MSc Gender and Social Justice
Introduction THIS NEW AND INNOVATIVE COURSE IS AIMED AT PEOPLE WORKING AND HOPING TO WORK IN THE VOLUNTARY, REPRESENTATIVE AND PUBLIC SECTOR; INCLUDING PROFESSIONALS AND VOLUNTEERS IN THESE SECTORS WHO WISH TO STRENGTHEN THEIR UNDERSTANDING OF SOCIAL JUSTICE AND ACTIVISTS IN COMMUNITIES AND CAMPAIGNING ORGANISATIONS.
Entry Requirements Normally a degree is required for entry to these programmes, although applications are encouraged from individuals without a degree but who have experience of professional or voluntary work or activism in gender justice, equal opportunities, violence against women or related social justice issues, and who are able to demonstrate their ability to study at postgraduate level with appropriate support.
Duration Full-time: 1 yearPart-time: 2 years
Outcomes MSc/ PgDip/ PgCert
Funding Information for International Students Visit the International section of the website
Course Fees Visit the Fees section of the website
Sources of Funding Visit the funding section of the website
Attendance/Location By attendance at QMU Many of the modules are delivered through whole-day blocks to enable access by students at a distance from Edinburgh or with work and caring commitments. There may be some flexibility in delivery of some modules on the basis of demand.
Description This course offers an opportunity to reflect on the theory and practice of gender issues in social justice, including the relationships between gender, sexuality and other structural causes of injustice. It will draw on the experience of participants, professionals and activists in the field as well as academic theory and research. Students will be expected to be involved, as active citizens, in feminist, gender related or social justice activities in order to relate theory to their practice and experience The programme has been developed in collaboration with Scottish Womens Aid and explores social justice from the practice and theory of various feminist and pro-feminist approaches. The curriculum has been put together by experienced activists, professionals and social movement organisations as well as university staff with relevant interdisciplinary expertise. .The quest for justice has been an enduring motivation for social scientists attempts to understand the social world. Claims for social justice emerge in multiple community-, workplace- and issue-based campaigns against poverty, violence against women, racism, homophobia and self advocacy movements of disabled people, older people and survivors of abuse. At a global level movements for social justice are seen in response to the policies of neo-liberalism, inequalities in access to resources and international migration. Social justice must be understood from the experiences and struggles of people who are subject to injustices and those who express solidarity. For that reason, this programme draws on the work of campaigning and social movement organisations in an educational process of reflection and critical dialogue. The gendered nature of social justice is central to developments in feminist practice and theory. Claims and practices of social justice have a gender dimension, whether as demands for distributional and recognition equality between women and men, how such practices are influenced by sexuality, or in the differential gendered impact of developments which enhance or detract from social justice. With its origins in the nineteenth century womens movement, Queen Margaret University has taken a longstanding interest in issues of gender and social justice. This course has been developed because practitioners and activists have expressed a need for serious academic reflection on their work, and the requirement for university academics to be accountable to movements for social justice. Students are encouraged to learn from their own experience of injustice, of implementing policy or campaigning for social justice. In addition to the opportunity for academic study, students will be equipped with methods for critical interrogation of theory in the light of their own collective practice.It is expected that the course will be of interest to students who are working or wish to work in the public and social sectors, trades unions, voluntary and campaigning organisations or social enterprises, in the UK or abroad.
Structure You will study a range of modules valued at 15 credits each which can be studied on a full-time or part-time basis. Four such modules constitutes a postgraduate certificate and eight modules constitutes a postgraduate diploma. For fulfilment of an MSc, you are required to study eight modules and complete a Masters level project, valued ay 60 credits.
Course Covers The following modules are offered in 2010-11. Whilst it is expected that most students will commence their studies in September 2010, it is possible to matriculate and start programmes in semester 2 in January 2011.Core modules:- Engaged Praxis*: provides an opportunity to practice and reflect critically on tools of participation and praxis.- Gender Justice: Concepts and Claims*: The key questions, historical development and articulation of gender justice- Researching Diversity: Reflection and evaluation of a range of epistemological, theoretical and methodological approaches in the analysis of social diversity.- Social Justice*: Theoretical resources from the social sciences for understanding social justice claims- Engendering Policies and Practice*: The relationships between gender and its reinforcement through sexuality within the development and implementation of policy- Gender, Health and Development: Provides a critical approach to gender and competency in gender sensitive planning and practice in health and social developmentPlus- 3 elective modules, which may be selected from the following - Poverty and Social Exclusion- Environmental Justice - Queer theory, gender and sexual politics- Social Movements and protest- Sustainable Development in theory and practiceor - Other relevant 15 credit modules offered by the university.Plus- Dissertation or project: An opportunity to conduct an empirical or theoretical piece of research, or a project connected to the students own activism or professional practice.NB students wishing to complete a postgraduate diploma in Gender and Social Justice are not required to complete a dissertation or project. Students wishing to complete a postgraduate certificate are required to complete only those modules marked with an asterisk.
Teaching and Assessment This MSc will draw on the philosophy and methods of popular education and critical pedagogy in order to integrate theory and practice in curriculum, assessment and practical implications. This involves group work, participatory education, reflection on practice and independent and collective learning. The student and staff group will comprise a mixture of committed graduates and experienced practitioners who will learn from one another as well as the resources of the university. Teaching may include site visits and invited speakers from social justice campaigners. Students are invited to study, not as dispassionate observers but as engaged citizens, social activists and movement participants in other words, practitioners in social justice. Assessment methods are designed to be relevant to students context and include strategy reports, projects, group presentations and critical essays.
Careers This is a new course with a first presentation in September 2010 so no data are available on job progression. It is expected that the course will be of interest to students who are working or wish to work in the public and social sectors, trades unions, voluntary and campaigning organisations or social enterprises, in the UK or abroad.
Associate Student You can also register as an associate student to study single modules in areas of interest.
For more information, please contact Eurig Scandrett , +44 (0)131 474 0000 escandrett@qmu.ac.uk
Academic Disabled Student Co-ordinator Eurig Scandrett , +44 (0)131 474 0000 +44 (0)131 474 0000
Further contact Admissions, +44 (0)131 474 0000, admissions@qmu.ac.uk
further information:
Admissions 0131 474 0000 admissions@qmu.ac.uk
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