University home > Unit and programme catalogues in 2021/22 > Programme catalogue > Faculty of Social Sciences and Law > School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies > Security, Conflict and Human Rights (MRes) > Specification
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Programme code | 9SPAI002T |
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Programme type | Postgraduate Taught Degree |
Programme director(s) |
Columba Peoples
|
Faculty | Faculty of Social Sciences and Law |
School/department | School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies |
Teaching institution | University of Bristol |
Awarding institution | University of Bristol |
Mode of study | Full Time |
Programme length | 1 years (full time) |
This interdisciplinary pathway is offered through the regional Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP) that is directly linked with the ESRC. This research-informed Master’s programme is intended to be complementary to traditional approaches while introducing new perspectives on topics that include human rights, (in) security, and forms of conflict including domestic insecurity and violence. The programme covers strategies for resolving conflicts and securing human rights and is designed to train researchers to be equipped with a range of interdisciplinary skills that will enable them to have an impact on the research, policy and practice needed to avoid and mitigate security risks. Units contributing to this programme will draw on sociological and socio-legal research on topics that include: human rights, gender, violence and ethnopolitics; area studies’ expertise on language, culture and practice; and political and legal research on sovereignty, institutions and intervention and how these fields affect elements of security, conflict and human rights. The programme will contain three core research training modules, together with one pathway-specific module and two modules chosen by the student from a selection of open units.
This programme is designed to optimise students’ opportunities to learn as part of the research-informed environment and to provide intensive research training that is directly linked to ongoing research. In parallel, the programme offers students opportunities to develop a range of skills (see intended programme outcomes). The distinctiveness of the programme is in the multidisciplinary contributors and in the way it draws together units in diverse yet complementary disciplines, including: sociology, politics/international studies, law, social policy, economics and development studies. The research-intensive learning environment will expose students to the most current research in the field and provide a grounding in advanced research methods and techniques which will enable them to succeed in carrying out their own research at both master’s and doctoral level. The one-year Master’s programme is designed to provide research training that prepares graduates to move straight on to doctoral study, but also provides an exit point for those who for any reason are unable to progress to the PhD.
The aims of the programme are to:
Programme Intended Learning Outcomes | Learning and Teaching Methods |
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Specialist seminars and workshops Lectures and master classes Reading groups |
Methods of Assessment | |
Coursework essay assignments (c.4000 words per 15 credits) Individual and group presentations |
Programme Intended Learning Outcomes | Learning and Teaching Methods |
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|
Specialist seminars and workshops Lectures and master classes Reading groups |
Methods of Assessment | |
Research project dissertation. |
Programme Intended Learning Outcomes | Learning and Teaching Methods |
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|
Specialist seminars and workshops Lectures and master classes Reading groups |
Methods of Assessment | |
Qualitative and quantitative research methods in social sciences, including use of online statistical tools e.g. SPSS |
Statement of expectations from the students at each level of the programme as it/they develop year on year.
Level M/7 - Postgraduate Certificate |
The student will be expected to acquire a Masters-level knowledge of the field Security, Conflict and Human Rights. They will demonstrate critical self-awareness and evidence of reflective practice. |
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Level M/7 - Postgraduate Diploma |
Students will have an expanded range and depth of subject specific knowledge, through the study of the mandatory units and their optional choices. |
Level M/7 - Postgraduate Masters |
This programme provides opportunities for students to develop and demonstrate knowledge and understanding, qualities, skills and other attributes as summarised in A, B and C. On successful completion of this programme, students should:
Teaching and learning in this programme will be student-centred, as is appropriate for postgraduates. Opportunities will be provided for students to achieve the intended learning outcomes through a combination of lectures, seminars, workshops and peer interaction. The individual learning experience of each student will be influenced by their choice of optional units, but the following teaching, learning and assessment methods are embedded in the core units. Advanced training will include methodological workshops addressing different research techniques. Master classes and mini-conferences will be part of the mix of learning opportunities; these will be open to students from all participating institutions and will facilitate interdisciplinary interaction and collaboration. |
The intended learning outcome mapping document shows which mandatory units contribute towards each programme intended learning outcome.
For information on the admissions requirements for this programme please see details in the postgraduate prospectus at http://www.bristol.ac.uk/prospectus/postgraduate/ or contact the relevant academic department.
UoB Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes: Rules for Assessment, Progression and the Award of a Qualification will apply at programme level and to UoB units. Bath and Exeter’s assessment procedures will apply to the units that they provide and marks and credits recognised by Bristol as set out in Schedule 7 of the Collaborative Partnership Agreement. This will be made clear at the outset of the programme and explained in detail in the Student Handbook.
To pass the MRes, students will pass units worth a minimum of 120 credits and will also pass the research project by completing a dissertation of appropriate standard. Detailed marking criteria will be made available for all units, including the dissertation. Having passed units worth a minimum of 60 / 120 credits, students who for any reason cannot continue on the programme may leave with a PG Certificate (60) / PG Diploma (120), provided that two-thirds of their total credits have been acquired at Bristol.
Bristol and Exeter use the Credit Transfer Scheme (CATS) system. Bath uses the European Community Course Credit Transfer Scheme (ECTS). 1 CATS credit point at Bristol and Exeter is equivalent to 10 hours of study including teaching, private study, revision and assessments; at Bath 1 ECTS credit point will equate to 20 hours of study time and 2 CATS credits for the purposes of this programme.
Prof Sally Barnes, Graduate Education Director for Social Sciences and Law and Director of the SWDTC
Dr Columba Peoples, Programme Director.
Sonja Ho, SWDTC Manager and the SWDTC website: http://www.bristol.ac.uk/fssl/swdtc.html.
Unit Name | Unit Code | Credit Points | Status | |
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Conceptual Issues in Security, Conflict, and Human Rights | POLIM0030 | 15 | Mandatory | TB-1 |
Advanced Interdisciplinary Research Design | GEOGM0015 | 15 | Mandatory | TB-4 |
Dissertation (SWDTC) | POLIM0010 | 60 | Mandatory | AYEAR |
The research training units "Introduction to Quantitative Research Methods in the Social Sciences" & "Introduction to Qualitative Research Methods in the Social Sciences" run a number of times across the Faculty. Students may request to take whichever unit best fits their timetable, but requests are subject to space constraints. | ||||
Introduction to Quantitative Research Methods in the Social Sciences Not available in this year | SOCIM0011 | 20 | Mandatory | |
Introduction to Qualitative Research Methods in the Social Sciences | SOCIM0013 | 20 | Mandatory | TB-1 |
In addition to the mandatory units and the dissertation, students choose additional units from the list below or other optional units at Bristol, Bath or Exeter by agreement with the programme director. Depending on the institution offering them, units may be of different credit values; the minimum volume of credit required for this programme is 180. | ||||
Theoretical Approaches to Security | POLIM0029 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 |
International Security | POLIM3012 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 |
Feminisms and International Relations | POLIM3013 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 |
Theories of International Relations | POLIM3014 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 |
International Political Economy | POLIM3015 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 |
Theories of Development | POLIM3018 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 |
Governance, Institutions and the Global Political Economy | SPOLM1073 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 |
Foreign Policy Analysis | POLIM3017 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 |
International Human Rights | POLIM3030 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 |
Sino-US Relations in Global Politics | POLIM3033 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 |
East Asia and Global Development | POLIM0006 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 |
Gender and Violence: International and Global Perspectives | SPOLM1067 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 |
Gender, Masculinity/ies and International Relations | POLIM3016 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 |
Migration, asylum and human rights: EU and global policy perspectives. | SPOLM0042 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 |
Human Rights in Law, Politics and Society | LAWDM0089 | 30 | Optional | TB-4 |
Interpreting Gender | SOCIM3103 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 |
Global transformations: Issues and Trajectories | POLIM0007 | 15 | Optional | TB-1 |
Religion, Ethnicity and Value Change | SOCIM0010 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 |
180 |
The pass mark set by the University for any level 7(M) unit is 50 out of 100.
For detailed rules on progression please see the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes and the relevant faculty handbook.
All taught masters programmes, unless exempted by Senate, must allow the opportunity for students to exit from the programme with a postgraduate diploma or certificate.
To be awarded a postgraduate diploma, students must have successfully completed 120 credit points, of which 90 must be at level M/7.
To be awarded a postgraduate certificate, students must have successfully completed 60 credit points, of which 40 must be at level M/7.
An award with Merit or Distinction is permitted for postgraduate taught masters, diplomas and certificates, where these are specifically named entry-level qualifications. An award with Merit or Distinction is not permitted for exit awards where students are required to exit the programme on academic grounds but is permitted in designated programmes (as set out in the programme specification) where students choose to withdraw from the intended programme but otherwise achieve the necessary credit points for the exit award.
The classification of the award in relation to the final programme mark is as follows:
Award with Distinction*: at least 65 out of 100 for the taught component overall and, for masters awards, at least 70 out of 100 for the dissertation. **Faculties retain discretion to increase these thresholds.
Award with Merit*: at least 60 out of 100 for the taught component overall and, for masters awards, at least 60 out of 100 for the dissertation. Faculties retain discretion to increase these thresholds.
* The MA in Law has separate regulations for awarding distinction and merit.
** For the award of Distinction, the Faculty of Engineering requires at least 70 out of 100 for the taught component overall and, for masters awards, at least 70 out of 100 for the dissertation.
All taught masters programmes, unless exempted by Senate, must allow the opportunity for students to choose, or be required, to leave at the postgraduate diploma or certificate stage.
To be awarded a postgraduate diploma, students must have successfully completed 120 credit points, of which 90 must be at level M/7.
To be awarded a postgraduate certificate, students must have successfully completed 60 credit points, of which 40 must be at level M/7.
Please note: This specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learning outcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if he/she takes full advantage of the learning opportunities that are provided.
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