The Earth is faced with unprecedented and interconnected environmental challenges. Complex problems ranging from biodiversity loss to climate change demand both critical thought and action in order to understand and to help us to live with a changing planet. Yet environmental issues are simultaneously political, technological and cultural, and produce profound inequalities in terms of wealth, prosperity, power and justice. This unique programme in Political Ecology offers the conceptual tools and practical skills to ask and respond to the difficult questions of human-environment relations, to confront and challenge the status quo through critical thought and debate, and crucially to help drive transformative action for a better and fairer world.
Who is this programme for?
Our MA in Political Ecology is designed for anyone seeking to address the environmental injustices and unequal power relations that are visible throughout the world today. We welcome anyone with a degree in social sciences, developmental studies, geography, or environmental sciences, as well of those with qualifications in other areas coupled with backgrounds in environmental policy, development work, NGOs, or similar.
Looking forward to employability
This Masters course aims to equip our graduates with the skills to think critically about society and how we tackle environmental and social issues, injustices, and inequalities. You will graduate from this course with the knowledge and confidence to critically engage in debates and in developing new initiatives related to fundamental topics and themes within political ecology. Your skills and knowledge will make you attractive to employers across the spectrum of politically conscious and action-oriented organisations.
You will also:
- Gain the critical and project management skills required to drive transformative action and change for the world’s most urgent and challenging environmental and developmental questions.
- Learn by exploring the city of Lancaster as a “living laboratory”, using it as a platform to critically examine local political ecology concerns such as the history of slavery and the mahogany trade.
- Undertake a dissertation project, either alongside one of our world-leading academics or one of our industry partners on a topic relevant to political ecology.
What to expect
We draw upon political ecology’s multi-dimensionality and emphasise the importance of interdisciplinary perspectives for understanding the different ways of analysing, debating and acting in response to diverse environment and development concerns, from local to global scales. You will undertake six core modules (including a dissertation), in addition to selecting from a range of specialised optional modules that allow you to tailor the course to your specific interests.
The MA in Political Ecology focuses on a range of themes including the politics of resource extraction, water, climate politics and the green economy. To do this, we believe passionately that true learning is about dialogue and critical reflection, and not just about lectures. We offer novel approaches to learning and teaching, engaging our students in creative classes that provide the necessary means to understand our complex planet of human-environment relations and how society might address and overcome some of the challenges of living on Earth.
