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International Development and Humanitarianism MSc

Key Information

Start date

September

Subject area

Anthropology

Mode of study

1 year full-time

2 or 2.5 years part-time

Fees

2025/26

UK £12,125

International £22,320

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Entry requirements

2:2

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Overview

The MSc in International Development and Humanitarianism will provide you with a comprehensive understanding of the complex relationship between global development and humanitarian action.

Drawing on theories and practices from various fields – including anthropology, geography, economics, politics and development studies – this interdisciplinary Masters programme will prepare you for a range of challenging careers, including in international charities and NGOs, humanitarian relief organisations, and local, national and international government agencies and departments, as well as in the private sector (corporate social responsibility, consultancies), and with civil, policy and advocacy groups.

The teaching for this degree is research-led, based on an evolving curriculum that responds to contemporary global. Delivered by leading experts in the field, you will interrogate simplistic understandings of development and humanitarianism – what it is, who does it and who it is aimed at – along with prevailing assumptions and explanations for violence and war.

Through a combination of lectures and interactive seminars, presentations and debates, you will engage critically with issues such as:

  • The ethics of international development
  • Understandings of war and violence
  • Development, debt and microcredit
  • Poverty and inequality
  • The role of NGOs and aid policy
  • Humanitarianism, refugees and camps
  • Gender and development
  • Ethnicity and the construction of the ‘other’
  • Violence of everyday life

As well as undertaking rigorous intellectual training, you will have the opportunity to carry out your own ethnographic fieldwork in the UK or overseas. In recent years, Brunel students have carried out fieldwork in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Mexico, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Colombia, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Philippines, Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, South Africa, China, Morocco, and New Zealand, as well as within the UK and the rest of Europe.

A 30 month part-time option of the course is also available. If you wish to be considered for the part-time 30 month version, please make your application for the 24 month part-time route and then contact the Admissions team to request the change to the 30 month duration.

You can explore our campus and facilities for yourself by taking our virtual tour.

Course content

You will study three core modules related to i) critical perspectives on international development, ii) war and humanitarianism and iii) ethnographic research methods, in addition to your dissertation research.

You will also choose from a range of option from across the Division of Anthropology, Geography and Development, which will challenge you further in your critical and comparative understanding of international development and humanitarianism.

Brunel is well-known for its focus on ethnographic fieldwork. Your research methods training will provide you with the skills to conduct your own ethnographic research anywhere in the world, according to your own research interests. This fieldwork will form the basis of your MSc dissertation.

Examples of past dissertations from students on the MSc International Development and Humanitarianism include:

  • Structural violence as an everyday experience: gender and poverty in Uganda
  • A ‘hand up’ or a ‘hand out’? An ethnographic study of microcredit in Southern India
  • Education as a marker of development in rural Ghana
  • The impact of microfinance in alleviating poverty in the United States
  • Gender differences amongst British Pakistanis
  • Social entrepreneurship: the anthropology of young female independent enterprise in the Ghanaian development story
  • Employee perceptions of corporate culture in Canada
  • Youth marginalisation, livelihoods and the pursuit of belonging in Sierra Leone
  • ‘I wanted to help in any way that I could’: what can short-term international volunteers contribute to the development paradigm?
  • Human rights and disability in India
  • The culture of CSR in Ghana
  • The impact of voluntourism on gender roles in the Indian Himalayas

Compulsory

  • War and Humanitarian Assistance
    In this subject you will analyse the social and economic consequences of contemporary warfare and the rebuilding war-torn societies from an anthropological perspective and by doing so, understand the different ways anthropological research can enhance the understanding of contemporary warfare.
  • Critical Perspectives on International Development
    Gain a theoretical and historical overview of the changing relationship between anthropology and international development as you learn to understand the multiple ways in which anthropological research can enhance our understanding of contemporary policies and practices in international development.
  • SA5551 - Dissertation in Anthropology of International Development and Humanitarian Assistance
    The opportunity to carry out a major research project in the subject of your degree based around your own fieldwork experience.
  • SA5603 - Ethnographic Research Methods
    This module will introduce you to the methods employed by anthropologists when undertaking ethnographic research in preparation for your own fieldwork research on which your dissertation will be based.

Optional

  • SA5622 - Anthropology and Global Health
    A theoretical introduction to the anthropological study of global health which includes a comparative understanding of the methods employed by biomedical scientists, epidemiologists, biosocial anthropologists, clinically applied and critical medical anthropologists in the study of global health.
  • Cross-Cultural perspectives on Education and Learning
    Gain an appreciation of the key issues in the anthropology of education and learning and an understanding, ethnographically, of how culture shapes and informs the educational and learning process an and in turn impacts social and cultural practices.
  • SA5604 - Thinking Anthropologically
    To introduce you to the discipline of anthropology, and to offer you a grounding in its key theories and methods. By the end of the module, you will be able to draw connections between the materials studied your own degree specialism.
  • SA5601 - Ethnicity, Identity and Culture
    Learn about the range of key concepts, theories and controversies in the anthropology of ethnicity, culture, nationhood and identity. Drawing on case studies from within and beyond Britain, it will encourage you to consider how identities are created, deployed and contested.
  • International Business Ethics and Corporate Governance

    This module focuses on business ethics, sustainability and corporate governance in internationally operating organisations. These areas are addressed from the perspective of the dual ‘business’ models of the shareholder and the stakeholder approaches. The broader societal impacts of business activities are discussed by using concepts from moral philosophy, CSR, sustainability and corporate governance. 

  • SA5602 - Medical Anthropology in Clinical and Community Settings
    Delve into the contemporary texts that have contributed to the development of medical anthropology as you consider its innovations and how the application of anthropological research in the subject can contribute to improving medical practices.
  • LX5614 - Theory and Practice of International Human Rights
    A module that provides comprehension of the role and significance of international human rights in economics, social and political contexts, including the implementation and enforcement of international human rights.
  • Understanding Childhood and Youth
    This module will introduce you to the study of childhood and youth as they are constructed and practiced in different social, cultural and economic settings. The first section focuses on children, looking first at how ideas of childhood are constructed by adults, the second section is devoted to young people.

This course can be studied undefined undefined, starting in undefined.

Please note that all modules are subject to change.

Read more about the structure of postgraduate degrees at Brunel

Careers and your future

This degree will prepare you for a range of challenging careers in many fields and organisations, including: international charities and NGOs, humanitarian relief organisations, and local, national and international government agencies and departments, as well as in the private sector (corporate social responsibility, consultancies), and with civil, policy and advocacy groups.

It will also provide you with a firm grounding for doctoral research in international development and humanitarianism, if you choose to undertake a PhD.

UK entry requirements

A 2:2 (or above) UK Honours degree or an equivalent internationally recognised qualification.

Applicants with other degrees along with relevant experience will be considered on an individual basis.

EU and International entry requirements

If you require a Tier 4 visa to study in the UK, you must prove knowledge of the English language so that we can issue you a Certificate of Acceptance for Study (CAS). To do this, you will need an IELTS for UKVI or Trinity SELT test pass gained from a test centre approved by UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) and on the Secure English Language Testing (SELT) list. This must have been taken and passed within two years from the date the CAS is made.

English language requirements

  • IELTS: 6.5 (min 6 in all areas)
  • Pearson: 59 (59 in all subscores)
  • BrunELT: 63% (min 58% in all areas)
  • TOEFL: 90 (min 20 in all) 

You can find out more about the qualifications we accept on our English Language Requirements page.

Should you wish to take a pre-sessional English course to improve your English prior to starting your degree course, you must sit the test at an approved SELT provider for the same reason. We offer our own BrunELT English test and have pre-sessional English language courses for students who do not meet requirements or who wish to improve their English. You can find out more information on English courses and test options through our Brunel Language Centre.

Please check our Admissions pages for more information on other factors we use to assess applicants. This information is for guidance only and each application is assessed on a case-by-case basis. Entry requirements are subject to review, and may change.

Fees and funding

2025/26 entry

UK

£12,125 full-time

£6,060 part-time

International

£22,320 full-time

£11,160 part-time

N.B. UK and EU applicants: the 30 month part-time course will not be eligible for a Postgraduate Loan. If you wish to be considered for the part-time 30 month version, please make your application for the 24 month part-time route and then contact the Admissions team to request the change to the 30 month duration.

More information on any additional course-related costs.

Fees quoted are per year and are subject to an annual increase. 

See our fees and funding page for full details of postgraduate scholarships available to Brunel applicants.

Scholarships and bursaries

Teaching and learning

You'll be taught by world leading experts in your field of study, and have the opportunity to interact with fellow students at London’s leading campus University.

Your programme will consist of various learning and studying activities, including lectures, seminars and discussions. On each taught module, students will have in person lectures, seminars or workshops for two-to-three hours per week on average during the teaching terms. There will also be supervision sessions for the dissertation, as well as regular opportunities to seek guidance during module lecturers’ feedback and consultation hours. Additionally, students can seek support in individual meetings with their personal tutors, both on campus and online. There will also be regular cohort meetings and student society events, at both programme and departmental levels. Field trips and excursions to support students’ learning will be organised throughout the year.

All lectures, seminars, cohort meetings and other social activities will occur in person on the Brunel campus. Students are expected to regularly attend these events, as sustained engagement with a learning community is a central dimension of the Brunel experience. Online provision of some activities will be made available when it is appropriate to the learning outcomes of your programme.

Access to a laptop or desktop PC is required for joining online activities, completing coursework and digital exams, and a minimum specification can be found here.

We have computers available across campus for your use and laptop loan schemes to support you through your studies. You can find out more here.

You'll learn through a combination of lectures, seminars, workshops and tutorials as well as through your own reading. You'll also be encouraged to attend the department’s calendar of lunchtime research meetings where guest speakers share insight from their own research and experience.

Anthropology of International Development and Humanitarian Assistance MSc is taught by a team of Brunel experts who have worked in many countries across the globe, including South, West and East Africa, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, India and Sri Lanka, as well as Britain.

Find out more about their particular research interests by following the links:

Should you need any non-academic support during your time at Brunel, the Student Support and Welfare Team are here to help.

Assessment and feedback

Assessment is typically by essay or practical assignments (for example, analysis of a short field exercise), and a dissertation of approximately 15,000 words based upon your own fieldwork experience. There are no examinations.

Read our guide on how to avoid plagiarism in your assessments at Brunel.