MLitt Terrorism Studies And Political Violence

A 2:1 Honours degree in political science, international relations, social sciences or other relevant disciplines. If you studied your first degree outside the UK, see the international entry requirements.

The qualifications listed are indicative minimum requirements for entry. Some academic Schools will ask applicants to achieve significantly higher marks than the minimum. Obtaining the listed entry requirements will not guarantee you a place, as the University considers all aspects of every application including, where applicable, the writing sample, personal statement, and supporting documents.

Application requirements

• CV
• personal statement indicating your knowledge of the programme and how it will benefit you (1,000 words)
• sample of your own, single-authored previous academic written work or a piece on 'The threat of terrorism is greatly exaggerated. Discuss.' (2,000 words) 
• two original signed academic or professional references 
  academic transcripts and degree certificates

For fees and funding options, please visit website to find out more

Students who graduate from the MLitt in Terrorism and Political Violence go on to work in various professional fields including: 

• law 
• policy research and consultancy 
• non-governmental organisations 
• charities 
• international organisations 
• civil service 
• journalism
• publishing

The Careers Centre offers one-to-one advice to all students as well as a programme of events to assist students in building their employability skills.

Compulsory

Students must take the following compulsory module: 

• Research Methods: presents appropriate research methods to enable students to critically understand the literature on terrorism and political violence, and to lay the foundations to enable students to engage in further independent research. 
  You must also choose one compulsory module from the following: 
• Fundamental Issues and Structures of Terrorism: introduces the core conceptual issues of terrorism and political violence. 
  Terrorism after 1945: provides an overview of the evolution, characteristics, and decline of terrorist movements and campaigns since 1945. 

Optional

Students choose two optional modules, with the following four created specifically for the MLitt Terrorism and Political Violence: 

• Counter-Extremism: Ethics, Policy and Practice: explores the most appropriate response to extremism through collaborative enquiry and direct engagement with policymakers and practitioners. The roles of education, civil society efforts to counter extremist speech, deradicalisation initiatives, victims, communities, and companies are explored. 
• Nationalism and Ethnic Conflict: familiarises students with different approaches that seek to explain how ethnicity and nationhood are created and maintained, how different forms of ethnic conflict and ethnic violence come about, and the possible mechanisms to contain nationalism and ethnic conflict.
• State Responses to Terrorism: takes a holistic look at state responses to terrorism and political violence; students study the work of scholars from right across the social sciences and humanities who have sought to understand and explain aspects of state responses to terrorism. 
• Terrorism and Liberal Democracy: addresses conceptual and definitional issues concerning terrorism; the relationship of terrorism to other forms of political violence; the origins, dynamics, and development of contemporary terrorism; the efficacy of terrorism as a political weapon; the dilemmas and challenges of liberal democratic state responses to terrorism; and case studies in terrorism and counter-terrorism.

Optional modules are subject to change each year and require a minimum number of participants to be offered. Some modules may only allow limited numbers of students (see the University's position on curriculum development).