On this cutting-edge course, we specialise in giving our students an advanced and comprehensive understanding of the relationship between conflict, displacement and human insecurity.

We will help you to develop the skills and understanding to prepare for employment in the fields of conflict management and resolution, humanitarian assistance and development, human rights and social justice.

The key aspects of your learning will be the focus on conflict and displacement. We value a people-centred approach and an emphasis on human security which combines both human rights and human development.

The course approaches development as an important security strategy and considers displacement a measure of human security. We will encourage you to adopt an independent critical approach to contemporary theories of conflict, human rights and human security.

You will work with academics involved in the latest research and have access to wide-ranging expertise in our research centres, covering human rights in conflict, social justice and change, migration, refugees and belonging and gender research.

In addition to lectures and seminars, you will benefit from access to workshops and conferences organised by the Centre on Human Rights in Conflict, the Centre for Social Justice and Change, the Centre for Migration, Refugees and Belonging, the Feminist Research Group and other UEL-wide groups.

This means you have the opportunity to link up with key researchers in the area and gain an insight into the latest thinking on critical issues. You will also benefit from access to the Refugee Archive at UEL, which is one of the largest collections of materials on refugees and forced migration.

The archive contains materials on refugees in all parts of the world, with special emphasis on the UK. For more than 30 years it was housed at the Refugee Council - the lead organisation in Britain on refugee issues.

As an optional extra, you may also be involved in internships with local and international organisations and agencies working in the fields of displacement, conflict, conflict resolution, human rights, humanitarian assistance and development, as well as take part in civic engagement projects at UEL.

Our academic staff are actively involved in some of the key international research and are therefore well connected with major bodies such as UNICEF as well as government departments and NGOs.

Who will teach on this course

Dr Giorgia Dona is is Professor of Forced Migration and co-director of the Centre for Migration, Refugees and Belonging. For more than three decades she has worked as a researcher and practitioner with forced migrants in Central and North America, Eastern Africa, and Europe. Her research focuses on ethnic conflicts, global refugee movements, child and youth migration, psycho-social interventions, culture and wellbeing, and digital forced migration.

Dr Afaf Jabiri is Senior Lecturer of Refugee Studies and Development and the Programme Leader for MA Refugee Studies and MA Conflict, Displacement and Human Security. Her research has always been linked through analyses of gender norms and relations, geopolitics, refugees’ rights and exclusions, nationalism, law and political economy. She has been particularly interested in exploring the history and state politics in the making of contemporary gendered and racialised citizens and subjects. For the last 20 years, Dr Jabiri has been advocating for gender equality, law, and policy reform in the Middle East. She has also served as a gender advisor for UN agencies and INGOs in Jordan, Libya, Tunisia, Iraq, Yemen and Syria.

The teaching team includes qualified academics, practitioners and industry experts as guest speakers. Full details of the academics will be provided in the student handbook and module guides.

This course will help you to develop important skills for a key role in the area of conflict, displacement and human security.

By the time you complete it, you should have acquired advanced critical and evaluative abilities, research management skills, the ability to design and deliver substantial written reports and social research projects, and high levels of competence in library and bibliographical research.

You will also have gained skills in data collection and analysis. You will have enhanced abilities in verbal presentation, familiarity with means of dissemination and mobilising research findings, and an advanced ability to collaborate in research groups and teams.

The course provides an inter-disciplinary approach to the study of the conflict, generalised violence and social inequality in contemporary global contexts. It examines the complexities of global, regional and local structures, and the relationships to the changing character of conflict.

Your studies will focus on four core modules: Conflict, Displacement and Human Security, Research Methods, Policy and Practice of Humanitarianism and Independent applied research/Dissertation and two specialist option modules in the area of social, cultural, political, legal and psychosocial aspects of refugee studies and community development. This will prepare you to begin a dissertation during the summer term for submission in September.

Our course is specifically aimed at giving you the skills, knowledge and understanding for a career in the fields of conflict management and resolution, humanitarian assistance and displacement, human rights and development initiatives.

You will develop the critical thinking skills and flexibility for a role in an NGO or in a government department or agency, both in developing and developed countries.

The course will also develop your skills for further academic research in conflict, displacement, development and human rights fields, as well as in associated areas of social and political theory.

We will encourage you to develop relationships with local and international organisations and agencies through internships. Our academic staff also work closely with major players in the area.