Development and Human Rights, MA

Apply legal theory and specialist research to critical global issues

Students outside Parliament

Course Overview

The MA in Development and Human Rights combines insights from the fields of development studies, politics, and international law.

You will examine critical global issues facing the 21st century societies through a dynamic course that combines theoretical and applied perspectives.

Taught by leading experts, you will apply legal theory, political insights and specialist research and planning tools in the analysis of the interface between human development and human rights in international public policy, including aid policy.

Why Development and Human Rights at Swansea?

Swansea University’s MA Development and Human Rights programme is a relatively unique and distinctive programme that differs from conventional LLM Human Rights programmes, especially in its interdisciplinary nature and its commitment to both academic and professional training.

Based on our stunning Singleton Park campus, in parkland overlooking Swansea Bay on the edge of the Gower Peninsula, we have the expertise and full range of modern facilities to ensure your learning experience is positive. 

Your Development and Human Rights Experience

You will complete six 20-credit modules in Part 1 of the programme before completing a 60-credit dissertation project in Part 2.

Four of the six modules are compulsory:

  • International Human Rights Law;
  • Rights-Based Approaches to Development;
  • Human Rights and Humanitarian Intervention;
  • Conceptual Issues in the Social Sciences;

You will also complete two additional modules from a range of options. These include: Violence, Conflict and Development; Civil Society and International Development; Introduction to Development Studies; Tools for International Development Planning; Critical Security Studies; Post-Colonialism, Orientalism and Eurocentrism; the State of Africa; International Security in the Asia-Pacific; and Gender, Society and Politics in the Middle-East and North Africa.

Development and Human Rights Employment Opportunities

The course will provide you with a thorough grounding in the interface between human rights and human development in international public policy and in international law. In addition, you will develop your critical analytical skills and specialists skills in planning tools used in professional practice.

Graduates from this course are well placed to enter professional employment, working with foreign or aid ministries, in national public sectors, or with other humanitarian organisations, including inter-governmental and non-governmental organisations.

Modules

You study a number of 20-credit development and human rights modules before taking a 60-credit dissertation project of your choosing in the second part of the course.

Modules include human rights law, conceptual issues of social sciences, and rights-based approaches to development.