Geopolitics MA

The overall aim of the programme is to provide students with a systematic and comprehensive understanding of the multifaceted nature of contemporary geopolitical issues by developing the knowledge and skills necessary to engaging the intersections of space, power and politics. This is particularly important in relation to pursuing careers in all sectors of government, NGOs, regional and international organisations, media, and many other fields.

In particular the programme will:

• Provide advanced conceptual and analytic skills needed to engage the intersections of space, power and politics in a range of historic and contemporary issues.
• Encourage students to develop a critical and analytical approach to problems shaping environments, places and landscapes; to challenge accepted wisdom about the role of spatiality in relation to political power in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
• Enable students to engage with advanced research and analysis that registers the everyday and global geographies of power at work in a range of issues.
• Enhance students transferable and intellectual skills and employability skills through independent learning and the pursuit of originality in tackling and solving problems.

Contemporary issues require advanced analysis that recognises the intersections of space, power and politics. From security challenges to cultural practices or climate change; from the global to the everyday, the connections between politics and space are increasingly complex. The MA Geopolitics at QUB is an innovative interdisciplinary programme that seeks to build the knowledge and skills needed to engage these challenges.

Taught by academic experts in Human Geography, Politics and International Relations, this new MA enables students to engage the intersections of geography and politics as they relate to power, culture and global issues. The programme builds knowledge in both the theory and practice of contemporary geopolitics across a range of major political and global arenas, and from a variety of conceptual and theoretical perspectives. Students are able to combine a strong grounding in current debates and developments in international political geography with opportunities to specialise in a range of issues such as security, conflict, gender, popular culture and climate change. Students will develop the advanced conceptual and analytic skills needed to engage the intersections of space, power and politics in a range of historic and contemporary issues. We encourage students to develop a critical and analytical approach to problems shaping environments, places and landscapes; to challenge accepted wisdom about the role of spatiality in relation to political power in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Students may engage this through a focus on particular issues, or a broad range of engagements that register the everyday and global geographies of power at work in a range of issues.