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

The M.Res in Migration is primarily, but not solely, intended for students wishing to gain research training in preparation for a postgraduate research degree – M.Phil/Ph.D - in a migration related subject. The research training element of the programme, which runs over two semesters, meets ESRC requirements and provides an exacting training. In addition the core course introduces students to the broad range of theories and debates that are at the heart of migration studies. From the list of options available the student will be able to develop a specific migration related interest which may be of a theoretical, political, empirical or historical nature.

At the completion of the programme we expect students to demonstrate an ability to collate, analyse and report on migration data at Ph.D level and beyond, or to apply their skills in a demanding vocational environment. We would also expect the successful graduate to have developed critical and analytical approaches to migration and research and to identify the main theoretical and empirical issues in the study of migration.

Programme content

The MRes 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 one option 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 module is

• 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.

• Qualitative and Quantitative Research Methods

This module seeks to provide you with advanced research skills, including the ability to select and use relevant resources effectively and to devise research questions appropriate for postgraduate research. You will develop the capacity to undertake independent guided research at postgraduate level and to use advanced quantitative skills appropriate for postgraduate research. Further, you will be able to analyse, interpret and replicate published research using quantitative research methods and will acquire sufficient technical competence in using SPSS to perform a range of quantitative techniques in your own research.

Optional modules 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 Nationality 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 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 – lectures at the Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London, her research interests lie in the spatialisation of immigrant settlement and the phenomena of minority spatial, social, economic and cultural segregation. She is currently heading an ESCRC funded research project into re-evaluating Booths Poverty Maps of London.

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 8600 (office)

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