the politics of reconstruction.

This module is an introduction to macro-sociological theory and those branches of contemporary sociology that attempt to deal with ‘the world’ as a whole. The aim is to critically interrogate the ways in which sociologists envision time, space, and ‘global relations’ between different parts of the world (modern/traditional, East/West, developed/developing, First World/Third World, North/South).

Beginning with comparative and historical sociology, we consider how social theorists employ ‘big structures’ at a world scale, ‘grand narratives’ of epochal shifts, ‘large processes’ of global change, and ideas of the novelty of the contemporary period.

The module focuses on understanding the relation between theory, methodology, and questions of power in research, including the critiques of sociology within postcolonial theory. Drawing on theories grounded in political and economic sociology as well as cultural and discursive approaches, we will critically reflect on Western Sociology's assumptions and exclusions, including the ways in which recent theories of globalisation, time-space compression and spatial mobility may reiterate Orientalist and colonial discourses.

In the age of the 'anthropocene', the devastation of the natural environment, loss of biodiversity, global warming and pollution can no longer be ignored. At the same time, the solutions to the environmental crisis have not yet materialised.

This module introduces you to the challenges the environmental crisis poses to a multitude of actors, including international organisations, governments, political parties and individuals. It will discuss the way in which institutions, ideas and interests shape environmental politics, and will provide a comprehensive introduction to environmental activism and green politics at local and international levels.

Intercultural business communication plays a key role in the global economy and world commerce as it considers cultural differences between international business partners and clients. This interdisciplinary course examines how communication is affected by different values, attitudes and beliefs, in the context of our volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous environment.

The ability to effectively interact, work and develop meaningful relationships with professionals across different cultures and social groups is essential in a global workforce. Drawing on interdisciplinary research, this course will provide you with the necessary awareness, know-how and practical skills needed to become more effective at intercultural interactions. You will draw on various models to analyse your own experiences in order to develop a personal development plan to address effective interactions at work in the face of significant challenges. Studying intercultural business communication fosters an understanding of your own cultural, linguistic and communication related background. This may benefit future careers that operate within a multicultural context.

Diplomacy and Foreign Policy are central to the understanding of international politics. The structure of the international system induces a constant need for political dialogue and negotiations. Besides war, diplomacy is the common language states are using to interact on the world stage.

Complementing the first core module on Diplomacy and Foreign Policy, which provides theoretical understanding of the subject, this module applies these theoretical tools to contemporary diplomatic and negotiation issues and great power politics (PPR.430 is NOT a prerequisite though). Indeed, the teaching and learning strategy of Diplomacy and Foreign Policy is designed to give you both theoretical and practical understanding of contemporary issues in diplomacy and foreign policy. Academic teaching will thus be complemented by guest lectures (e.g. by a practitioner) and in-class activities such as mock negotiation exercises.

The syllabus is likely to draw upon the following: Nuclear weapons and foreign policy, Arms control and diplomacy, International climate negotiations, South-North relations and development, and some in-class mock negotiation exercises.

This module will give you the opportunity to study a language formally, in a way that will support any learning that you may have undertaken / be undertaking alongside your studies. You can enrol either as a beginner or as a more advanced student, building on existing knowledge.

Spanning over two terms, the module will help you develop transferable communicative skills and reflect on cultural and linguistic challenges which are relevant to your postgraduate studies and beyond, whether you intend to use these skills to research matters relating to intercultural and/or interlinguistic issues, work with archives, develop an international research network, or simply add them to your CV. You will be given opportunities to practise in your chosen target language, building on materials posted on the learning space (flipped classroom videos, self-study links) as well as other events organised for the community of linguists in the university, such as our weekly lunch clubs.

In the seminars & workshops, as well as through a series of optional drop-ins offered in the second term, this module will also give you the tools to approach materials which are relevant to your own academic and work interests.

In this module, you will be in control of your language learning and how you apply these skills to your studies / future work, which is reflected in the optionality offered for your final assessments.

This is your opportunity to learn about policymaking theories and policy analysis.

You'll explore both theoretical and practitioner perspectives in public policy from the UK and beyond. This knowledge will enable you to use and apply public policy insights in your work.

The module covers important topics such as:

• What is policy? Why is it needed? Who makes policy?
• Theories of policymaking: policymaking cycle and the policymaking environment, how does policy change, policy instruments and policy tools, policy learning and transfer.
• Critical Policy Studies: issues of power in policymaking and alternative approaches to policymaking, critical theories such as feminism and anti-racism.
• Policy analysis: identifying steps that policy analysis should follow. Practical analysis of a policy problem and possible solutions in areas such as economic, social, justice/home affairs and foreign policy.
• Policy implementation and administration including the role of street level bureaucrats.
• Policy evaluation: methods for evaluation policy against objectives to assessing the extent to which the policy was implemented correctly and, if so, had the desired effect.