Social Justice and Community Action MSc, PgDip, PgCert (Online Learning)

Our life chances are shaped by our family and community relationships, access to good quality public services, the particular features of our governing institutions and levels of economic inequality. That life chances are unequally distributed across the globe, and within particular countries, is an injustice.

The MSc in Social Justice and Community Action is a part-time, online master's programme, designed to equip you with the knowledge and practical skills to help you make positive social change. It offers you the opportunity to:

• critically engage with foundational ideas and debates about social justice
• relate these ideas to your own practice context
• consider a range of approaches in communities, in policy and in different organisational contexts

Accreditation

This programme is the flagship teaching initiative of the University of Edinburgh’s Global Justice Academy, a multi-disciplinary network of academics and research centres committed to global justice concerns, and is a joint initiative with the Moray House School of Education and Sport.

• Global Justice Academy

Online learning

Delivered fully online, this programme gives you the opportunity to work closely with your fellow students and tutors in a properly supported, collaborative and vibrant online learning environment, studying at the times and in the places that suit you best.

The programme is delivered through a rich mix of taught inputs, independent study and group work, making use of the following online methods:

• live online lectures, pre-recorded lectures and podcasts
• live online tutorials and text-based discussion forums
• reflective blogs

Specialist IT skills are not required.

The University of Edinburgh is currently ranked 15th in the World in the QS World University Rankings 2023.

This programme is designed for professionals working on social justice issues in diverse contexts, notably research and policy, grassroots practice, and education, and for recent graduates who wish to gain the skills to enter the social justice field.

Students will acquire the skills applicable to social justice work in the public, third and private sectors. Graduates may find career opportunities, or opportunities for career advancement, in diverse contexts such as:

• grassroots community practice
• education
• public policy development
• policy advocacy
• social research in non-governmental organisations or in the public/private sectors
• research

Programme structure

The flexibility of this programme means you can choose an exit point and study at a pace that suits you best.

You can study towards:

• a Postgraduate Certificate (PgCert) over 12 months
• a Postgraduate Diploma (PgDip) over 24 months
• the full Master's (MSc) degree over 36 months

To obtain the Master's qualification, you will complete:

• three compulsory courses
• three option courses
• a supervised dissertation or applied research project

Compulsory courses

• Theories and Politics of Social Justice
• Community Engagement: Co-Constructing Knowledge with Communities

And one of the:

• Organisational Management for Social Justice
• Working with Children and Young People for Social Justice
• Policy Analysis for Social Justice
• Learning for Democracy

Option courses

Any of the above courses which you have not yet taken plus:

• Activist Social Research
• Displacement and Development
• Key Skills in Development Practice
• Digital Education in a Global Context

You may also choose from a wide range of online courses provided elsewhere in the University, for example:

• Analysing Development
• Climate Change Mitigation
• Global Development Challenges
• Global Health Governance
• Health Inequalities and the Social Determinants of Health
• Roots of African Poverty and Development
• Politics and Theories of International Development
• Public Health and Health Policy