Environmental Humanities
MA
1 year full-time, 2 years part-time
Durham City
V8K907
Course details
The MA in Environmental Humanities explores how research in the study of the humanities disciplines can be applied to make a difference and boost the effectiveness of our response to the ever-growing global environmental crisis.
The course takes up elements from modules in departments including Anthropology, English Studies, Geography, History, Modern Languages and Cultures, Philosophy, and Theology and Religion to provide you with a firm grounding for either carrying out further research at a higher level or making a game-changing contribution to tackling environmental and climate issues.
The course is centred around two core modules. Environmental Humanities: Frameworks and Debates introduces the relevant methodological approaches and explores the innovative ways in which the arts and humanities are able to join or challenge scientific and technological responses. The second module, Climate and Energy: Intensive Study gives you an overview of current climate science and the social, political and economic aspects of energy usage.
You can structure the remainder of your course around your areas of interest. This includes an interdisciplinary dissertation and further modules chosen from topics as varied as environmental philosophy, approaches to environmental history, cross-cultural understandings of nature, and religious understandings of living in a time of crisis, as well as the opportunity to take a language module.
Our intention is to serve the societies in which we all live by producing thoughtful, critical and engaged citizens who will contribute positively in a rapidly changing and complex world. We will provide you with the tools for analysis, interpretation and expression, tools to discuss and compare models of human life and its flourishing, and tools for imagining the future.
Course structure
All the MA programmes offered by the Faculty of Arts & Humanities consist of three components:
- a Major Research Project to the value of at least 60 credits
- Core Modules to the value of 0-90 credits, depending on the programme
- Elective Modules, making up the total number of credits to 180; some of these modules will be defined as Recommended Electives for particular programmes.
For students studying the MA in Environmental Humanities, the Interdisciplinary Dissertation (your Major Research Project, 60 credits)) is carried out on a substantial topic in any discipline or disciplines represented in your programme of study. You will choose the topic under expert guidance, bringing together theories and concepts from modules across the course.
You will also be required to take the following 30-credit core module:
Environmental Humanities: Frameworks and Debates introduces current, cutting-edge and emergent topics and debates within interdisciplinary research in the environmental humanities. It also enables you to understand how the histories of environmental degradation and climate change are interlinked with inequalities around gender, race and class.
Finally, you will choose 90 credits of elective modules from across the Faculty of Arts & Humanities or beyond, so that your total number of credits adds up to exactly 180. Due to the interdisciplinary nature of your programme, some modules will be specifically recommended to you by your Programme Director.
Learning
The course is delivered through a mixture of seminars, discussion classes, lectures and tutorials, with formal teaching sessions supported by your own preparatory study and independent reading outside the set contact hours.
Core subject matter is delivered through the lectures with the subsequent group sessions all giving you the opportunity for further discussion and understanding.
The academic environment for your learning experience is supportive and relaxed with the programme director available to offer academic advice and guidance.
The course culminates in the interdisciplinary dissertation on a subject of your own choice. You will receive regular one-to-one guidance from a supervisor with subject expertise as you make progress.
Assessment
Assessment involves a variety of evaluation methods that will measure your progress through the course.
The methods used will depend on the modules you choose but will reflect the flexible nature of the course: for example, assessment may include group presentations, essays, short pieces of writing aimed at a public audience, or a short podcast. You will also be required to produce a dissertation of 15,000 words on a subject of interest to you.
Entry requirements
You will be expected to have an upper-second class degree, or the equivalent from a recognised national or international university; normally this will need to have a strong essay component.
You will also need to provide a personal statement of no more than 500 words. In your personal statement you should indicate why you are interested in this programme, include any relevant background experience you may have, and tell us anything else you think it would be helpful for us to know as we consider your application.
Fees and funding
Full Time Fees
Home students | £12,500 per year |
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EU students | £27,500 per year |
Island students | £12,500 per year |
International students | £27,500 per year |
Part Time Fees
Home students | £6,900 per year |
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EU students | £15,200 per year |
Island students | £6,900 per year |
International students | £15,200 per year |
The tuition fees shown are for one complete academic year of study, are set according to the academic year of entry, and remain the same throughout the duration of the programme for that cohort (unless otherwise stated).
Please also check costs for colleges and accommodation.
Scholarships and Bursaries
We are committed to supporting the best students irrespective of financial circumstances and are delighted to offer a range of funding opportunities.
Find out more about Scholarships and BursariesCareer opportunities
Faculty of Arts
Our taught MA degrees provide a strong foundation for a future in research and many postgraduates stay with us to undertake PhD studies.
Graduates who progress into the workplace take with them a range of professional and transferable skills that are valued in the public and private sectors. As well as advanced communication and analytical skills they are equipped to understand complex scenarios from multiple perspectives.
An increasing number of employers are incorporating sustainable and wellbeing goals into their organisations which open up pathways into a wider range of sectors. For Environmental Humanities graduates, career options include government agencies, corporate responsibility and sustainability, sustainability management, policy research, environmental journalism, environmental tourism, conservation work, environmentally oriented NGOs and charities.
The Medical Humanities suite of qualifications opens the door to roles in medicine, non-profit organisations, policy settings, bioethics, and contexts where health inequality and critical medical debates are vital. For those in early career roles in the sector, a postgraduate qualification can also lead to more senior roles and responsibilities.
Department information
Faculty of Arts
From health and the human experience to responses to the environmental crisis, our flexible and accessible postgraduate qualifications are centred around areas that are highly relevant in the world today.
These innovative qualifications in Environmental Humanities and Medical Humanities take a non-scientific approach to real-world challenges, considering them from a range of social, historical, ethical and anthropological perspectives.
Our courses extend beyond traditional disciplinary boundaries, drawing on methods and insights from the arts, humanities, social sciences and the natural sciences to develop effective responses to climate and environmental crises and to health and wellbeing challenges.
Students learn directly from many of the UK’s leading academic experts in these rapidly developing fields. Our team takes a collaborative approach that enables more effective communication across disciplines to address the intersecting nature of these problems.
All of our courses, from postgraduate certificate through to MA, are designed to nurture thoughtful, critical and engaged graduates who are equipped with the academic knowledge and skills to make a meaningful contribution in a rapidly changing and complex world.
Facilities
The interdisciplinary nature of our courses combined with the flexibility in modules gives our students access to a range of teaching and learning facilities across the wider University as well as the specialist archives and collections in arts and humanities.
These facilities are located throughout Durham within easy access of the historic city centre with its castle and cathedral and beautiful riverside.
We are home to a number of related research centres and institutes including the Centre for Culture and Ecology, a group of researchers who explore the effects of changing climate on the location, abundance, behaviour and physiology of populations and communities. The Institute of Medical Humanities is a pioneering research institute that explores the everyday experiences of health and illness from the emergence of symptoms to the cultural contexts and constructs of health.
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