UCL DEPARTMENT OF GEOGRAPHY
MSc Global Migration
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MSc Global Migration


Overview |  Structure |  Staff |  Fees |  Apply  | Further Information

Overview

Migration Studies at UCL

MSc Global Migration Cover Image.jpgMigration in today’s globalised world stands at the heart of key national and international debates: over migrants’ and asylum seekers’ rights and citizenship, state security and border management, development in the global South, ageing populations in the West, the globalization of skilled labour markets and other issues.

UCL has internationally recognized expertise in the field of migration.  It has two established research units, the Migration Research Unit (MRU) within the Department of Geography, and the Centre for Research on Economic Analysis of Migration (CREAM) within the Department of Economics, plus the new Equiano Centre for the study of African diasporas. UCL researchers are actively engaged with debates on a broad range of migration topics, from the latest developments in domestic, European and international law, analyses of state and global migration regimes, intersections between migration, health and disease, explorations of identities and cultural change, to ethnographic, visual and literary representations of migration and displacement. Migration research at UCL has a strong international dimension, benefiting from extensive networks across Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas.

This new MSc programme is interdisciplinary in scope, and offers the best of migration teaching and dissertation supervision from across UCL Faculties.  The departments involved include: geography, anthropology, laws, economics, SSEES development planning, Institute of Child Health and others. This range makes the programme unique among migration studies programmes. MSc students will benefit from the consolidation of migration expertise across UCL through the new UCL Migration Network, a UCL Migration Symposia Series, departmental migration seminar series and a vibrant and expanding body of PhD students working in the field of migration.

The course combines policy and theoretical debates over migration. It is aimed at students who wish to work with migrants and asylum seekers in different parts of the world, who aspire to posts in UN, EU, national policy think-tanks, government research and policy departments, NGOs, community-based and grassroots organizations, and at students wishing to pursue doctorates in the interdisciplinary field of migration studies.

Aims

    1. to equip suitably qualified students with the advanced skills, methods, concepts and theories essential for the study of Global Migration in an interdisciplinary context at postgraduate level;
    2. to give students the opportunity to apply these advanced methods, concepts and theories in both general and more specialised contexts relating to the processes, policies and politics of migration;
    3. to introduce students to new and intellectually demanding areas of Global Migration;
    4. to foster and develop students’ ability to think critically;
    5. to foster students’ ability to carry out independent research.

Structure

Jain Temple, Potter's Bar, Hertfordshire, UKStudents take the following 2 core courses plus a further 6 options chosen from a wide range.

Core course 1: GEOGG200 Approaches to Global Migration: Interdisciplinary Perspectives

This core course introduces key theoretical concepts.  It provides an overview of the interdisciplinary field of migration studies, with lectures discussing:

  1. Migration flows and processes (including economic, demographic and ethnographic approaches)
  2. State policy, legal and institutional frameworks (including approaches to the law, policy and its evasion)
  3. Culture and identity (including approaches to integration, transnationalism and diaspora)


Core course 2: GEOGG201 Issues in Global Migration

This core course introduces topical issues in migration studies, of global scope. The course content is flexible to reflect shifting contemporary concerns.  It may include topics such as: remittances and diaspora engagement, home town associations, migration and sexual health, reproduction and fertility, trafficking and smuggling, detention and deportation, global care chains, religious transnationalism, debates over multiculturalism, integration and the representation of migrants, race and ethnicity. The range of topics will be chosen to reflect the interdisciplinary nature of the MSc programme, and will complement and extend the approaches course, allowing key concepts to be applied to issues of current controversy.


For further details on core modules including reading, click here.


Optional modules totalling 90 credit units to be taken from the following list 2011-12*

All 15 credits unless otherwise stated.

* titles and options may change

**these are 3/4 courses shared bu undergraduate and graduate students. Such courses may not make up more than 25% of the taught modules chosen.

Assessment

All taught modules (ie both core modules, and all but two options*) are assessed through a varied range of coursework tasks.  Assessment of the taught component of the course comprises 60% of the overall final degree. The research dissertation (of up to 15,000 words), submitted in mid September, counts for 40% of the overall assessment.

*The options: ‘economics of migration’ and ‘conflict, migration and human rights are the only 2 options to be assessed through exams.

Staff

Homefair, Hyde Park london, attracting Indians abroad to invest in homeland residential developments. (Picture by Pushpa Arabindoo)Programme staff are from the departments of: Geography, Anthropology, Economics, Laws, Development Planning Unit (DPU), School of Slavonic and Eastern European Studies (SSEES) Institute of Child Health, History, Spanish and Latin American Studies.

Image: Mosque in Senegal built through migrant remittances(Picture by Sara Randall)

Teaching staff include:

Fees

Fees for UK/EU students for 2012/13 are £7,750.  Fees for overseas students 2012/13 are £15,500. For further information on fees and costs, please click here. Full information on a variety of sources of funding for graduate study can be obtained via the UCL Admissions Scholarships homepage.

Funding Opportunities

UK/EU Students

Mosque in Senegal built through migrant remittances (Picture by Sara Randall)There are a number of funding schemes available to support you for the duration of the MSc.  Applicants are advised to explore funding opportunities as early as possible. This is a short ad general list of funding opportunities available to taught postgraduate students; for other opportunities you might like to visit http://www.postgraduatestudentships.co.uk/.

UCL information about tuition fees: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/prospective-students/graduate-study/fees-costs/tuition-fees

UCL Graduate School: http://www.grad.ucl.ac.uk/funds/

UCL Graduate Scholarships and Awards: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/prospective-students/graduate-study/fees-costs/funding/scholarships-awards

ESRC funding at UCL: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/prospective-students/scholarships/graduate/researchcouncils/esrc/ (includes the 1+3 scheme, but please contact JoAnn McGregor directly if you are applying for this: j.mcgregor@ucl.ac.uk)

UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office Chevening Programme

Offers approximately 1,000 scholarships to overseas students undertaking taught postgraduate study or research at a UK Higher Education Institution: http://www.chevening.com/

Commonwealth Scholarships and Fellowships Plan (CSFP)

Available to prospective postgraduate students from Commonwealth countries: http://www.cscuk.org.uk/

Ford Foundation International Fellowships Programme

For students from Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and Russia: http://www.fordfound.org/grants/fellowships/individuals

Marshall Scholarships - Marshall Commission

Taught postgraduate funding for US citizens: http://www.marshallscholarship.org/

Fulbright Traditional Postgraduate Student Awards

US-UK Fulbright Commission

Provides awards to US citizens to fund the first year of a masters or doctoral degree or to pursue research at an educational institution within the UK.

Thomas Wall Trust

For UK nationals only.  The Trustees support both full-time and part-time courses and will look favourable at part-time courses which allow the applicant to continue with paid employment to help meet the costs.

http://www.thomaswalltrust.org.uk/

The deadline for most of these awards is the start of March each year, though for some awards as much as 12 months notice is required. Please follow links for further details.

You are also strongly encouraged to contact your own Ministry of Education or Education Department, who will have details of most funding schemes and who will be able to advise you of your own government's conditions for studying abroad. You should also contact the nearest British Council office in your own country, who will have details of scholarship schemes and provide information and advice on educational programmes and living in the UK. If there is no British Council office, then contact the nearest British Embassy, High Commission or Consulate. There is additionally funding available from sources such as the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and the European Commission, whom you should contact directly. For further information on studying in the UK as an overseas student please contact the UCL International Office.

Apply

Congress of Zimbabwean Catholics, Birmingham (Picture by Dominic Pasura)The programme can be taken full-time over one year, or part-time over two years.

Entry requirements

Potential applicants are expected to have a first or upper-second class Honours degree in a relevant discipline from a UK university or an overseas qualification of an equivalent standard.

Funding

For funding details please visit www.ucl.ac.uk/scholarships

How to apply

To apply online, request a Graduate Application Pack or download the application materials from http://www.ucl.ac.uk/admission/graduate-study/application-admission/

Application for 2012-13 admission closes Friday August 3rd. We will not accept any applications after this date. Applicants who require a student visa should do their utmost to submit the programme application form before 31st July to ensure that there is enough time to process all the necessary paperwork.

For further information

Academic enquiries to: Dr JoAnn McGregor – j.mcgregor@ucl.ac.uk

Admissions enquiries to: Ms Fiona Mannion– f.mannion@ucl.ac.uk

A Geography Graduate Open Day is taking place on Wednesday 8th February.  For further information and to book a place please email linda.fuller@ucl.ac.uk

Further Information

MSc Global Migration Flier web_Page_1.jpg
A short brochure can be downloaded here.