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MA Sustainability Studies

Learn from the past to create a sustainable future

Year of entry: 2024 (September)

Length

1 year full-time,
2 years part-time,
3 years part-time

Start date

September 2024 (semester dates)

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Environmental degradation and climate change are global emergencies, yet we live in a world that is ecologically and culturally diverse, and which is economically and socially unequal.

Sustainable solutions thus require knowledge of the complex interactions and trade-offs between environmental, economic, social and cultural sustainability. Our Masters course provides this essential interdisciplinary overview, allowing you to specialise in the sustainability of ecosystems, communities, landscapes, buildings and heritage, or to focus on the interactions between them.

Working within an exciting collaboration between our Departments of Archaeology, and Environment and Geography, you'll gain a fascinating insight into the sustainability of processes that take place over a few years to many thousands of years. Thinking across disciplines to address issues of current and future sustainability is both stimulating and challenging, requiring expertise from a range of subject areas. Our staff and students work together to create interdisciplinary teams, and our wide range of module options and guided independent research opportunities allow you to tailor your studies to your interests and career ambitions.

Watch video on YouTube
Understanding sustainability as change through time - the case of Engaruka, a semi-arid savannah region in Tanzania.

Innovative facilities

Our superb £12.5m Environment and Geography building contains purpose-built labs, lecture theatre and seminar rooms, and features a spectacular living wall

Weekly seminars

Throughout the year, academic and industry speakers are invited to talk about current and policy-relevant areas of environmental and heritage research

Links with policymakers

You’ll benefit from our unique access to the Stockholm Environment Institute, an international environment policy unit embedded within the Department of Environment and Geography

Course content

You will study 180 credits across the duration of your course:

  • Semester 1 - one core and two option modules
  • Semester 2 - one core and one option module with an 80 credit dissertation
  • Summer Semester - 80 credit dissertation continued

Differences between the MA in Sustainability Studies and MSc in Sustainability Science

For the MSc in Sustainability Science you’ll take the Research Skills and Statistical Methods module from the Department of Environment and Geography. You will also undertake a 60-credit dissertation. 

For the MA in Sustainability Studies you will undertake an 80-credit dissertation with the Department of Archaeology.

Modules

Core modules

Option modules

You'll then customise your programme by choosing option modules taught in both the Department of Archaeology and the Department of Environment and Geography; these will help you to focus on a particular period, region or specialist area:

Sustainable Environment options
Social and Economics Transformation options
Historical Ecologies options
Sustainable Cultural Heritage options

You'll also have the opportunity to choose options from our full module catalogue. Examples may include:

Our modules may change to reflect the latest academic thinking and expertise of our staff, and in line with Department/School academic planning.

Dissertation

You'll complete a 15,000-word dissertation and assessed lecture on your research.

You will receive support, advice and guidance from your dissertation supervisor throughout your project. The range of expertise of our staff means we can provide you with guidance on a wide range of topics. You will have one-to-one meetings with supervisors across Semester 2 and the Summer Semester.

Examples of previous dissertations include:

  • Use of satellite images and aerial photographs to reconstruct landscape change over time
  • Reconstruction and impact of coastal erosion
  • Use of LiDAR data to examine the sustainability of ancient and modern irrigation systems
  • GIS analysis of changes to sacred groves in Africa; efficacy of local forest conservation
  • Impact of climate change on preservation of archaeological remains
  • Assessments of behavioural/cultural factors on adoption of sustainable practices

The York approach

Every course at York is built on a distinctive set of learning outcomes. These will give you a clear understanding of what you will be able to accomplish at the end of the course and help you explain what you can offer employers. Our academics identify the knowledge, skills, and experiences you'll need upon graduation and then design the course to get you there.

Students who complete this course will be able to:

  • Demonstrate a systematic and in-depth understanding of the concept of sustainability and related terms such as resilience and degradation, and of the ways in which these can be assessed, quantified and valued, with a particular focus on the application of techniques drawn from the humanities [Knowledgeable].
  • Engage critically with current debates and advanced scholarship regarding sustainability in order to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of opposing arguments, recognising that competing interest groups may prioritise the sustainability of different factors [Critical thinker].
  • Combine data and methods from a range of academic and professional disciplines, while acknowledging that different specialist techniques produce data at different spatial and temporal scales and with differing levels of precision and certainty [Interdisciplinary thinker].
  • Identify trade-offs relevant to issues of sustainability, ascertain existing knowledge gaps, and define methodological approaches to fill these gaps, demonstrating how the research design will help address the identified problems [Problem solver and creator of new perspectives].
  • Undertake analyses of a discrete quantitative or qualitative dataset and/or the critical analysis of a discrete body of work, demonstrating what role the resulting conclusions play within questions of sustainability [Analytical].
  • Synthesise research findings and key scholarly debates, and communicate data, methods, conclusions and recommendations through a variety of oral, written, visual and digital media to academic, public, professional and policy-making audiences, demonstrating an ability to adapt to the respective needs of these audiences [Effective communicator].
  • Demonstrate originality in rigorous independent inquiry and show a clear contribution to the work of a team [Independent Researcher and Team player].

Fees and funding

Annual tuition fees for 2024/25

Study modeUK (home)International and EU
Full-time (1 year) £10,590£23,900
Part-time (2 years)
This is the year 1 fee. Fees for future years are subject to confirmation.
£5,295£11,950
Part-time (3 years)
This is the year 1 fee. Fees for future years are subject to confirmation.
£3,530£7,967

Students on a Student Visa are not currently permitted to study part-time at York.

For courses which are longer than one year, the tuition fees quoted are for the first year of study.

  • UK (home) fees may increase in subsequent years (up to a maximum of 2%).
  • International fees may increase in subsequent years in line with the prevailing Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation rate (up to a maximum of 10%).

Fees information

UK (home) or international fees? The level of fee that you will be asked to pay depends on whether you're classed as a UK (home) or international student. Check your fee status.

Find out more information about tuition fees and how to pay them.

Additional costs

We don't anticipate there being any additional fees associated with this course. All books and resources you need will be available in the library or online, and it isn't mandatory that you buy your own copies. You may wish to set aside a small budget for photocopying, depending on how you like to work.

Funding information

Discover your funding options to help with tuition fees and living costs.

We'll confirm more funding opportunities for students joining us in 2024/25 throughout the year.

If you've successfully completed an undergraduate degree at York you could be eligible for a 10% Masters fee discount.

Funding opportunities

The Department of Archaeology usually offers a £1,000 discount to students coming through from its undergraduate BA/BSc programmes in the current year. This is in addition to the University Masters fee discount scheme.

Living costs

You can use our living costs guide to help plan your budget. It covers additional costs that are not included in your tuition fee such as expenses for accommodation and study materials.

Working together

Our staff collaborate with a broad range of private and public organisations including UNEP, DEFRA, Forestry Commission, Natural England, English Heritage, and the Overseas Development Institute

Beautiful surroundings

In addition to our state-of-the-art Environment and Geography building, you may also have the opportunity to study in the Department of Archaeology on Campus West.

Feel at home

Informality is one of our distinctive qualities - the atmosphere in our departments is friendly, supportive and enthusiastic. We want you to develop your potential and thrive at York

Teaching and assessment

You’ll work with world‐leading academics who’ll challenge you to think independently and excel in all that you do. Our approach to teaching will provide you with the knowledge, opportunities, and support you need to grow and succeed in a global workplace.

Teaching format

You'll be taught through a combination of lectures, seminars, workshops and field trips.

Teaching location

Run jointly between the Department of Environment and Geography and the Department of Archaeology, you'll have access to a range of facilities including our state-of-the-art Environment Building.

About our campus

Our beautiful green campus offers a student-friendly setting in which to live and study, within easy reach of the action in the city centre. It's easy to get around campus - everything is within walking or pedalling distance, or you can always use the fast and frequent bus service.

Assessment and feedback

Types of assessment in this course include:

  • Essays
  • Presentations
  • Reports
  • Policy briefs and articles for a general audience
  • Dissertation
Environment Building

Careers and skills

Through the development of skills in the collation, analysis, synthesis and presentation of interdisciplinary data, and an ability to work as part of a team, you'll graduate well-placed for a range of career paths, including progression to a PhD and research careers.

Career opportunities

  • Environmental consultant
  • Sustainability manager
  • Environmental protection officer
  • Graduate environmental impact assessment coordinator
  • Civil Service fast streamer
  • Higher education teaching and research

Transferable skills

  • Time management and people skills 
  • Critical thinking and evaluation
  • Analytical and technical research skills 
  • Comparison and correlation of disparate data
  • Theoretically/methodologically informed decision making
  • Communication to multiple and distinct audiences
  • Teamwork

Entry requirements

Typical offer
Undergraduate degree 2:1 or equivalent in a relevant subject such as Archaeology, Anthropology, Biology, Conservation, Ecology, Geography or related fields.
Other qualifications and experience If you don’t have conventional qualifications, but do have appropriate, relevant experience, you are encouraged to apply. We carefully consider each application on its merits.
Other international qualifications Equivalent qualifications from your country

English language

If English isn't your first language you may need to provide evidence of your English language ability. We accept the following qualifications:

Minimum requirement
IELTS (Academic and Indicator) 6.5, minimum 6.5 in Writing and 6.0 in all other components
Cambridge CEFR B2 First: 176, with a minimum of 176 in Writing and no less than 169 in all other components
Oxford ELLT 7, minimum of 7 in writing and no less than 6 in all other components
Duolingo 120, minimum 120 in production and 105 in all other components
LanguageCert SELT B2 with 33/50 in each component
LanguageCert Academic 70 with a minimum of 70 in Writing and no less than 65 in all other components
KITE 459-494, with 459-494 in writing and 426-458 in all other components
Skills for English B2: Merit overall, with Merit in writing and Pass with Merit in all other components
PTE Academic 61, minimum 61 in Writing and 55 in all other components
TOEFL 87, minimum 23 in Writing and 21 in all other components
Trinity ISE III Merit in all components

For more information see our postgraduate English language requirements.

If you haven't met our English language requirements

You may be eligible for one of our pre-sessional English language courses. These courses will provide you with the level of English needed to meet the conditions of your offer.

The length of course you need to take depends on your current English language test scores and how much you need to improve to reach our English language requirements.

After you've accepted your offer to study at York, we'll confirm which pre-sessional course you should apply to via You@York.

Applying

You can apply and send all your documentation online. You don’t need to complete your application all at once: you can start it, save it and finish it later.

Apply for this course

Next steps

Contact us

Get in touch if you have any questions

Dr Daryl Stump, Course Director
Dr Adam Green, Course Director

Learn more

Department of Archaeology, Department of Environment and Geography

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