Geography Taught Masters

MA Risk, Security & Politics

Our postgraduate courses share an interdisciplinary foundation in risk and vulnerability. Our different degree programmes deepen students’ understanding of the risks emerging from anthropogenic climate change, hazards and political responses to disruption.

The MA in Risk, Security and Politics explores the concepts of risk and resilience by focusing on their political resonance and revealing how risk can be used as a political tool to govern societies across the globe. It also examines the ways in which uncertainty contributes to the make-up of contemporary society.

This interdisciplinary course is an ideal choice if you have a social science or geography background, and it is equally accessible to those who previously studied in the arts and humanities. It develops the essential skills and knowledge needed to make a critical analysis of risk as a tool of government in tackling a range of global challenges from climate change, displacement and disasters to geopolitics, security and terrorism.

MA in Risk, Security and Politics Course Structure

This pathway is aimed at students interested in security-related risk, offering advanced skills in the critical analysis of issues such as risk and migration, risk within geo-politics, security and terrorism. The pathway critically unpacks ideas of risk and resilience, pointing to their political implications. It evaluates the ways by which uncertainty plays a key role in the contemporary making of society, and uncovers  risk not simply as a matter of management and governance but also as a political technique through which populations are governed.

The pathway is available to MA students. Its  main module is ‘Social Dimensions of Risk and Resilience’, alongside a range of modules in the fields of international relations and social policy.

Core modules:

• Social Dimensions of Risk & Resilience
• Understanding Risk
• Risk Frontiers
• Research or Vocational Dissertation Project
• Research Methods for Global Challenges

and one elective module:

• Social Policy (Department of Sociology)
• Debating the European Union (School of Government & International Affairs)
• International Politics of the Middle East (School of Government & International Affairs)
• Politics of East Asia (School of Government & International Affairs)

What our students say: Rebecca Tyrrell, MA in Risk

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