Disasters, Adaptation & Development

Course detail Description

The Disasters, Adaptation & Development MA/MSc aims to equip students with an in-depth and critical awareness of the political, geographical and technological aspects of disaster risk reduction and their contribution to sustainable adaptation and disaster responses. Taking a social development perspective, the course covers issues such as human vulnerability and responses to natural and technological hazards. This course embeds training in disaster risk reduction with technical specialities in geographic information system (GIS) and remote sensing, organisational risk management, or poverty alleviation and international development.

The study course is made up of optional and required modules. You must take the minimum of 180 credits to complete the course. In addition to a required dissertation, you will choose from a wide range of related modules. If you want to qualify with an MSc, you will be required to study Advanced Quantitative and Spatial Methods in Human Geography as an additional module.

If you are studying full-time, you will complete the course in one year, from September to September. If you are studying part-time, your course will be delivered over two years. You will take a combination of required and optional modules over this period of time, with the dissertation in your second year.

Course format and assessment

Teaching
We will teach you through a combination of lectures and seminars, and you will typically have 20 hours of this per 20 credit module. We also expect you to undertake 180 hours of independent study for each module, although some modules in the Geography Department may involve lab work or e-learning which would require less self-guided learning. For your 12,000 word dissertation, we will provide four workshops and five hours of one-to-one supervision to complement your 587 hours of independent study. Typically, one credit equates to 10 hours of work.

Assessment

Performance on taught modules in the Geography Department is normally assessed through essays and other written assignments, oral presentations, lab work and occasionally by examination, depending on the modules selected. All students also undertake a research-based dissertation of 12,000 words.

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Structure

Year 1 Courses are divided into modules. You will normally take:

• MSc – modules totalling at least 180 credits
• MA – modules totalling at least 180 credits

Please note that there are a limited number of spaces available on each optional module. You will have the opportunity to discuss your choices with your personal tutor.

King’s College London reviews the modules offered on a regular basis to provide up-to-date, innovative and relevant programmes of study. Therefore, modules offered may change. We suggest you keep an eye on this course page for updates.

Required Modules You are required to take the following modules:

• Disasters & Development (20 credits)
• Practising Social Research (20 credits)
• Dissertation in Disasters, Adaptation & Development (60 credits)

Additional required modules for the MSc pathway:

• Advanced Quantitative & Spatial Methods in Human Geography (20 credits)

Optional Modules In addition, you are required to take enough credits to bring your total for the course to a minimum of 180 from a wide range of optional modules that may include:

• Environmental Internship (20 credits)
• Water Resources & Water Policy (20 credits)
• Environment, Livelihoods & Development in the ‘South’ (20 credits)
  
• Environmental GIS (20 credits)
• Risk Communication (20 credits)
• Critical Geographies of Terrorism (20 credits)
• Community, Vulnerability & Disaster Risk (20 credits) (Pre-requisite: Disasters & Development, either through taking the module fully or through auditing)
• Water, Security & the Environment (20 credits)
• Climate Change & Culture (20 credits)
• Climate: Science & History (20 credits)
• A Practical & Theoretical Evaluation of Sustainable Development (20 credits) by arrangement with the Department of International Development
• Human Mobility (20 credits)
• Any Level 7 (Master’s) modules offered in the Department of Geography
• Up to 20 credits in Level 7 (Master’s) modules offered across the university, subject to approvals