Course summary

The information provided on this page was correct at the time of publication (October/November 2022). For complete and up-to-date information about this course, please visit the relevant University of Oxford course page via www.graduate.ox.ac.uk/ucas. The rate and complexity of environmental change poses profound economic, social and political challenges for contemporary society. Developing ways to address these challenges demands intellectual rigour, innovation and flexibility, as well as the capacity to think across existing disciplinary boundaries. The MPhil in Nature, Society and Environmental Governance is grounded in the conviction that responses to global challenges requires researchers and practitioners trained in the social sciences, with the ability to think flexibly across disciplinary and sectorial boundaries. It will enable you to develop a theoretically sophisticated and empirically grounded understanding of the dynamic relations between environment, society and policy. The specific objectives of the course are:

• to provide broad and critical engagements with key debates in the environmental social sciences, focusing on the relations between nature and society, science and politics, and urban natures

• to foster an understanding of the conceptual tools in human geography and learn to apply them to the challenges of real-world environmental governance

• to develop your conceptions of, and skills in, research design and methods in the contemporary environmental social sciences, providing critical foundations for further study by research

• to integrate you into world leading research in the School of Geography and the Environment by providing core teaching and supervision by research-active staff

• to enhance your personal and professional development.