Date: Mon, 21 Jan 2002 22:24:09 -0500 (EST)
Subject: SPOON-ANN: MA in Critical Global Studies


 [Spoon-Announcements is a moderated list for distributing info of
 wide enough interest without cross-posting.  To unsub, send the message
 "unsubscribe spoon-announcements" to majordomo-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu]


From: Nathan Widder <n.e.widder-AT-ex.ac.uk>


MA in Critical Global Studies

University of Exeter (UK)

The MA in Critical Global Studies gives students the opportunity to
strategically analyse how contemporary global changes are creating new
forms of political and social activity and, consequently, new fields of
study in the social sciences and humanities, and how these new fields are
in turn redefining the nature of the social sciences and humanities as a
whole. Offered by the Politics Department and, more generally, the School
of Historical, Political, and Sociological Studies (SHiPSS), this
multidisciplinary programme provides a wide range of options that include
modules in Continental philosophy, gender politics, feminist political
theory, new social movements, racism, democratization, Middle East
politics, and new international relations theory. Students will be able
to take advantage of not only the wide range of expertise of staff
members in the Politics, Sociology, and History departments, but also the
activities of the School^Òs newly established Centre for Critical Global
Studies.

The rationale for this programme is that globalisation and the emerging
information age economy are effecting changes that require a paradigm
shift in the way we approach our understanding of and participation in
the world. These changes bring to the fore issues of power, meaning,
representation, identity, pluralism, and knowledge, and call for both
novel theoretical innovation and new empirical investigation. A central
aim of this programme is therefore to explore new ways to link together
theoretical research and empirical/practical research and work, asking
how practical work and research can bring about theoretical reflection
and, conversely, how theoretical work can be used to inform concrete
practices. In line with this concern, this programme will offer a scheme
to place students in internships during the summer. These internships
will not be for credit, but can form the basis of a student^Òs
dissertation that will be due at the end of the summer and will complete
the programme.

The MA in Critical Global Studies is designed to give maximum flexibility
to students, allowing them to develop their own path of study while still
maintaining strong links to the themes of the programme. Students will
also be able to shape the teaching on the programme collectively in
seminars that they will organise and run in the latter part of the
academic year. In addition to the wide range of options offered in
SHiPSS, there are offerings from other Schools, in particular the School
of English, that focus on critical theory and culture.

This programme will be of interest to anyone interested in issues and
approaches that are at the forefront of cutting edge work in the social
sciences and humanities. The MA in Critical Global Studies offers
students a rich and diverse experience at a university with a strong
reputation both inside of academia and out. The Politics Department of
Exeter is highly rated in both its teaching and its research and its
individual staff members are not only well grounded in their particular
areas of expertise but are also comparative and global in their outlook.
The department^Òs postgraduate student body is large and diverse. In
2000/1 the department had 93 students on research and taught programmes.
Recent students have come from various Middle East countries, Bulgaria,
the Ukraine, the U.S., Canada, Italy, Korea, Japan, China and Turkey. The
Department scored 23 out of 24 points in the recent QAA, indicating
excellence in teaching. All three departments of SHiPSS received a
ranking of 5 in the 2001 UK Research Assessment Exercise (RAE),
indicating levels of international excellence. On the basis of these RAE
results, SHiPSS has been ranked 5th in the United Kingdom for combined
research excellence in its three disciplines.

For further information and an application form, please contact:

Sue Jackson or Mary Guy, SHIPPS Graduate School,

University of Exeter, Exeter EX4 4RJ United Kingdom

Telephone: +44 (0)1392 263 165

Fax: +44 (0)1392 263 305

Email: SHIPSS-GradSchool-AT-exeter.ac.uk

Http://www.ex.ac.uk/shipss/school/ma/global.php