Msc in Environmental Social Science by Coursework and Dissertation

UNIVERSITY OF KENT

Programme Specification

1. Award and title

MSc in Environmental Social Science by coursework and dissertation.

2. Length and mode

12 months full-time, 24 months part-time.

3. Entry requirements

A good first degree (normally with first or upper second class honours) in a relevant subject from a UK or reputable foreign university. Holders of other, particularly foreign, academic qualifications will be considered individually in order to determine that students admitted to the programme possess levels of ability and prior preparation to those which are expected of UK graduates. Applicants with equivalent vocational qualifications and/or relevant work experience will be considered individually.

4. Proposed annual intake

1999/2000: 8 students, rising to 15 students by 2001/2.

5. Responsibility for programme management

Administrative responsibility for the programme will, in the first instance, be assumed by the Department of Social and Public Policy.

6. Proposed start date

October 1999.

7. Evidence of Opportunity and need

The success of the existing specialist postgraduate programmes in Environmental Anthropology, Environmental Law, and DICE suggests that there may be yet untapped demand, not least from overseas students, for a broader programme in environmental social science which might give students with a substantive interest in environmental issues but a narrow disciplinary background the opportunity to broaden their understanding of social scientific perspectives upon the environment and to acquire familiarity with the methods and procedures of social scientific inquiry, either as a preparation for a research degree or for employment. The establishment of similar programmes in other universities which lack either the concentration of research activity in this area which exists at UKC or UKC’s advantages in terms of location also suggest that there is opportunity and need for such a programme. A short announcement in the 1998 postgraduate prospectus has elicited a substantial number of inquiries from UK, European and overseas students.

Teaching and research in environmental studies are areas to which the University is committed in the University Plan. An outline of the present proposal has been considered by the Environmental Task Force and has its unanimous support.

8. Students capabilities on successful programme completion (current HEFCE ‘aims and objectives’)

The programme aims to

• introduce students to the differing perspectives upon environmental issues of the various social science disciplines;
• to develop students’ knowledge and understanding of environmental issues from a social science perspective;
• to acquaint students with the methods and procedures of social scientific investigation;
• to give students a practical introduction to research design so as to enable them to conceive and execute a social scientific research project on an environmental topic, whether as part of further academic work or in the course of non-academic employment with any of a variety of public agencies and private corporations.

The objectives of the programme are to give students:

• an understanding of the theoretical problems of social scientific inquiry and their relationship to research on environmental issues;
• basic grounding in the procedures (quantitative and qualitative) used to investigate a wide range of practical and substantive environmental issues;
• skill in practical research-related tasks;
• the opportunity to develop transferable employment-related skills through group work, presentations and the use of information technologies;
• socialization into the research community through close working relationships between staff and students;
• a capacity to undertake independent research.

9. Curriculum content and organisation (see also Annexe 1)

i) Curriculum content

The curriculum comprises:

• an introductory compulsory core module which aims to introduce students to the variety of social science perspectives upon the environment and to give them a practical introduction to the range of options available;
• a range of more specialist modules dealing with environmental issues from the perspectives of one (or sometimes) two social science disciplines;
• two compulsory methodology modules designed to introduce students to a range of issues in the collection and interpretation of social scientific data and to offer an introduction to the design and conduct of a research project;
• a compulsory dissertation, on a topic chosen by the student, is intended to have a research element and to contain significantly more detail and sustained argument than coursework essays.

ii) Organisation of curriculum.

All students will be required to take six modules of equal weight (comprising one compulsory core module, two approved methodology modules, and three option modules) and to write a 15,000 word dissertation.

Full-time students will take three modules in each of the Michaelmas and Lent Terms.

Part-time students will take two modules in each of the Michaelmas and Lent Terms of the first year of registration, and, in the second year of registration, two further modules, either two in the Michaelmas Term or one in each of the Michaelmas and Lent Terms.

10. How teaching and learning will contribute to students’ skills and achievement

Teaching will be based upon a pattern of participatory learning, chiefly through seminars and practical sessions, supplemented by lectures where considered necessary and appropriate. Students will be required to participate in seminars offered as part of the compulsory modules and the option modules they choose. In cases where the number of students electing to take a particular module is too small to sustain a seminar, teaching will be by means of individual or small group supervision. Students will be encouraged actively to participate by making presentations based upon their interests, prior experience and reading. This they will be encouraged to do throughout the course, but particularly in the practical sessions conducted as part of the Lent Term methods and procedures module, and at the research seminars which will be held during the summer term.

11. How assessments and examinations will contribute to students’ learning and to testing their achievement

Each module will be examined by means of a 4–5,000 word essay, with the exception of Introduction to Environmental Economics where assessment will be by two 2,500 word essays and an exercise.

Students will be required to submit coursework essays not later than the first week of the term following that in which they have taken the module in question.

Negotiation of the topic for the dissertation, as well as preliminary reading and supervision, will take place not later than the Trinity Term and the dissertation will be due for submission on 30 September in the final year of the course.

Each coursework essay and the dissertation will be marked by two internal examiners and submitted for confirmation by an external examiner appointed in accordance with the University’s established practices and procedures. Students will be expected to choose essay topics in consultation with their teachers and will be encouraged to seek feedback on outlines and drafts before formal submission. After submission and as soon as possible after the examiners have reached their decision, feedback on coursework essays will be given informally by the student’s supervisor. Dissertation supervisors will offer students advice and comments on outlines and drafts of their dissertation.

12. Intended use of departmental and central learning resources and their role in students’ achievement

The programme consists in large part of modules already offered as part of other specialist taught Masters programmes, while other modules are, in the main, developed out of existing teaching interests at Part II level.Library holdings in this area are relatively good. Apart from the proposed new introductory core module, the only proposed module which is entirely new in the sense that it is not largely based on or developed out of an existing module / modules is The Politics and Sociology of the Environment. However, this is an area of established research activity and topics within the proposed module are already taught as part of other undergraduate and postgraduate modules with the result that the additional new demands this module will make upon resources are minimal and have been allowed for in the Department of Sociology’s forward planning.

The programme will make no special demands upon computing and IT resources. It is expected that most students will undertake no more than basic wordprocessing, use of the internet and other information sources already provided.

13. Involvement of student support and guidance, including central support services

Each student will be assigned a personal supervisor who will be the first line of support and guidance and who will be expected to give general advice of an academic and pastoral kind, and who will normally be an examiner of each of the student’s pieces of coursework and the dissertation. In the event of difficulty, student or supervisor will be expected to seek the advice of the Director of Studies.

14. Departmental quality assurance and enhancement

There will be compliance with the University Code of Practice and Faculty Code of Practice in relation to the monitoring of student progress, with responsibility for the programme falling to the Director of Graduate Studies for the Department administering the programme (or the Head of the Department if the Director of Graduate Studies is the supervisor). Quality assurance of individual modules will be the responsibility of the contributing Department.

15. Resource implications

The programme will incur costs in the form of staff time required to teach the new or revised modules which will be introduced, the additional demand generated for existing modules, and the burdens of administering the programme (recruitment, record-keeping, examining). However, because much of the programme incorporates modules already offered as part of other specialist taught Masters programmes, while other modules are, in the main, developed out of existing teaching interests at Part II level, the net resource implications are relatively modest and should, on the basis of the projected level of intake, by the second year of operation be more than offset by the additional income generated by the fees of the students recruited. Beyond the modest implications for library spending mentioned in 12. above, there are no significant additional resource implications.

In order to ensure an equitable distribution of costs and benefits between contributing and administering Departments, an agreement apportioning credits and costs will be concluded by the participating Departments.

16. The programme’s reflection of the requirements of accrediting or professional bodies

Not applicable.

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