BA in Global Social Challenges
Manchester, United Kingdom
BA
DURATION
4 years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
EARLIEST START DATE
TUITION FEES
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
Key Summary
Learn to critically analyse and respond to global social challenges and harms.
- Join one of the UK’s top ten universities for social science courses (Times Higher Education Rankings 2022) to study a uniquely contemporary and transdisciplinary degree.
- Gain the intellectual and practical skills to face head-on some of the most pressing social challenges and harms of our times, such as social injustice, climate change, conflict, violence and migration.
- Understand and respond to global challenges from a wealth of perspectives, including politics, economics, law, criminology, philosophy, sociology, social anthropology and social statistics.
- Gain key knowledge, skills, and analytic and professional expertise to work across national and international organisations, governmental bodies and the voluntary sector.
BA Global Social Challenges is a first-of-its-kind transdisciplinary programme in the School of Social Sciences at The University of Manchester.
The central aim of this programme is to equip students with skills to understand and tackle challenges that result in globally significant harm. Contemporary global challenges include complex issues such as:
- Social injustice;
- conflicts and violence;
- climate change;
- the migration and displacement of people.
Students in this programme will learn to analyse and approach these challenges using perspectives from across the social sciences, including law, economics, politics, philosophy, sociology and social statistics.
As students progress through the degree, they will learn about and critically analyse the local, national, international and global responses to the pressing challenges societies across the globe face, as well as how these responses create new problems of their own.
By graduation, students will have built their own areas of expertise and will have gained the key knowledge, skills and expertise to work across national and international organisations, governmental bodies and the third sector.
Course content for year 1
In your first year, you will learn about a range of contemporary global challenges and begin to identify the social harms created by them. You will consider if, how and why social injustice is a pressing global concern, and you will learn to critically appreciate the obstacles and impediments to social justice.
In addition to the core units/modules available on your degree, you will be able to take units from different areas, including from the School of Social Sciences, as well as courses from the University College for Interdisciplinary Learning (UCIL) which includes language courses.
Course content for year 2
In the second year, you will begin to specialise and extend the depth of your knowledge, particularly in how global social challenges can be tackled. You will analyse how challenges are governed on national and international scales and will develop an understanding of the international obligations people and nations have towards these problems. You will also explore these challenges in relation to case studies of violence and ‘The State’, where an optional field trip to Krakow and Auschwitz-Birkenau will help further illustrate the issues at hand.
During Year 2 of the programme, students will have the option to go on a part-university-funded international field trip to Krakow and Auschwitz-Birkenau in Poland, to learn more about the infamous Nazi death camp and the Holocaust. Given that the subject theme of Year 2 is ‘violence’ which includes case studies of state violence and genocide, the field trip will provide an opportunity for students to visualise key course content and deepen their understanding of how and why genocide occurs. Students will also have some free time to explore the beautiful city of Krakow and learn more about its history and culture.
The School of Social Sciences will contribute to the costs of this optional field trip. After this contribution, the maximum projected cost to students would be £350. This money would cover return travel from Manchester to Krakow, a coach transfer to the hotel in Krakow, 3x nights’ accommodation in Krakow, and a guided tour of Auschwitz-Birkenau. For students facing significant financial difficulties, there may be additional funding available for the field trip – this would be decided on a case-by-case basis.
Course content for year 3
In your final year, you will build on the interests and areas of expertise that you have developed in year two. You will assess governance problems with global challenges, including the role of civil society and the secondary harms associated with solutions to perceived problems. You will learn to evaluate to what extent harms can be addressed by interventions on levels from the local to the global, and you will apply independent research skills to a final-year dissertation project.
Three scholarships of £2,000 per year are available to international students.
During Year 2 of the programme, students will have the option to go on a part-university-funded international field trip to Krakow and Auschwitz-Birkenau in Poland. The School of Social Sciences will contribute to the costs of this optional field trip. After this contribution, the maximum projected cost to students would be £350.
This one-of-a-kind degree will give graduates a unique skill set which spans the academic and practical, and expert knowledge and abilities from across a range of social science subject areas. Career opportunities are embedded in the degree, offering tailored support sessions from the Careers Service, networking opportunities with external guest speakers, as well as yearly core units that have been specifically designed with employability, practical, and transferable skills in mind.
After their degree, graduates will be well-equipped to start work in governmental bodies, national and international organisations, and the third sector, following career paths in areas such as:
- National and international civil service
- Aid management, provision and coordination
- Conflict resolution
- Relationship-building
Another popular route may be postgraduate study, particularly in fields such as:
- International Relations
- Peace and Conflict Studies
- Human Rights
- Social Statistics
...and other social science subjects with broad scopes and international outlooks.
Learning in state-of-the-art classrooms, lecture theatres, computer labs and workshops, students will acquire vital transferrable skills which are highly valued in the world of work, such as researching, report writing, data analysis, problem-solving and oral and written communication and persuasion.
This degree also emphasises practical skills and the real-life application of the expertise gained through studying; students will put their knowledge to the test and gain valuable hands-on experience through workshops, group projects and collaborative work, as well as through expert guest speakers and experiences like field trips and conferences.