Political Economy MA

Overview

The Political Economy MA is a broad-based multidisciplinary course that will develop your critical understanding of the UK and global political and economic institutions. You will also acquire the theoretical and empirical skills necessary to engage with contemporary domestic and world affairs at an advanced level.

Course detail

The Political Economy MA is an innovative course designed to provide you with an understanding of the theory necessary to engage in the interdisciplinary analysis of political economy. The course will also equip you with essential research, analytical and critical thinking skills. The course is made up of optional and required modules. You must take modules totalling a minimum of 180 credits and a maximum of 210 credits to meet the requirements of the qualification, 60 credits will come from a dissertation of around 10,000 words. You will study Key Concepts in Contemporary Political Economy and in addition to completing a required 10,000-word dissertation, you will also choose further related modules to support your study interests.

Teaching and assessment

We will use a delivery method that will ensure students have a rich, exciting experience from the start. Face to face teaching will be complemented and supported with innovative technology so that students also experience elements of digital learning and assessment. We use lectures, seminars and group tutorials to deliver most of the modules on the course. You will also be expected to undertake a significant amount of independent study. The primary method of assessment for this course is a combination of written examinations and coursework. Assessment patterns will vary across modules, but examples of typical assessments for 15-credit modules would be a 3,000-word essay or a 2-hour unseen examination. The assessment of the dissertation module will be through a 1,000-word research proposal (10%) and a 10,000-word dissertation (90%).

Career prospects

Studying a degree with the Department of Political Economy equips students with certain skills required in the public and private sectors, and for work in civil organisations. A typical postgraduate student will gain strong theoretical and empirical skills for the analysis of complex economic and political phenomena. These skills are highly valued in fields such as finance, consultancy, law and the civil service.

An honours degree at 2:1 standard or above in political science/government, economics or any relevant social science. In order to meet the academic entry requirements for this programme you should have a minimum 2:1 undergraduate degree with a final mark of at least 60% or above in the UK marking scheme. If you are still studying you should be achieving an average of at least 60% or above in the UK marking scheme.