Durham University Postgraduate applicants 2018/2019

Original post by Saffer

Excellent news. If I may ask, what is your opinion of the SGIA? Are there often events held at the department (i.e. guest speakers)?

Also, what made you decide to pursue your MA at Durham instead of another uni?

I can understand why SGIA has a bit of an on-off reputation. My year as a collective have had a few dubious experiences, e.g. our third year module choices were pretty limited because a vast majority of the Middle East lecturers were going on research leave at the same time (but that can't necessarily be helped, so on reflection I probably wouldn't blame the department). That being said, my personal experience with SGIA has generally been great. I've always found the staff very helpful and willing to engage in conversation for the sake of our learning, and a lot of them have made themselves available for students on occasions even outside of their office hours. Obviously no department is perfect though, and I suppose it's also pretty subjective.

The department does host quite a few events/guest speakers throughout the year, and Durham's Politics and International Relations society also offers guest speaker events for members. We've also got a variety of other political societies which occasionally get speakers in, as well as the Durham Union Society (debating) which has MPs and other prominent political figures come in to debate on a fairly regular basis. So there's definitely no shortage of outside speakers if that's what you're after!

I wanted to stay at Durham mainly for the familiarity, but also because of the impressive IR/Middle Eastern studies credentials the department has (see website) and because of what I said before about the staff. I also really liked the course content, considering it offers the opportunity to study IR as a concept as in-depth as the region I've chosen.

Hope this helps! :smile:

Reply 22

Durham_

OP

10

Original post by f26d02

I can understand why SGIA has a bit of an on-off reputation. My year as a collective have had a few dubious experiences, e.g. our third year module choices were pretty limited because a vast majority of the Middle East lecturers were going on research leave at the same time (but that can't necessarily be helped, so on reflection I probably wouldn't blame the department). That being said, my personal experience with SGIA has generally been great. I've always found the staff very helpful and willing to engage in conversation for the sake of our learning, and a lot of them have made themselves available for students on occasions even outside of their office hours. Obviously no department is perfect though, and I suppose it's also pretty subjective.

The department does host quite a few events/guest speakers throughout the year, and Durham's Politics and International Relations society also offers guest speaker events for members. We've also got a variety of other political societies which occasionally get speakers in, as well as the Durham Union Society (debating) which has MPs and other prominent political figures come in to debate on a fairly regular basis. So there's definitely no shortage of outside speakers if that's what you're after!

I wanted to stay at Durham mainly for the familiarity, but also because of the impressive IR/Middle Eastern studies credentials the department has (see website) and because of what I said before about the staff. I also really liked the course content, considering it offers the opportunity to study IR as a concept as in-depth as the region I've chosen.

Hope this helps! :smile:

This is really helpful information. I have an offer for the MA in international relations (general) and will not specialize. I am looking to do modules unrelated to the middle east but there is still a good choice of modules one can choose that focus in other areas.

The good news is that there is a discount of 10% of the tuition for alumni and I that takes a chunk of the tuition off.

Anything else you want to add?

(edited 6 years ago)

Reply 23

Original post by Durham_

This is really helpful information. I have an offer for the MA in international relations (general) and will not specialize. I am looking to do modules unrelated to the middle east but there is still a good choice of modules one can choose that focus in other areas.

The good news is that there is a discount of 10% of the tuition for alumni and I that takes a chunk to the tuition off.

Anything else you want to add?

Not that I can think of! Obviously I’d be happy to answer specific questions though if you still have them :smile:

Reply 24

Saffer

8

@f26d02 out of curiosity, what college will you be joining?

Reply 25

Original post by Saffer

@f26d02 out of curiosity, what college will you be joining?

I’m currently at Van Mildert so I’m hoping to stay there :smile:

Reply 26

Hi Everyone!

I received my PhD offer last night, but do you know when would we hear about the DDS funding results?

Reply 27

lt096

Original post by Mythrandir

Hi Everyone!

I received my PhD offer last night, but do you know when would we hear about the DDS funding results?

Congratulations! :smile:

That sounds awesome!

aww this wait is killing meeeeeee....

Reply 28

Original post by lt096

Congratulations! :smile:

That sounds awesome!

aww this wait is killing meeeeeee....

I am very happy, but waiting for funding is very bad considering I won't be able to accept my offer without funding :s-smilie:

I hope the best for all who worked hard for their applications!

Reply 29

Original post by Mythrandir

Hi Everyone!

I received my PhD offer last night, but do you know when would we hear about the DDS funding results?

Apparently the results start to roll out in the last week of March. Congratulations on receiving an offer and good luck with the funding application! :smile:

Reply 30

Original post by f26d02

Apparently the results start to roll out in the last week of March. Congratulations on receiving an offer and good luck with the funding application! :smile:

Thank you very much for your answer! In this case, almost all of the funding results of the most of the unis will be announced around the same time. Fingers crossed! Good luck to all of us!

Reply 31

lt096

Original post by Mythrandir

I am very happy, but waiting for funding is very bad considering I won't be able to accept my offer without funding :s-smilie:

Aw, I'm sorry, but hey, at least step 1 is accomplished :smile:

Good luck with the funding!

Reply 32

taylorroselw

2

Hi there, American student here- about to accept my offer for MA Music :smile:

Reply 33

Original post by lt096

Aw, I'm sorry, but hey, at least step 1 is accomplished :smile:

Good luck with the funding!

Thank you very much! You too if you are also competing for a funding 🍀

Reply 34

Original post by taylorroselw

Hi there, American student here- about to accept my offer for MA Music :smile:

Congratulations! Do you know which college you want to join? :smile:

Reply 35

Saffer

8

I have a question regarding the collegiate system.

I know it plays an important role in the overall student experience, but can it in any way be limiting? For example: are you solely restricted to the confines of your college in terms of socialising and meeting people, or is there flexibility in being able to mix with people from other colleges etc.

Reply 36

Original post by Saffer

I have a question regarding the collegiate system.

I know it plays an important role in the overall student experience, but can it in any way be limiting? For example: are you solely restricted to the confines of your college in terms of socialising and meeting people, or is there flexibility in being able to mix with people from other colleges etc.

I personally haven’t found myself to be limited in any way by the collegiate system. In fact, most of my closest friends here aren’t members of my college! Some of them are members of the same university sports team I’ve been involved in since my first year, and some of them are people I’ve been in lectures and seminars with for the past three years. I also tend to go on nights out with friends from other colleges more often than I do with my college friends.

However, I do know people who have restricted themselves to in-college socialisation and have found it easy to do so. Because all colleges have their own societies and committees, people who don’t want to get involved in anything at the uni level can do so comfortably in college, thereby largely avoiding the opportunity to become friends with other people.

I wouldn’t say this is necessarily a bad thing, though. If you want to broaden your horizons and join a university sports team or society, great! If you don’t, you’ll still have dozens of societies to get involved in and hundreds of people to meet within your college.

Hope this helped!

(edited 6 years ago)

Reply 37

lt096