International Disaster Management and Humanitarian Response and Chinese

Overview

Course description

On the Modern Languages side of the degree students will study compulsory language units (the number of credits will depend on whether students are ab-initio or post-A-Level and whether they are studying European or non-European languages) and the study of the culture and history of a specific region.

Teaching within Modern Languages in these latter areas are characterised particularly by the historically and politically contextualised study of culture and cultural practices, including in literature, visual culture and music, with thematic focus on such issues as the environment, popular culture, gender, immigration and transnationalisms, and religion.

Crucial here is the understanding of language skills being informed by intercultural awareness and cultural knowledge being mediated by linguistic skills.

On the International Disaster Management and Humanitarian Response and Chinese programme at The University of Manchester students critically explore contemporary and historical issues within the broader fields of international disaster management; peace and conflict studies; and humanitarian response.

The thematic focus of the HCRI degree significantly overlaps with that of Languages.

For instance, the investigation of environment, gender, migration, cultural norms and behaviours, power, politics, and popular culture.

As such, students will be able to apply their theoretical understanding of these broader ideas and contextualise them in different disciplinary and empirical areas.

Furthermore, teaching within HCRI is very much research led, and draws on contemporary and historical case sites from across the world.

Most of these cases are in countries where English is not the principal language.

For example, students will explore issues such as resilience, peacebuilding, relief aid, maternal mortality, and refugees in diverse contexts including Puerto Rico, China, Haiti, Venezuela, Mexico, Iraq, Japan and Cameroon.

This will make the content particularly engaging and relevant for students of Languages.

In the first, second and final year students will follow core compulsory and optional introductory modules on both sides of the degree.

In their final year students will also have the option of taking a dissertation on either side of the degree alongside their core language units and other optional units.

Students will be allocated a dissertation supervisor according to existing procedures for the respective subject areas.

Students will also be able to take one free-choice unit at levels 2 and 3, though they will not be required to do so.

In the third year of the degree students will undertake a period of residence abroad according to the School's established residence abroad requirements and provision.