MA Humanitarianism and Conflict Response: The University of Manchester

Course description

This is a new, multidisciplinary MA which will build upon and bring together existing expertise across the Faculties of Humanities and Medical & Human Sciences. The interplay between existing units from history, politics, development studies, the arts, and medicine around a core of three new courses will uniquely position Manchester as the leading global centre for humanitarian aid and conflict response.

The course focuses on response to crises originating from both conflict-zones and natural disasters. Bringing together the study of medicine and humanities provides a holistic approach, which mirrors the reality of aid operations and informs the reflexive processes of both analytical and applied disciplines. Students will be able to draw synergies from an exceptionally wide breadth of disciplinary traditions and research expertise.

Course aims

1. Provide critical insights into competing perspectives on how Humanitarianism and Conflict Responses can be understood, analysed and explained - from both an historiographic and contemporary viewpoint.
2. Develop analy tical skills in critically evaluating the idea of humanitarianism and the ways that responses to conflict are organised, justified and implemented. This includes competency in developing a reasoned argument, critically considering data sources and defending different approaches.
3. Develop skills in gathering, organising and using evidence and information from a wide variety of sources. This will be complemented by guidance on how best to manage workloads and obtain research materials.
4. Enable students to apply research skills to a relevant research area.

Career opportunities

As a hard-working, ambitious Manchester postgraduate, a wide range of exciting careers are within your reach. Students at the Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute come from a broad range of backgrounds, with varying levels of experience. Many who already have work experience will be able to harness the knowledge gained from their course to progress within their field of expertise, reaching senior roles in government and non-governmental organisations. Others will be able to use the course as a starting point to progress onto careers within NGOs, HR consultancies, financial institutions, academic institutions and more. Whatever your level of experience, you can access support from your tutors, the University Careers Service and an extensive alumni network to boost your career prospects further than ever before whilst at Manchester.

Entry requirements

Academic entry qualification overview: An Upper Second class honours degree, or the overseas equivalent.

English language: Students whose first language is not English are required to hold IELTS 7.0 or 600 TOEFL paper based or 250 computer based.