This innovative new MSc in Migration, Mobility and Development programme in the Department of Development Studies offers students the opportunity to combine study and analysis of critical perspectives on development and the increasingly important and related field of migration studies.

The MSc in Migration, Mobility and Development will focus attention on the political economy of migration from a historical perspective, major trends in migration theories, and different forms of and approaches to the study of migration and displacement.

The programme draws on the expertise of our staff in development, migration and forced migration contexts from the Development Studies department, and encourages inter-disciplinary dialogue with other relevant departments and centres within SOAS.

The programme’s 20-week core modules will focus on the migration–development nexus, broadly conceived and defined. It will also expose students to a range of interlocking theoretical approaches which set out to account for constructions of and responses to migration and migrants, as well as to the scope and scale of migratory processes.

Broadly, Term 1 provides analysis of the institutional, political, social and economic contexts where migration takes place and considers differentiated/mitigated effects. Term 2 builds on this to discuss types of migration via case study and other material, placing more emphasis on migrants’ perspectives and how these are mitigated by ‘contexts’.

Topics and themes include:

• Sedentarism and the study of migration
• Polities & economies of migration
• Colonialism
• Nations, states and territory
• Globalisation
• (Illegal) workers in the global economy
• Place and emplacement
• Assimilation/acculturation/discrimination
• Transnational migrants & mobile lives
• Trafficking
• Development and migration
• Diasporas and development
• Refugees and internally displaced persons
• Development-induced displacement
• Environment and refugees/displacement
• Climate change-related migration
• Policy responses to migration
• Transformations North and South

A degree from the Department of Development Studies at SOAS will further develop your understanding of the world and how society is organised, with specific focus on violence and conflict, the role of aid, refugees and forced migration. Graduates leave with a range of transferable skills, including critical thinking, analytical skills and cultural awareness.

Recent Department of Development Studies graduates have been hired by:

• Amnesty International
• BBC World Service
• British Embassy Brussels
• Department for International Development
• Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU)
• Embassy of Japan
• Government of Pakistan
• Hong Kong Economic & Trade Office
• International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
• International Labour Organization (ILO)
• KPMG LLP
• National Health and Medical Research Council
• Overseas Development Institute
• Oxfam
• Royal Norwegian Embassy
• Save the Children UK
• The World Bank
• Thinking Beyond Borders
• U.S. Department of State
• UN World Food Programme
• UN High Commissioner for Refugees
• WaterAid