This programme invites you to think systematically about the social world, how it is changing, the challenges and how we as individuals and groups organise, rationalise and assimilate our response
The programme provides a comprehensive overview of the foundational concerns and current debates in sociology and offers a range of options for exploring applications in specific areas of research. You learn about current theoretical tools and develop skills in research and data analysis, which can be used in a range of professional fields. The programme is also an excellent basis for pursuing further research in sociology or more specialised or applied subjects.
The programme aims to provide you with:
The programme is also designed to enhance your professional development. We place considerable emphasis on the socialisation of graduate students into a research community. This is reflected in our pedagogical approaches to teaching and learning. There is less didactic teaching and more emphasis on structured seminars with greater participation from students. Class sizes are generally much smaller than at undergraduate level and you will be taught by established members of the academic staff.
The following modules are indicative of those offered on this programme. This list is based on the current curriculum and may change year to year in response to new curriculum developments and innovation:
https://www.kent.ac.uk/courses/postgraduate/141/sociology#structure
Building on Kent’s success as the region’s leading institution for student employability, we place considerable emphasis on you gaining specialist knowledge in your chosen subject alongside core transferable skills. We ensure that you develop the skills and competences that employers are looking for including: research and analysis; policy development and interpretation; independent thought; writing and presentation, as well as time management and leadership skills. You also become fully involved in the professional research culture of the School. A postgraduate degree in the area of social and public policy is a particularly flexible and valuable qualification that can lead to many exciting opportunities and professions.
Our graduates obtain a range of transferable skills and report high levels of being in employment or further study within six months of graduation across all of our degree programmes.
Over 98% of Kent's postgraduate students who graduated in 2016 were in work or further study within six months. Recent graduates from our School have pursued careers in academia, journalism, local and central government, charities and NGOs.
How to apply: https://www.kent.ac.uk/courses/postgraduate/apply/
We offer inspirational teaching and supervision alongside first-class library and IT facilities. You also benefit from our high-impact research in all subjects. Whatever you are looking to study, Kent provides a dynamic and challenging environment for your postgraduate studies.
* of 122 universities, not including specialist institutions
We have a scholarship fund of over £9 million to support our taught and research students with their tuition fees and living costs. Find out more: https://www.kent.ac.uk/scholarships/postgraduate/
Many people welcome the age of a global economy, mass communications, diversity, competition, goods and services anywhere any time, inter linked banking and investment systems and so on. Some people feel that globalisation comes at a price to society, business, social life, diversity and so on. This is a highly complex subject area which takes on every aspect of life as we know it in terms of political, economic, social, technological, legal, environmental aspects to life post the 1980s.
Within the context of one of the biggest challenges of the modern age the degree allow you to conduct social scientific research and understand the different aspects to globalisation which affect all of us and individuals in society. If you want to understand the complexities of social changes being driven by globalisation and the other dimensions this programme gives you in depth knowledge and ability to analyse all that is globalisation.
You become adept at understanding the social and global societal issues that affect globalisation whilst also becoming a competent social science researcher.
Semester 1
Semester 2
Optional
Semester 3
Find out more detail by visiting the programme web page
Find out about fees:
Find out more from the programme page
*Please be advised that some programmes have different tuition fees from those listed above and that some programmes also have additional costs.
View all funding options on our funding database via the programme page and the latest postgraduate opportunities
Find out more about:
Find out more about living in Aberdeen and living costs
You will undertake advanced studies in political sociological analysis and this programme is ideal preparation for a research degree. It assumes an undergraduate training in sociology and/or political science, or a cognate discipline, or relevant professional experience such as journalism.
The programme is distinctive in its focus upon social and political movements, protest, and the less conventional and institutionalised forms of political action and participation, environmental politics and globalisation, but students with interests in other areas of more conventional and institutionalised politics are well catered for.
You will gain an understanding of the interaction and interdependence among social and political institutions, processes and action, especially collective action. The programme begins with a focus upon protest and social movements, and in the second term you may choose to focus upon either or both of environmental politics and / or processes of global social change and questions of political order. There is a wide range of optional modules from which to choose, and at the end of the programme, you should have a much enhanced understanding of processes of social and political change and the theoretical and methodological approaches to their interpretation and study.
Depending upon your choice of option modules, the programme will also give you:
The programme is also designed to enhance your professional development. We place considerable emphasis on the socialisation of graduate students into a research community. This is reflected in our pedagogical approaches to teaching and learning. There is less didactic teaching and more emphasis on structured seminars with greater participation from students. Class sizes are generally much smaller than at undergraduate level and you will be taught by established members of the academic staff, many of whom are internationally recognized leaders in their particular fields of inquiry. This facilitates close working relationships between staff and students. You will also be encouraged to participate in the staff/graduate seminar which allows MA and research students the opportunity to become more fully involved in a professional research culture, and to meet visiting speakers from many universities in Britain and beyond.
You take compulsory modules alongside optional modules of your choice. Modules may include:
https://www.kent.ac.uk/courses/postgraduate/134/political-sociology#structure
Building on Kent’s success as the region’s leading institution for student employability, we place considerable emphasis on you gaining specialist knowledge in your chosen subject alongside core transferable skills. We ensure that you develop the skills and competences that employers are looking for including: research and analysis; policy development and interpretation; independent thought; writing and presentation, as well as time management and leadership skills. You also become fully involved in the professional research culture of the School. A postgraduate degree in the area of social and public policy is a particularly flexible and valuable qualification that can lead to many exciting opportunities and professions.
Our graduates obtain a range of transferable skills and report high levels of being in employment or further study within six months of graduation across all of our degree programmes.
Over 98% of Kent's postgraduate students who graduated in 2016 were in work or further study within six months. Recent graduates from our School have pursued careers in academia, journalism, local and central government, charities and NGOs.
How to apply: https://www.kent.ac.uk/courses/postgraduate/apply/
We offer inspirational teaching and supervision alongside first-class library and IT facilities. You also benefit from our high-impact research in all subjects. Whatever you are looking to study, Kent provides a dynamic and challenging environment for your postgraduate studies.
* of 122 universities, not including specialist institutions
Welfare states everywhere face enormous challenges from population ageing, changes in family life and work-patterns, migration and the economic crisis. In a globalised and interdependent world, these issues can only be understood from an international perspective which accounts for these common pressures and processes, but which also recognises and engages with the diversity of national traditions and institutions for delivering welfare.
The International Social Policy programme takes a policy analytic approach to provide you with an advanced understanding of current debates, theories and concepts relevant to international social policy. You learn about the common features of social policy arrangements internationally and the variety and differences that characterise welfare across the countries and regions of the world. Drawing on the research-based expertise available at SSPSSR which relates to countries ranging from China, South Korea and Singapore in South East Asia to the UK, Germany and Sweden in Western Europe, you are equipped to understand how national and global forces interact to shape trajectories of welfare system development.
The programme enables you to apply theories and methods of social policy in exploring enduring cross cutting themes in social policy, including the prioritisation of equality and capabilities, as well as to drill down to how and why policy unfolds in key welfare fields. You develop policy analytic skills in relation to such areas as health, migration, pensions, education, social care, and children & family related policy. You acquire expertise in the use of primary and secondary data collection in areas pertaining to all these aspects of social policy, and are thus equipped to think critically about the development of social welfare systems in a global age across the full range of national contexts and policy situations.
We place considerable emphasis on structured, interactive seminars with a high degree of student participation. You also join the staff/graduate seminars which allow MA and research students to become involved in a professional research culture.
The programme gives you a clear and confident grasp of social policy in developed and developing countries. You gain an advanced understanding of the relevant debates, theories and concepts of international issues alongside skills in research design and data collection.
You take compulsory modules alongside optional modules of your choice. Modules may include:
https://www.kent.ac.uk/courses/postgraduate/118/international-social-policy#structure
This programme aims to:
Building on Kent’s success as the region’s leading institution for student employability, we place considerable emphasis on you gaining specialist knowledge in your chosen subject alongside core transferable skills. We ensure that you develop the skills and competences that employers are looking for including: research and analysis; policy development and interpretation; independent thought; writing and presentation, as well as time management and leadership skills. You also become fully involved in the professional research culture of the School. A postgraduate degree in the area of social and public policy is a particularly flexible and valuable qualification that can lead to many exciting opportunities and professions.
Our graduates obtain a range of transferable skills and report high levels of being in employment or further study within six months of graduation across all of our degree programmes.
Over 98% of Kent's postgraduate students who graduated in 2016 were in work or further study within six months. Recent graduates from our School have pursued careers in academia, journalism, local and central government, charities and NGOs.
How to apply: https://www.kent.ac.uk/courses/postgraduate/apply/
We offer inspirational teaching and supervision alongside first-class library and IT facilities. You also benefit from our high-impact research in all subjects. Whatever you are looking to study, Kent provides a dynamic and challenging environment for your postgraduate studies.
* of 122 universities, not including specialist institutions
We are all shaped by the cultural experiences in our life and this programme offers you the opportunity to understand the different areas of culture and bring them together to broaden your understanding of Ethnology and Folklore.
If you want to keep the traditions of the past alive across your culture this programme may interest you whether you are from Scotland or live in Scotland. The programme can lead to teaching and further research or you can be involved in bringing the past alive and re-inventing traditions in new events for the future. Examples of traditions which contribute significantly to their economies are Uphelia on Shetland and The Fireballs ceremony in Stonehaven which is also replicated in towns in Northern England such as the Tar Barrels ceremony at Allendale. All of these ceremonies come from traditions within cultures that came to Britain in our past and they offer us unique understanding about the life and times of ancient civilisations.
This is a programme has a North East (Scotland) focus so if you want to know about what your ancestors experienced or the traditions you still keep alive this programme will help you towards more knowledge. You can take this knowledge into niche areas of interest to you, extend it into local festivals and raise awareness of lost areas of culture or those which are at risk of being lost. You can either research or teach or use this knowledge to enrich tourism and local community experiences.
The course will develop a broad-based understanding of how Ethnology and Folklore evolved, and of their approaches to the major genres of study: material culture, custom and belief, oral narrative, song, childlore and games, sports and pastimes. You learn how to research into the cultural past across all art forms and cultural traditions.
Semester 1
Semester 2
Semester 3
Find out more detail by visiting the programme web page
Find out about fees and living costs
*Please be advised that some programmes have different tuition fees from those listed above and that some programmes also have additional costs.
View all funding options on our funding database via the programme page
Find out more about:
Find out more about living in Aberdeen and living costs
The MA Methods of Social Research provides essential training for employment where an understanding of social research is important, as well as for further academic research in a social science discipline.
This MA programme at Kent exposes students to a wide range of thinking and approaches in social science research presented in a multi-disciplinary context and at an advanced level.
Through this programme you develop practical skills in data collection, in data analysis and interpretation, and in the presentation of research findings so that students gain insight into the research process from design to the production of new knowledge. You will also broaden your understanding of the philosophical, theoretical and ethical issues that matter in research, and will become aware of debates about the relationship between theory and research and between research, policy and practice.
You take compulsory modules alongside optional modules of your choice. Modules may include:
https://www.kent.ac.uk/courses/postgraduate/119/methods-of-social-research#structure
Through this programme you will:
Building on Kent’s success as the region’s leading institution for student employability, we place considerable emphasis on you gaining specialist knowledge in your chosen subject alongside core transferable skills. We ensure that you develop the skills and competences that employers are looking for including: research and analysis; policy development and interpretation; independent thought; writing and presentation, as well as time management and leadership skills. You also become fully involved in the professional research culture of the School. A postgraduate degree in the area of social and public policy is a particularly flexible and valuable qualification that can lead to many exciting opportunities and professions.
Our graduates obtain a range of transferable skills and report high levels of being in employment or further study within six months of graduation across all of our degree programmes.
Over 98% of Kent's postgraduate students who graduated in 2016 were in work or further study within six months. Recent graduates from our School have pursued careers in academia, journalism, local and central government, charities and NGOs.
How to apply: https://www.kent.ac.uk/courses/postgraduate/apply/
We offer inspirational teaching and supervision alongside first-class library and IT facilities. You also benefit from our high-impact research in all subjects. Whatever you are looking to study, Kent provides a dynamic and challenging environment for your postgraduate studies.
* of 122 universities, not including specialist institutions
Created for international students who wish to familiarise themselves with academic learning in the UK before undertaking rigorous study in their chosen subject. Students undertake a preparatory year of English language and undergraduate modules in the subject area before embarking on Master's level modules in their second year.
You gain a clear, confident and advanced understanding of the subject while receiving coaching in academic study and writing skills. The skills you develop on this programme include critical thinking, data analysis and presentation of key findings as well as transferable skills such as time management, IT and problem solving.
You acquire practical and analytic skills in advanced research methodologies, learning the techniques and approaches that social researchers use to organise, structure and interpret data. You will learn about the process of research and how the analysis and presentation of evidence is influenced and can be influential in understanding social structure. You will become adept at using a range of frameworks and methodologies and will be able to assess the most appropriate to use in a given scenario.
As well as taking core modules, you choose from a range of optional modules; typical optional modules may include::
Over 98% of Kent's postgraduate students who graduated in 2016 were in work or further study within six months. Recent graduates from our School have pursued careers in academia, journalism, local and central government, charities and NGOs.
We offer inspirational teaching and supervision alongside first-class library and IT facilities. You also benefit from our high-impact research in all subjects. Whatever you are looking to study, Kent provides a dynamic and challenging environment for your postgraduate studies.
* of 122 universities, not including specialist institutions
We have a scholarship fund of over £9 million to support our taught and research students with tuition fees and living costs. Find out more: https://www.kent.ac.uk/courses/postgraduate/fees-and-funding/index.html
Kent offers a range of modules and programmes in English for Academic Purposes (EAP) which you can access throughout your degree https://www.kent.ac.uk/international-pathways/
Created for international students who wish to familiarise themselves with academic learning in the UK before undertaking rigorous study in their chosen subject. Students undertake a preparatory year of English language and undergraduate modules in the subject area before embarking on Master's level modules in their second year.
You gain a clear, confident and advanced understanding of the subject while receiving coaching in academic study and writing skills. The skills you develop on this programme include critical thinking, data analysis and presentation of key findings as well as transferable skills such as time management, IT and problem solving.
You acquire practical and analytic skills in advanced research methodologies, learning the techniques and approaches that social researchers use to organise, structure and interpret data. You will learn about the development of criminology as a distinct area of study and enquiry, looking at how crime, deviance and victimisation are legally and socially constructed. You will gain historic as well as strategic insight into policy development and implementation. You will become adept at identifying and understanding a range of social problems and concepts, learning the most appropriate to way to apply concepts, theories and methods to a given scenario.
As well as taking core modules, you choose from a range of optional modules; typical optional modules may include:
Over 98% of Kent's postgraduate students who graduated in 2016 were in work or further study within six months. Recent graduates from our School have pursued careers across the criminal justice system, encompassing areas such as counter-terrorism, advocacy, probation, social policy and research, finding positions in the Civil Service, the Ministry of Justice, various police services and the Probation Service.
We offer inspirational teaching and supervision alongside first-class library and IT facilities. You also benefit from our high-impact research in all subjects. Whatever you are looking to study, Kent provides a dynamic and challenging environment for your postgraduate studies.
* of 122 universities, not including specialist institutions
We have a scholarship fund of over £9 million to support our taught and research students with tuition fees and living costs. Find out more: https://www.kent.ac.uk/courses/postgraduate/fees-and-funding/index.html
Kent offers a range of modules and programmes in English for Academic Purposes (EAP) which you can access throughout your degree, read more here: https://www.kent.ac.uk/international-pathways
At the local, national and global level, we are witnessing an intense period of social transformation and fragmentation. Within this context, there is growing political and policy recognition of the need to better understand and thereby address social inequalities. The social sciences have an important role to play in mapping and understanding how inequalities arise and in tackling their causes and consequences. Innovative developments in the social sciences are offering new methodological, theoretical and empirical insights into entrenched and emerging inequalities of status, resource, outcome and opportunity. This has inspired us to create an interdisciplinary programme focusing on inequality in all its forms and its social, political and economic implications.
This Masters programme equips students with the necessary knowledge and skills to engage in and contribute towards work that tackles the realities and effects of social inequality. Capitalising on academic and applied expertise in the School of Sociology and Social Policy and the Leeds Inequalities Research Network, this programme harnesses leading analytical approaches combining qualitative, quantitative and data analytic methods (in close collaboration with the School of Geography).
In addition to offering an advanced understanding of rising material inequality, the programme encourages an intersectional approach to understanding socio-economic stratification and how this links with physical (dis) ability, race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, sexuality, class and age. It provides a stimulating intellectual environment and cutting edge methodological approaches to comparing and contrasting the formation and consequences of inequalities across a range of national and international contexts. Through an examination of geopolitical and socioeconomic shifts, such as urbanisation and globalisation, students are actively supported to critically interrogate the contemporary character and extent of social inequality.
Research insight
Whilst undertaking this programme, students will join a vibrant and dynamic research led teaching and learning environment in the School of Sociology and Social Policy. You will benefit from the interdisciplinary expertise and extra-curricular activities hosted by the School and its research centres including those in Disability Studies, Ethnicity and Racism Studies, Interdisciplinary Gender Studies and Research into Families, the Life Course and Generations. You will also access events through the Leeds Social Sciences Institute (LSSI), which fosters cross-departmental collaboration, learning and impact, Students will also benefit from workshops on global inequalities by academic leaders from across campus and research seminars with external speakers; along with career development opportunities and events. As such, students can take advantage of academic and applied expertise both within and beyond the University whilst also developing specialist knowledge and transferable skills for their future career development in the public, private or third sector.
The programme bridges disciplinary divides to provide a detailed understanding of the ways in which social inequality manifests across diverse communities and contexts at the national and international level. It offers insight into the character, causes and consequences of social inequality, as well as forms of resistance and policy responses. It has a strong and innovative methodological focus, including traditional qualitative and quantitative approaches to the social analysis of inequality, as well as new approaches to data visualisation and analytics from across the social sciences. The programme uses a range of teaching methods, including lectures, seminars and workshops, complemented by a range of co-curricular activities partly facilitated through the Leeds Inequalities Research Network.
The core modules of the programme introduce students to contemporary research on global inequalities of social difference and disadvantage, emphasizing a diversity of theoretical and research design strategies, including international evidence surrounding the shifting nature and extent of inequality. Students are able to tailor the programme according to their interests and needs by choosing from a specially selected range of optional modules, which address major social and economic inequalities across diverse social science subjects and substantive issues. As such, students can choose to develop in-depth specialist knowledge on a particular area and/or focus more generally on the social processes and arrangements that give rise to inequalities.
Compulsory modules
PLUS TWO OF THE BELOW:
We use a range of teaching and learning methods including presentations, seminars, workshops, tutorials and lectures. However, independent study is crucial to this degree – it allows you to prepare for taught sessions, develop your research interests and build a range of skills. This is particularly the case for the dissertation/applied project module of this programme.
Supported through workshops and supervision, students develop their research dissertation or an applied project in partnership with external organisations. This offers students an exciting opportunity to gain experience of applying their knowledge and skills to policy and practice.
Your core modules will be assessed using essays. Optional modules may use other forms of assessment that reflect the diversity of the topics you can study, including presentations, book and literature reviews, research proposals and reports among others.
This programme prepares students for policy, research and applied careers across the private, public and third sectors. The interdisciplinary and dynamic nature of the programme equips students with the critical, analytical and methodological skills to deploy their specialist expertise in a clear, efficient and effective manner. You will develop transferable skills in research, analysis and communication, as well as in-depth knowledge that can be applied across a range of domains and contexts.
Due to the rigorous and applied nature of our teaching, graduates might pursue careers across a diverse range of organisational settings such as in government, NGOS, charities, think tanks, social enterprises and business. The programme also offers excellent development opportunities to pursue a career in social research or undertake research at PhD level.
Irrespective of your future career intentions, we offer tailored guidance and support through ESSL Faculty staff and the Leeds Careers Centre.
