Master's degrees

• A rich curriculum which encompasses both traditional security concerns (such as warfare, terrorism, strategy, and intelligence) and broader understandings of international security (such as human security, population movements, and environmental security). All are examined through an illuminating variety of case studies and informed by cutting edge scientific research.
• Analytical approaches which include both a practical concern for policy relevance (with modules focused on problem-solving and how to provide policy advice) and deeper reflections informed by critical schools of security studies (on themes such as securitisation, resilience, gender, and the ethics of security).
• Assessments which can be tailored to individual interests and career ambitions, by enabling in-depth exploration of preferred security topics and bespoke theoretical approaches in essays, policy briefs, presentations, and a dissertation.
• An optional trip to Belfast offered in the study of Urban Warfare. This explains the ongoing impact that a complex history of conflict continues to have on city environment and community. (Past students have described the trip as the ‘highlight of their degree’.)
• The opportunity to participate in research seminars and policy-focused discussions with external guests and Loughborough experts presenting their latest and ongoing work (past examples have included officials from the armed forces, private security personnel, and leading researchers on topics ranging from Artic security, NATO, Syria, and Ukraine to information-sharing, populism, militarism, peacebuilding, climate change, and disaster risk-reduction).
• This programme is delivered by academic experts including Guy Aitchison, Ali Bilgic, Alexandre Christoyannopoulos, Duncan Depledge, Caroline Kennedy-Pipe, Christina Oelgemoller, Varun Uberoi, Giulia Piccolino, Tom Waldman, and Chris Zebrowski.

We take it as a compliment that many of our own graduates opt to stay with us by enrolling on the MA and are joined by students from across Europe and beyond. Some of the students on the MA have shared their experience on our prospectus.

Graduates from the programme have gone on to work for major security organisations, intergovernmental organisations, think tanks as well as multinational companies and in the national and international public sector. More generally, International Security MA is designed for those interested in working in diplomacy, journalism, civil service, policymaking, campaigning, and/or research, as well as those wanting to learn more about international security threats and how these are framed and responded to.