MA Humanitarianism and Conflict Response

For entry in the academic year beginning September 2026, the tuition fees are as follows:

• MA (full-time)
  UK students (per annum): £14,700
  International, including EU, students (per annum): £30,700
• MA (part-time)
  UK students (per annum): £7,350
  International, including EU, students (per annum): £15,400

Further information for EU students can be found on our dedicated EU page.

The fees quoted above will be fully inclusive for the course tuition, administration and computational costs during your studies.

All fees for entry will be subject to yearly review and incremental rises per annum are also likely over the duration of courses lasting more than a year for UK/EU students (fees are typically fixed for International students, for the course duration at the year of entry). For general fees information please visit: postgraduate fees . Always contact the department if you are unsure which fee applies to your qualification award and method of attendance.

Self-funded international applicants for this course will be required to pay a deposit of £1000 towards their tuition fees before a confirmation of acceptance for studies (CAS) is issued. This deposit will only be refunded if immigration permission is refused. We will notify you about how and when to make this payment.

All students should normally be able to complete their programme of study without incurring additional study costs over and above the tuition fee for that programme. Any unavoidable additional compulsory costs totalling more than 1% of the annual home undergraduate fee per annum, regardless of whether the programme in question is undergraduate or postgraduate taught, will be made clear to you at the point of application. Further information can be found in the University's Policy on additional costs incurred by students on undergraduate and postgraduate taught programmes (PDF document, 91KB).

• Information on university funding, loans, and scholarships available on the Masters student funding page
• The Faculty of Humanities offered a range of scholarship opportunities for eligible applicants starting in September 2025. Please check back to confirm availability for September 2026 start.
• Please visit the school funding page for more information on subject funding available.
• Other funding for EU and international students is on our country-specific pages.

This unit explores the stakes of humanitarian action in armed conflicts and other situations of violence, with a focus on the role of armed groups. Often labelled as terrorists, sometimes welcomed as liberators, subject to varying positions of law, armed groups have a powerful influence on humanitarian needs, responses and outcomes. Their interactions with humanitarians have taken different forms over time, with a range of implications for people living amidst conflict and violence. Drawing on a range of historical and contemporary examples, the unit will introduce students to current concerns such as the instrumentalization of aid, and security and ‘access’ challenges in humanitarian action, and the importance of urban environments, while also questioning the assumption that these are recent phenomena. The course combines conflict and development analysis, drawing on examples from across a wide range of geographical areas and periods in contemporary history.

The aims of this course are to:

• Explore and apply legal, geo-political and historical perspectives in order to better understand the place of humanitarian action in armed conflict and other situations of violence.
• Examine the ways in which armed groups shape humanitarian needs, practice and outcomes.
• Critically engage and analyse both historical and contemporary humanitarian responses in armed conflicts and other situations of violence.
• Enhance students’ understanding of and ability to contribute to debates on humanitarian action in conflict and violence, through the development of analytical and presentation skills.

The principal teaching and learning methods will be the lecture (including discussion, interactive exercises, case study, and use of audio-visual materials). These will be supplemented by guided and independent reading and assignments designed to encourage students to engage with course material in meaningful ways.

Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

• The legal frameworks governing the use of force and the provision of humanitarian assistance in armed conflicts, other situations of violence and areas controlled by ‘terrorist’ groups
• Debates about humanitarian engagement with armed groups
• How legal, security and development concerns influence humanitarian practice in armed conflict and other situations of violence  

• Identify and evaluate different perspectives on humanitarian action in contexts of conflict and violence (e.g. beneficiaries, NGOs, UN agencies, armed groups, governments, diaspora networks, law, etc.).
• Critically analyse debates about humanitarian operations in these settings
  Investigate and analyse historical and contemporary humanitarian crises featuring armed groups
• Critically analyse the ways in which the core principles of humanitarian practice have been shaped by armed conflict, and the ways those principles shape the ways aid agencies engage with armed groups

• Research skills, including planning, prioritisation of tasks, identification and location of sources, evaluation of findings.
• Essay-writing skills related to the analysis of a specific question, construction of arguments, assessment and deployment of evidence, writing style.
• Applied analytical skills, built through an understanding of both academic and operational questions about humanitarian practice in situations of armed conflict.
• Participation in seminar discussion and presentations in order to aid the research, analysis and presentation skills.

• Students will have the opportunity to develop interpretation and argumentation skills, both written and oral form, through assessed coursework and seminar presentations.
• Students will develop research and project management skills throughout the course.
• The course will foster an ability to move between different disciplinary approaches, promoting flexibility and adaptable working methods.

Assessment task	Formative or Summative	Weighting within unit (if summative)
Policy brief	Summative	40%
One essay from a list provided	Summative	60%
Essay Plan	Formative	0%

Feedback method	Formative or Summative
Written feedback on assignments	Summative
Oral feedback in class	Formative
Oral feedback one-to-one during office hours	Formative/summative

This list is indicative only, and subject to change:

Auyero, Javier, Philippe Bourgois, and Nancy Scheper-Hughes, eds. 2015. Violence at the urban margins. New York: Oxford University Press.

Bradley, Miriam. 2016. Protecting civilians in war: the ICRC, UNHCR, and their limitations in internal armed conflicts. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

ICRC. 2018. The roots of restraint in war. Geneva: ICRC.

Jo, Hyeran. 2015. Compliant rebels: rebel groups and international law in world politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Magone, Claire, Michaël Neuman, and Fabrice Weissman, eds. 2011. Humanitarian negotiations revealed: the MSF experience. London: Hurst.

Modirzadeh, Naz K, Dustin A Lewis, and Claude Bruderlein. 2011. "Humanitarian engagement under counter-terrorism: a conflict of norms and the emerging policy landscape." International Review of the Red Cross 93 (883): 623-647. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1816383112000033.