Overview

Convenor: Chris Rootes
Email: C.A.Rootes@kent.ac.uk

 

The Environmental Social Science programme seeks to provide students with an

understanding of the perspectives and contributions of social science to the understanding, interpretation and resolution of environmental issues. It draws upon expertise from several departments in the Social Science Faculty, and the contributions of teachers who are internationally acknowledged to be leaders in their special fields, to provide a broad multi-disciplinary perspective accessible to students from a wide range of academic backgrounds.

The MSc degree aims to develop your knowledge and understanding of environmental issues from a social science perspective. It also provides an introduction to social science research methods. It is suitable if you want to work in any of several areas relevant to the environment, whether in research, policy or professional practice. A number of past students have found that the course gave them the knowledge and the confidence to make successful changes of career. The MSc programme is also a good preparation for further academic research on environmental topics.

The programme draws students with a wide variety of previous experience. Past students have had first degrees in disciplines as varied as anthropology, biology, chemistry, economics, business management, environmental sciences, history, journalism, law, political science, and sociology, and all have successfully mastered the course material. As is the case with most programmes at Kent , the student intake is generally cosmopolitan. Students have come from countries as diverse as Belgium, Bulgaria, Chile, Cyprus , Germany , Greece , India , Indonesia, Ireland, Japan, Korea, Nigeria, South Africa, Slovenia, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand, Trinidad, Turkey and the USA , as well as the UK . They have gone on to pursue careers in a variety of fields, most notably research, environmental law, teaching, community development, environmental education, advocacy and work for environmental NGOs in various parts of the world.

 

The programme

This degree is assessed by coursework and dissertation and takes one year (full-time) or two years (part-time). It is designed to help you develop your interest in environmental issues by following systematic courses, but it also provides you with the opportunity to write a 12-15,000 word dissertation on a relevant topic of your choice.

You will take a total of six one-term taught modules:

• Two compulsory modules:
  • Social science perspectives on environmental issues, and
  • Design, Philosophy and Ethics of Social Enquiry
• Four modules from a wide range of options including:
  • Environmental Anthropology
  • Environmental Politics;
  • Ethnobiological Knowledge Systems;
  • Tourism and Conservation;
  • Urban Sociology; Risk and Society;
  • Social Change and Political Order;
  • Environmental Law;

The dissertation gives you the opportunity to make a more specialized study of a particular topic of special interest to you, and first hand research is encouraged. Students who reach a pass standard in the coursework modules and who do not wish to write a dissertation may be awarded the Postgraduate Diploma.

Assessment
The programme is assessed by coursework and the dissertation.

Entry requirements

A good honours degree in a relevant subject. Applicants with equivalent vocational qualifications and/or relevant work experience will be considered individually.

The University requires all non-native speakers of English to produce evidence of proficiency in written and spoken English. We require a minimum score in one of the following:

• 6.5 in International English Language Test (IELTS)
• 600 in paper-based or 250 computer-based Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL)
• 'B' in the Cambridge Certificate of Proficiency in English
• 'A' in the Cambridge Advanced Certificate in English