Refugee and Forced Migration Studies MSc

University of Oxford

This nine-month master’s degree places forced migration in an academic framework, preparing you for doctoral study or for work relevant to human rights, refugees, and migration. It offers an intellectually demanding, interdisciplinary route to understanding forced migration in contexts of conflict, repression, natural disasters, environmental change and development.

Course objectives

The course offers students an understanding of the complex and varied nature of forced migration and refugee populations, of their centrality to global, regional and national processes of political, social and economic change, and of the needs and aspirations of forcibly displaced people themselves. It also helps students develop a broad understanding of academic research related to forced migration and refugees, as well as critical thinking and sound evaluative tools.

You will gain the ability to plan, organise and carry out research into aspects of forced migration and refugee studies, as well as the skills necessary to convey theoretical knowledge of forced migration to a variety of different audiences.

Course structure

In the first and second terms you will follow core courses that introduce the subject of forced migration from a range of disciplinary perspectives, including anthropological, political and legal perspectives. There is also a two-term course dedicated to research methods relevant to the study of forced migration.

In the second term you will choose two options courses from a list which changes from year to year, but which usually includes a course on advanced International Human Rights and Refugee Law, and courses furthering regional specialisation.

In the third term, you will write a thesis. This is typically a desk-based study, since there is little time to undertake individual fieldwork within the nine months of the course. Although you may attend other options courses, you will only be examined on the core courses, your two chosen option courses and the thesis.

Teaching and learning

Teaching takes place in small classes, usually from 5 to 25 students, including regular one-to-one supervisions. This emphasis on small group teaching helps encourage active participation, enabling students to learn from each other as well as from department’s teaching staff, who are all leading experts in the field of forced migration, drawn from a range of disciplines typically including anthropology, geography, international law, history and politics, international relations, sociology and development studies. Teaching styles vary, including lectures, workshops, individual and group tutorials, seminars and student presentations. You will be expected to prepare for class by reading a selection of recommended books, book chapters and articles and by preparing formative essays and presentations. There will be around two hours of formal teaching each weekday during term time, with informal group work and self-directed study expected to take up an additional six hours each day.