MSc Nationalism Studies

Institution University of Edinburgh
Method At the institution
Location Edinburgh
Type Masters
Course fee By request

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MSc Nationalism Studies

Academic title MSc Nationalism Studies
Course description This programme examines historical and contemporary forms of nationalism and major theories that seek to explain nationalism. You will explore key debates around topics such as nationalism's origins and its continued incidence, its relationship to ethnicity, and the reasons why it takes both liberal and illiberal forms.
Learning Outcomes

Students who follow this programme will be able to:

    * demonstrate command of core explanatory theories of nationalism, and understanding of the differences and debates between them;
    * show considerable knowledge of several concrete cases of nationalism, and formulate rationales for fruitful comparisons among them;
    * apply theoretical paradigms to particular cases, assessing the strengths and weaknesses of those theories in the process.

How You Will Be Taught

Teaching combines lectures, seminars and tutorials, plus a combination of essays and assessed coursework, culminating in a dissertation (15,000 words) on a topic of your choice.

The programme comprises six courses and a dissertation. The programme is available both on a full-time and a part-time basis.

The programme comprises two core courses:

    * Theories and Theorists in Nationalism Studies
    * Comparative Perspectives in Nationalism Studies

Students without a background in the field are strongly encouraged to take the following introductory course:

    * Nations and Nationalism

The remaining courses are chosen from a range substantive courses which may vary from year to year, and includes:

    * Africa in International Politics
    * Case Studies in Nationalism
    * Comparative Territorial Politics
    * Gender and Development
    * Institutions and Policies of the European Union
    * International Indigenous Politics
    * International Relations Theory
    * The Middle East in International Politics
    * Political Economy of South East Asia
    * The Politics of Migration in Europe
    * Scottish Government and Politics
    * Social and Political Movements: Theory and Practice
    * South Asian Nationalism
    * Soviet and Post-Soviet Politics
    * Urban Society and Civil Society in Historical Context

Dissertation

The dissertation offers students the chance to work under the supervision of an academic member of staff to explore in depth a topic of their choosing. This is an ideal chance to get to grips with an issue that fascinates you, and is good preparation for further study.

Previous dissertation topics have included:

    * ‘Boundaries from the Pitch to the Nation: Cricket as an evolving symbol of the imagined community of national identity in the Indian subcontinent’
    * ‘The Nationalism Process in China: from Revolution to Mass Movement’
    * ‘What does Devolution tell us about Scottish Identity?’