BSc International Disaster Management and Humanitarian Response and Chinese

On the modern languages side of this course, 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 transnationalism, 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 humanitarian response side of the degree 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 humanitarian response 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 humanitarian response 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.

The course unit details listed below are those you may choose to study as part of this programme and are referred to as optional units. These are subject to change and are the latest example of the curriculum available on this programme. Although language units may show here as optional, they are a mandatory part of your modern languages degree and you will take the units relevant to your level of language in each year of study. It Is compulsory to study language at all levels of your modern languages degree.

Insight from the field

As an International Disaster Management and Humanitarian Response student, you’ll have the opportunity to undertake field study – either here in the UK or overseas.

You’ll learn how your knowledge of disaster management and humanitarian response might be applied in the context of real-life hazards and vulnerabilities.

Work placements

Our Professional Experience Project module will allow you to gain valuable professional experience with a humanitarian organisation.

You can also apply your subject-specific knowledge in a real-world context through a placement year in your third year of study, enabling you to enhance your employment prospects, clarify your career goals and build your external networks.

Your year abroad will offer the opportunity to gain first-hand experience of life in a Chinese-speaking country, and further develop your language skills.

Industry partnerships

Our pioneering partnerships with specific national and international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) shape the real-world focus of our teaching, as well as offering strong industry links to key career destinations for graduates.

Partners include Save the Children, International Alert, Medecins Sans Frontieres, The Overseas Development Institute, ALNAP, Mines Advisory Group (MAG), and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).

HCRI is also a World Health Organization collaboration centre.

Residence abroad

You can study and/or work for up to a year in a country or countries relevant to your chosen language(s) to improve your communicative language skills in a native-speaker environment.

The IDMHR part of the degree is 100% coursework based.

This involves a variety of assessment types including essays, policy briefs, blogs, book reviews and reflective writing.

On the languages side of your programme, you will be assessed in various ways, including:

• written and oral examinations
• presentations
• coursework (which may include library research, linguistic fieldwork and data collection, or web-based research)
• in your final year, a dissertation based on a research topic of your choice

Assessment methods vary from course unit to course unit - see individual course unit listings for more information.