Masters Compare - Find your perfect masters course.
Masters Compare - Find your perfect masters course.
Study Details: MASc 1 year full-time/2 years part-time; PG Dip 9 months full-time/21 months part-time; PG Cert 9 months
This taught MASc in Community, Engagement, and Belonging is offered by the Liberal Arts Department in partnership with the Warwick Institute of EngagementLink opens in a new window. This unique, transdisciplinary course is designed to help students develop as future intellectual leaders, bringing together sites of knowledge creation (such as universities, think tanks, and industry) and global communities.
The core modules on this course focus on the value of building and enhancing partnerships with community organisations. They will help students to critically reflect on where, why, and how to bridge the gap between knowledge creation and communities, creating spaces for dialogue and innovation. Crucially, the core modules offer the methodological and theoretical grounding for in-depth research. This course also offers students the freedom to choose optional modules from across the University, enabling students to tailor the degree to suit their own intellectual passions, interests, and ambitions. In the Liberal Arts Department, we have extensive experience and resources in place to help students find modules from across the University that align with the issues of community engagement that matter to them most.
The MASc course culminates in an intensive project focused on the creation of original, evidence-based, interdisciplinary, and embedded knowledge; students can choose either a Research Dissertation or a Community-Based Learning Dissertation. This flexibility empowers students to develop a project most aligned to their intellectual interests and/or career goals. The Research Dissertation allows students to use interdisciplinary approaches to produce original knowledge in a topic or case study related to Community, Engagement, and/or Belonging from any period or area. The Community-Based Learning Dissertation focuses on critical engagement with embedded knowledge in the form of a community project, undertaken with a community partner. If students choose this option, they will also be supported by our dedicated Employability and Placement Manager and will have the opportunity to apply for an experienced mentor from the Warwick Institute of Engagement. In both the Research Dissertation and the Community-Based Learning Dissertation, students will have a dedicated dissertation supervisor assigned to them in the Liberal Arts department who will mentor them and help their project reach its full potential.
Graduates from this course will emerge as leaders in interdisciplinary community engagement. They will take their next steps with a deeper understanding and broader appreciation of the value of making a difference in local and regional communities.
2:1 undergraduate degree (or equivalent). Find out more about our requirementsLink opens in a new window.
We welcome students from different backgrounds and experiences, and particularly those with a strong interest in community engagement and studying across disciplines.
In certain circumstances, we will consider applicants with a lower second-class honours degree, or a normal degree (and their equivalents). This is particularly the case for applicants with relevant professional experience which can be explicitly and directly related to our curriculum.
For fees and funding options, please visit website to find out more
Graduates from this course will be well-equipped to take community engagement forward in a local, national, or global context. Your expertise in community engagement will allow you to access a wide variety of fields, including (but not limited to) Research, Community Development, Project Management, Data Intelligence, Policy Advisory, Humanitarian Aid, and Academia.
Our department’s Employability and Placement Manager has links with employers from the private, public, and third sectors, including Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), think tanks, social enterprises, and sustainability consultancies. These links will be useful for both the capstone project in Term Three and employment opportunities during and beyond the course.
Core modules
The core modules on this course will allow students to come to their own understanding of how we belong in our communities, how to conduct meaningful research around topics related to community engagement, and critically reflect on the duties and responsibilities that we all share both as creators of knowledge and members of overlapping communities. The civic focus of this degree will empower students to think in a rigorous, evidence-based, interdisciplinary manner to transform our complex world.
Term One
The Good Life: Flourishing and Belonging within Communities
Core module for MASc, PGDip, and PGCert students
What does it mean to live a ‘Good Life’? How can personal development improve our communities? Can we lead a meaningful life if we set aside our responsibilities to each other? These questions sit at the heart of a liberal education.
This two-term module will critically examine the concept of engaged citizenship within communities across time periods, cultures, and disciplinary perspectives. Using a combination of case studies, primary sources, and hands-on workshops, students will be trained to understand and navigate complex interdisciplinary questions. Assessments for this module will be dynamic and student-driven, providing an opportunity to apply theories, models of practice, and research skills from other core modules.
Creating Knowledge for Change: Foundations of Transdisciplinary Approaches
Core module for MASc and PGDip students
How can we use and combine different research methods for problem-solving and change-making? In this module, students will engage with the methodologies that underpin interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research. Covering quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods research, students will develop a core toolkit of research skills that they can apply to their future projects. An element of the assessment for this module will be to develop a mixed-methods research project plan, including application for ethical approval.
Theory and Practice for Community Engagement
Core module for MASc, PGCert, and PGDip students
This module is designed to help students understand how to build and enhance partnerships between organisations. Students will have opportunities to examine and understand the relationships between knowledge production organisations—such as universities, think tanks, or research and development bodies—and community-based organisations in a range of contexts, from the local to the global.
Term Two
The Good Life: Flourishing and Belonging within Communities
Core module for MASc, PGCert, and PGDip students
Continued from Term One (please see above).
Term Three
Core module for MASc students
Choose one of two intensive knowledge-creation projects, to suit your intellectual passions and career aspirations:
Research Dissertation
Liberal Arts staff will provide bespoke support and mentorship for students as they apply their skills and knowledge of interdisciplinary methodologies to original knowledge creation in the form of a transdisciplinary research project. The focus of the project can be on any area, time period, or case study that aligns with the themes of belonging, community engagement, and the dialogue between communities and sites of knowledge creation (broadly defined). Students will publicly present their work to a community of relevant stakeholders, embedding their own knowledge creation within a community context.
Community-Based Learning Dissertation
Liberal Arts staff will provide bespoke support and mentorship for students as they apply their skills and knowledge of interdisciplinary methodologies and public engagement to an embedded form of knowledge creation; the project will be undertaken with a community partner and students will produce a critical reflection on their work. The project will also be supported by our Employability and Placement Manager and students will have the opportunity to apply for an experienced mentor from the Warwick Institute of Engagement.
Optional modules
40 credits for MASc students, 40 credits for PGDip students
In Term Two, students will have the opportunity to explore a variety of optional modules both within the School for Cross-faculty Studies and across other departments. This flexibility will enable students to tailor their degree to their own intellectual passions, interests, and/or career goals. Staff in the Liberal Arts Department have extensive expertise in helping students choose the best optional modules to design a unique degree that suits their interests and students on this degree will benefit from such bespoke support throughout. Students who opt for the Community-Based Learning Dissertation will be encouraged to consider the Warwick Institute of Engagement’s postgraduate module on Public EngagementLink opens in a new window offered intensively or over Term 2Link opens in a new window as one of their optional modules (dependent on availability).
Example optional modules from across the University may include:
Please note, optional modules are subject to availability and offerings may change each year to keep students’ learning experience current and up to date. Students will also need to discuss their optional module choices with their personal tutor and receive approval from the Director of Graduate Studies in the Liberal Arts Department.
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