Course summary

The information provided on this page was correct at the time of publication (October/November 2024). 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 MSc in Nature, Society and Environmental Governance (MSc NSEG or NSEG) is grounded in the conviction that responding to contemporary global challenges demands intellectual rigour, innovation and flexibility. Some of the most pressing environmental issues of our time have politics intensely at their core, interwoven with the complexities of historical institutions, social practices, beliefs and material infrastructures. Understanding these complex phenomena requires multiple perspectives and the ability to think across disciplinary boundaries. Over the year, you will encounter a broad range of expertise from human and political geography, anthropology, science studies, the environmental humanities and environmental sciences. The overarching objective is not to offer a singular view of nature, society, or governance, but to present a set of theoretical and practical insights alongside scholarly debates which are alive and in flux. This course will enable you to develop a theoretically sophisticated and empirically grounded understanding of the dynamic relations between environments and societies. Students should expect to engage with theoretical material and deconstruct some of the basic assumptions underpinning terms like ‘society’, ‘governance’, ‘environment’ and ‘nature’ to develop conceptual tools to understand contemporary global change. This is not an ‘environmental policy’ programme - it is a programme that will prepare you to grapple with contemporary global challenges from the perspectives of critical social theories informed by a range of disciplines.