MA in Social Development
Brighton, United Kingdom
MA
DURATION
2 years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time, Part time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
01 Sep 2025*
EARLIEST START DATE
Sep 2025
TUITION FEES
GBP 10,500 / per year **
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* UK
** £10,500/year for full-time home, Channel Islands and Isle of Man students | £21,500/year for full-time international students
Key Summary
Poverty and inequality, aid and humanitarianism, human rights and empowerment, education and employment, sustainability and climate change are some of the key development challenges facing the world today.
On this course, you’ll gain the analytical skills and global perspective to work towards solutions. You’ll:
- explore the broad field of international development
- specialise in topics ranging from childhood, youth and education to sustainable livelihoods, mobility and migration
- benefit from our global network of research partnerships, alumni and professionals
- have opportunities to network with development practitioners around the world.
In the School of Global Studies, you’ll be part of a diverse and vibrant community of development scholars and students from around the world. There’s an exciting calendar of public events including talks by key thinkers, leaders and activists in development. You’ll also have access to student-led conferences and social events.
This course is designed for you to focus on social dynamics and human relations, which sit at the heart of all development processes. There’s a need in policy-making and practice for expertise in the social dynamics of development. When you graduate, you’ll be ideally placed to respond to this need as you start your career in the field of development.
We understand that deciding where and what to study is a very important decision. We’ll make all reasonable efforts to provide you with the courses, services and facilities described in this prospectus. However, if we need to make material changes, for example due to government or regulatory requirements, or unanticipated staff changes, we’ll let you know as soon as possible.
Scholarships
Our aim is to ensure that every student who wants to study with us is able to despite financial barriers so that we continue to attract talented and unique individuals.
Studying an MA in Social Development at Sussex
Full-time and part-time study
Choose to study this course full time or part time, to fit around your work and personal life. For details about the part-time course, contact us.
Core modules
Core modules are taken by all students on the course. They give you a solid grounding in your chosen subject and prepare you to explore the topics that interest you most.
Autumn teaching
- Concepts of Social Development
- Critical Debates in Development Theory
Spring teaching
- Research Methods and Professional Skills
Summer teaching
- Dissertation (Social Development)
Options
Alongside your core modules, you can choose options to broaden your horizons and tailor your course to your interests. This list gives you a flavour of our options, which are kept under review and may change, for example in response to student feedback or the latest research.
While it’s our aim for students to take their preferred combinations of options, this can’t be guaranteed and will be subject to timetabling. Options may be grouped and if so, students will be able to choose a set number of options from the selection available in any particular group.
Spring teaching
- Activism for Development and Social Justice
- Childhood and Youth in the Contemporary World
- Critical Debates in Environment and Development
- Doing Gender in Theory and Practice
- Environment, Resources, Security
- Environment, Resources, Security
- Forced Labour, Trafficking and Global Mobility
- Forced Labour, Trafficking and Global Mobility
- Global Laboratories: Biotech, Life and Society
- Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery
- Humanitarianism in Global Politics
- Humanitarianism in Global Politics
- Indigenous and Minority Rights
- Issues in Forced Migration and Displacement
- Knowledge, Power and Resistance
- Managing Economic Instability
- Managing Economic Instability
- Migrant Transnationalism, Refugees and Diaspora
- Migrant Transnationalism, Refugees and Diaspora
- Poverty, Vulnerability and the Global Economy
- Re-imagining Humanitarian Responses to Displacement
- Sex, Work and Reproduction
- Socioeconomic rights: economic violence, social justice and human rights law
- The Global Governance of Education and Conflict
- The Political Economy of Development
- The Political Economy of Development
- Women and Human Rights
Summer teaching
- Dissertation with Placement (Global Studies)
Placements
To help you gain experience and increase your employability, you can apply for an optional placement as part of your course. Research placements run for up to 12 weeks in the summer term and vacation. You can also write your dissertation based on your experience. You’ll be responsible for applying for and securing your placement. Our dedicated careers team can help you:
- find an employer
- draft an application
- prepare for interviews.
Find out more about Global Studies postgraduate placements
We regularly review our modules to incorporate student feedback, staff expertise, as well as the latest research and teaching methodology. We’re planning to run these modules in the academic year 2023/24. However, there may be changes to these modules in response to feedback, staff availability, student demand or updates to our curriculum. We’ll make sure to let you know of any material changes to modules at the earliest opportunity.
We’ll do our best to provide as much optional choice as we can, but timetabling constraints mean it may not be possible to take some module combinations. The structure of a small number of courses means that the order of modules or the streams you choose may determine whether modules are core or optional. This means that your core modules or options may differ from what’s shown here.
Check back in January 2024 for the modules running in the academic year 2024/25.
American Student Loans and Federal Student Aid
If you’re receiving – or applying for – USA federal Direct Loan funds, you can’t undertake your placement/internship in the USA if the number of credits for the placement/internship exceeds 25% of the total credits for your course. Find out more about American Student Loans and Federal Student Aid
1st in the world for Development Studies (QS World University Rankings by Subject 2023)
You’ll be qualified to work in government, community and international development organisations across the world.
Throughout the course we focus on developing both your academic and practical skills – including analytical, writing and presentation skills. You’ll also gain a thorough understanding of social science research methods and gain independent research skills.