Offered through the Centre for the Study of Migration and the Department of Politics, Queen Mary, University of London

The MSc in Migration applies various historical and methodological approaches to the study of the movement of people both to the contemporary world and to historic case studies. It focuses on the conceptual and critical frameworks of migration theory with particular reference to the interplay between the political, social and economic. It examines the implications of policy on migrants and migration and cultural change and stasis within the context of migration.

This programme aims to enable students to: identify the main approaches to the study of migration; equip students with a knowledge of key themes and issues in the movement of people over the past two centuries and to encourage students to develop a critical approach to theories of migration. On successfully completing the programme we would expect students to be able to: apply a range of theoretical and conceptual approaches to historical and contemporary case studies in migration; to demonstrate a critical understanding of the main theoretical approaches to the study of migration; to compare and contrast patterns of migration over time and space and to practically apply the knowledge and skills acquired during the study of migration.

A Cambridge graduate taking the course has said she finds it "exciting, varied, and stimulating", and it has made her think more deeply about why people migrate and the experiences they undergo. Following graduation, a student from Japan stated that the course had ‘enabled me to understand the issues relating to migration globally and regionally. The Masters in Migration has been an excellent academic experience’. A former undergraduate from Queen Mary who went on to take the course said simply that it was ‘the best thing I have done in my academic life’.

Programme content

The M.Sc in Migration is available for both full-time(one year) and part-time (over two years) students.

Full-time students will be required to take the two core courses in the autumn semester and two options in the spring semester plus the dissertation of 15,000 (minimum) – 20,000 (maximum) words to be handed in at the end of the summer. Part-time students will take one core course and one option in each year with the dissertation to be handed in at the end of the summer of their second year.

The core modules are:

• Typologies and Theories of Migration 1

This module explores in detail the various types of migrants and patterns of migration that have occurred over the past 200 years. It examines, discusses and contests historical and contemporary theories in migration. Local, national and international case-studies are presented as a means of illustrating the use of empirical and theoretical tools in the process of analysing the movement of people and in dealing with the issues that arise from both emigration and immigration.

• Research Methods for Migration

This module familiarises you with the diversity of research methods both required and available in the field of migration study. Using both field trips and college based teaching it demonstrates the means of acquiring data from secondary sources such as libraries, government and institutional records centres together with that available electronically. You are introduced to the diversity of methods of acquiring primary data including qualitative and quantitative methods.

Optional courses include:

• Typologies and Theories of Migration 2
• Migrants, Diasporas and Law 1
• Migrants, Diasporas and Law 2
• Housing, Health and Education in a Metropolitan Environment
• Comparative Immigration and Law
• Issues in Democratisation
• International Public Management
• Policy Analysis for the Developing World
• Implementation and Evaluation
• Case Studies in British Policy Making
• Globalisation and the International Political Economy of Development
• International Security: War and Peace in a Global Context
• Democracy in Plural Societies
• Nationalism, Democracy and Cosmopolitanism
• Visions of Capitalism

Options are also available from other masters degrees in the Politics Department including Public Policy and Global and Comparative Politics, as well as those run in the departments of Geography, History and Modern Languages. It should be noted that confirmed availability of optional modules is determined at the start of each academic year

Teaching and Research team

Dr. Jane Anderson – Senior Lecturer in HIV Medicine at Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry and Fellow of the Centre for the Study of Migration. She has published widely, her current research centring on the lives and healthcare experiences of African HIV positive women in London.

Bob Brett – was formerly Director of Housing for the London Borough of Tower Hamlets and is currently a consultant on housing issues.

Dr. Peter Catterall – Lecturer in History and Politics at Queen Mary, University of London. He has published widely, his latest publication being Vol. 1 of the Macmillan Diaries.

Dr. Kevan Collins – National Director of Primary Education and visiting professor to the University of Princeton, previously teacher, head master and government advisor.

Professor Todd Endelman – Professor of History at the University of Michigan and Visiting Professor to the Centre for the Study of Migration. His research interests include the Jewish Diaspora with particular focus on Jewish immigrants and settlers in Britain from the seventeenth to twenty-first centuries.

Dr. Adam Fagan – Senior Lecturer in the Department of Politics, at Queen Mary, University of London. He is a specialist on Czech politics and has recently published "Environment and Democracy in the Czech Republic" (Elgar 2004).

Cathy Gardner – Completing a Ph.D at Queen Mary, University of London. She is an executive officer at the Immigration and Nationality Department of the Home Office.

Professor Peter Hennessy – is Attlee Professor of Contemporary British History at Queen Mary, University of London and a Fellow of the British Academy. He is a leading commentator on government and is author of a number of highly commended books including, The Prime Minister; Cabinet; Whitehall; The Secret State.

Michael Keating – was Lead Member of Education at the London Borough of Tower Hamlets for eight years and is currently Head of Research and Scrutiny at the London Borough of Tower Hamlets Council.

Dr. Anne Kershen – is Programme Director, Barnett Shine Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Politics and Director of the Centre for the Study of Migration, her latest publication is Strangers, Aliens and Asians: Huguenots, Jews and Bangladeshis in Spitalfields 1660-2000, which was published by Routledge in 2005. In addition her publications Food in the Migrant Experience (2002), Language Labour and Migration (2000), A Question of Identity (1998), London the Promised Land?(1997) ,Uniting the Tailors (1995).

Dr. Shompa Lahiri – is Harry Weinrebe Research Fellow at the Centre for the Study of Migration. She has published widely her most recent book being, Indians in Britain: Anglo Indian Encounters, Race and Identity, 1880-1930. Her current research continues to explore the relationship between Empire, race and the colonial 'other' within the British metropolis.

Professor Philip Ogden – Professor of Geography and Vice-Prinicipal of Queen Mary, University of London. He is an expert in the field of migration with particular emphasis on post-war labour migration from the Caribbean to France. He has published widely his books including Migration and Geographical Change and Migrants in Modern France.

Bill Schwartz – Reader in the Department of English and Drama. Bill Schwarz's research concentrates on the relations between twentieth-century British culture and empire/decolonization. In this he is particularly interested in the links between Britain and the Caribbean , especially as this is evident in writers such as C. L. R. James and George Lamming. Most recently he has edited West Indian Intellectuals in Britain (2003) and The Locations of George Lamming (2006).

Dr. Prakash Shah – is a lecturer in the School of Law and Queen Mary, University of London. His teaching and research interests centre on immigration, nationality and asylum and ethnic minorities and the law. His publications include Refugees, Race and the Legal Concept of Asylum in Britain, Tolley's Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Law, plus a number of journal articles. He is chief examiner in Immigration Law for the Institute of Legal Executives.

Dr. Laura Vaughan – is a Senior Lecturer in Urban and Suburban Settlement Patterns and is a member of UCL's Space research group. She has expertise in the application of space syntax - a theory of societies and spatial systems - to a variety of urban topics, including immigrant settlement patterns, poverty areas and the spatial form of sustainable suburban town centres.

Dr. Veronica White – is a specialist registrar in Respiratory Medicine at Barts and The London NHS Trust. Her special interest is tuberculosis and the cultural issues surrounding TB in the Bangladeshi community of East London.

Entry requirements

A minimum of an upper-second class honours degree in Politics or a related discipline. International students should contact the course organiser about the suitability of their qualifications.

Further information

Dr. Anne J Kershen
Tel: 020 7882 8589 (direct) 020 7882 8587 (office)

To apply, please visit the College website [new window]