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Global issues of environmental security, geopolitics and development have never been so important. A war on terror with no end in sight, the Kyoto Protocol, and the World Social Forum have brought questions of Western interventionary practices, environmental sustainability and neoliberalism to the fore.
The MA in Environment, Society and Development is designed to enable students to synthesize both theoretical and practical concerns in bringing critical thinking to environment-society relations in the field. The programme involves engagement with a number of core areas in critical human geography, including issues of geopolitics, development, governance and political ecology, and exposes students to vital global challenges that encompass a complex and dynamic mesh of environmental, social and economic processes.
The external examiner is Prof. Neil Smith from CUNY.
Running through the MA is an overarching aim to impart understanding of how different philosophical and ideological approaches to environment-society relations influence policy formulation and implementation. In this context, our hope is to empower students to become critically informed by, and ethically engaged with, the various (geo)political, social, economic and environmental processes that shape the world in which we live.
The practical emphasis of the MA is reflected in a field-based learning module in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where students will intersect with the development work of the European Commission, UN agencies and various NGOs. In connecting with the work of UN agencies like the United Nations Development Programme, a key challenge for students will involve thinking through the scalar nature of all forms of development, in which initiatives on the ground are framed by broader geopolitical, economic and institutional structures that both enable and hinder development in complex ways.
Diego Andreucci (MA, 2009-2010): "What I like the most about the MA in Environment, Society and Development is the fact that it is theoretically broad and academically stimulating whilst at the same time being very much engaged in practical, political and ethical issues in a variety of geographical contexts on the ground."
Students are required to complete all modules for a 90 ECTS Masters. Assessment shall be in the form of continuous assessment, essays, oral presentations and other projects. Students must also submit a dissertation in the range of 15,000-20,000 words based on original research. The topic for dissertation will be agreed, after consultation, with individual supervisors. The MA shall not be awarded to any candidate who does not achieve a pass mark in the dissertation module. At the end of the academic year, each student will present a poster based on her/his MA research for the Annual Symposium in Environment, Society and Development.
The programme will prepare students for a range of workplaces including government departments, non-governmental organizations, planning and project management agencies and specialist research and policy institutes. The emphasis on transferable and problem-solving skills is further reflected in the focus on field-based learning practices that are embedded in all modules. The programme is also designed to enhance students’ prospects for undertaking further research at PhD level.
