Master of Science by Coursework in Refugee and Forced Migration Studies
Differences from 2019/20 to 2023/24
1. The course shall be under the supervision of the Refugee and Forced Migration Studies Teaching Committee of the Department of International Development.
12. Candidates must follow a course of instruction in Refugee and Forced Migration Studies for at least three terms full-time and will be expected to attend such lectures and seminars as their supervisor/courseCoursedirectorDirector shall recommend.-
23.EveryEach candidate will be required to satisfy the examiners inthree writtenfour papers,an individuala research design essay,and a thesisas follows:. Papers I-II
4. Each candidate will be required to satisfy the examiners in two core papers:
Paper I: International Legal and Ethical
frameworksFrameworksInternational legal and ethical frameworks in relation to refugees and displaced persons. International and domestic application of individual and group rights to displaced persons and refugees. Activities and involvement of the relevant international organs, governments, and intergovernmental and non-governmental organisations relevant to forced migration. Concepts of migration and intervention and their justifications. Ethical issues raised by migration.Paper II: Political and Anthropological
frameworksFrameworksTheories5. Each core paper will be assessed by a written examination in early Trinity term.Papers III-IV: Two elective courses
6. Each candidate will be required to choose two elective courses, with at least one from the Refugee and Forced Migration Studies pool, and the second from either the Refugee and Forced Migration Studies pool, the Migration Studies pool, or with the approval of the
causesCourse Director, an elective from another degree programme offered by the Department offorcedInternationalmigrationDevelopment. Candidates will be expected to follow the mode of assessment for the owning programme of the elective. A list of electives including the timings andhumanitarian crises. Historical dimensions, political and social dynamicsmethods offorcedassessmentmigration.willSocial,bepoliticalpublishedandbyculturaltheconstructionsCourse Director at the start ofplaceMichaelmasandTerm.Research
spaceDesign Essay7.
ImpactEachofcandidateforcedwillmigrationbeon gender relations and age structures. Coercion and conflict. Implications of forced migrants for conceptualising the modern state and the international order. Security and stability of states. States responsesrequired torefugeesubmitmovementsaand3,000immigration. Comparing political forms and their response to refugees. Cooperation and the refugee regime. The lived experiences of refugees and forced migrants through displacement, encampment, resettlement and asylum. The formation of refugee identity, notions of home and belonging. Interactions between forced migrants and aid agencies, governments and the UNHCR. The process of flight and displacement. The experience of encampment and its effects on social systems, memory and identity. Anthropology of humanitarian citizenship, integration and exile.Paper III: Contemporary issues in the study of Forced MigrationEnvironmental and development-induced displacement. Poverty and vulnerability. Impact of forced migrants on host populations and governments. Agency, coping mechanisms and survival strategies of affected populations. Nationalism, ethnicity and group identity. Consequences of resettlement programmes for livelihood and economic autonomy. Repatriation and local-level social reconstruction. Institutional responses to forced migrants. Refugees and regional politics. The history and politics of humanitarian aid. Border enforcement, deportation, detention, and security. Post-colonial perspectives and criminological perspectives on forced migration.Individualword Research Design EssayEachstudent must display an understanding of research methods relevant to forced migration. This will be in the form of an individual research design essay of approximately, but no more than 3,000 words. The essay will engage with topics which may include: epistemology of social science; social science paradigms; ethics and values; quantitative, qualitative, and participatory methods of data collection.The essay must be presented in a proper scholarly form and delivered to the Examination Schools, High Street, Oxford,no later thanFriday12 nooninon Friday of WeekSeven7 of Hilary Term.
thesisMultidisciplinary
Thesis8. Each
studentcandidate will be required towritesubmit a thesis of not less than 10,000 and not more than 15,000 words on a topic relevant to forced migration.The purpose of this thesis is to ensure that the students have engaged in a multidisciplinary analysis of a single issue in forced migration to gain an awareness of the complex interrelations in the field.The topic of the thesis will require approvalapproved by thechairChair ofexaminersExaminers.9.
ThisThe thesis must bethesubmittedwork of the candidate alone and aid from others must be limited to prior discussion as to the subject and advice on presentation. The thesis (two copies) must be typewritten and delivered to the Examination Schools, High Street, Oxford, notno later than 12 noon on Thursday of WeekEight8 of Trinity Term.An electronic copy must also be submitted to the MSc in Refugee and Forced Migration Studies Coordinator, again by the date and time specified above10.
TheAllthesisassessments must bepresentedsubmittedinusingproperthescholarlyUniversityform,approvedinonline1assessment platform.5lineTechnicalspacing and printed double-sidedinformation onA4thepaper, each copy bound or held firmly in a stiff cover. The examiners shall retain a copy of all candidates’ theses that achieve a distinctionrequirements fordepositonlineinsubmissionsthe Social Sciences Library.
3.Candidates may beis providedwith selected international legal materials for use during some examinations, as published annuallyin the Course Handbook.-
411. Candidates may be required to attend an oral examination, which may beon oneorof more elements of the candidate’’swrittenassessedexaminations, research design essay, or thesiswork. 5.A candidate who fails the examination will be permitted to retake it on one further occasion only, not later than one year after the initial attempt.