School of Social Science and Humanities

MSc Disaster Management & Resilience

MSc Part-time Distance Learning 16 months, Full time Distance Learning 16 months

Learn core theories alongside real-world requirements of delivering disaster management, emergency management, and societal resilience and develop your expertise.

Learn core theories alongside real-world requirements of delivering disaster management, emergency management, and societal resilience and develop your expertise.

Award
MSc
Start date(s)
30 September 2024
UCAS Code
Course specifications
Course length
Part-time Distance Learning (16 months),Full time Distance Learning (16 months)
Campus location
University: Online Distance Learning
UCAS points calculator

What's unique about this course?

  • All of our modules are specifically designed and focussed on disaster, emergency and resilience management. We do not use or combine modules from other courses.

  • All module leaders are experienced and knowledgeable in Disaster, Emergency and Resilience ensuring your content and discussions can delve deeply into key issues.

  • Our course content is designed to allow you to build on your existing experience within or related to Disaster/Emergency Management allow you to extend your knowledge and understanding.

  • We provide a safe environment to examine, discuss, and challenge established practices and theories.

  • We will guide you towards discovering new insights allowing you to adapt and advance your understanding and apply this within the workplace.

  • We will help you to use evidence to facilitate decision making and to make a real difference in the workplace and Disaster Management.

What happens on the course?

The learning activities will include a mixture of recorded sessions, guided reading, and topical discussions.

If studying full-time, you will usually study 6 modules per year and you will study 2 modules at a time, plus the dissertation. If studying part-time, you will usually study 3 modules per year, alongside the dissertation in the second year. 

Each module delivery last approximately 8 weeks, with each week consisting of a recorded subject session of about an hour.  Each of these is supported by guided reading, wider independent reading, and a discussion topic.  The module is completed through the submission of a single assignment which will usually be an essay (although one module is assessed through the delivery of a recorded presentation), and which is usually submitted a few weeks after the module content has completed. 

You will be supported by a personal tutor, as well as your module leader, and programme leader who you can engage with through our virtual learning environment.  During your dissertation module you will be able to attend monthly online drop-in sessions.  You will also be assigned a research supervisor who is there to support you as you undertake your dissertation research.

You will also have full access to our Learning Centres which provide access to wide range of online information sources, including eBooks, e-Journals, and subject databases.  Learning Centres also provide students with academic skills support via the Skills for Learning programme.  Students can access skills workshops, skills resources, or ask for one-to-one help on a range of skills such as academic writing and referencing.

The University also has a host of other services to support you, so please take a look at the Student Support website: www.wlv.ac.uk/current-students/student-support/ . If you have any other questions whilst studying, or need help or advice then ASK@WLV team is also there for you: www.wlv.ac.uk/current-students/askwlv/.

Course Modules

Potential Career Paths

There is a wide array of roles which can be attained across a full spectrum of organisations such as

the United Nations, the government, the emergency services, humanitarian aid organisations,

voluntary organisations, private companies, consultancy companies, the military, schools,

universities/research bodies, and more. Such roles might include:

  • Disaster Management
  • Emergency Planning / Management
  • Disaster Risk Reduction
  • Resilience Management
  • Business Continuity Management
  • Emergency & Disaster Research
  • Humanitarian Aid
  • Voluntary Work
  • Community Resilience
  • Emergency Response
  • Recovery Management
  • Risk Management
  • Civil Contingencies
  • Civil Protection
  • Consultancy
  • Training / Education

 

Additional Information

Everything you need to know about this course!

This course is ideal for those looking for career advancement and those seeking to move into a disaster management, emergency planning, business continuity, or other resilience related career. 

The courses will allow you to enhance your professional credibility and employability; will develop your personal and professional practice; and provide you with knowledge and understanding of essential concepts, up-to-date research, and evolving practice.

The University of Wolverhampton has been delivering postgraduate provision for disaster, emergency, and resilience management since 2012.  Our courses are highly rated and extremely popular with practitioners in Disaster/Emergency management, or those aspiring to enter this area of work.

Overall, our graduates think differently about what, why and how they deliver disaster management.  They are able to use an evidence-based approach to deliver and advance Disaster, Emergency and Resilience Management for themselves, for their organisations, and for the benefit of society as a whole.

You will develop an advanced working knowledge of the principles, practice, concepts, and

underpinning policy within Disaster Management & Resilience, based on established evidence,

practice and research.

You will also develop valuable proficiencies in communication and critical thinking as well as a

wide range of inter-personal, leadership, self-management, research, and project management

skills.

 

On successful completion of the course, you will be able to:

  • Use initiative and take responsibility in order to learn independently, solve problems in creative and innovative ways.
  • Demonstrate a range of transferable academic and professional skills appropriate to a career in Disaster Management, Emergency Management, or other Resilience roles; such as critical analysis, presentation skills, appropriate use of academic conventions in the production and presentation of work, and coherently structured arguments supported by thorough evidence.
  • Communicate effectively, with colleagues and a wider audience, in a variety of media. · Develop a critical understanding of differing perspectives and theories incorporating the legal underpinning of preparing for, responding to, and recovering from a range of emergencies, disasters, or other such disruptive challenges.
  • Demonstrate a comprehensive, critically aware, understanding of subject relevant legislation and other appropriate national and international policies and guidelines with the skills and knowledge required to implement these in a range of organisations.
  • Develop advanced level skills in the critical appraisal of research and design, implement and evaluate a substantial piece of academic research in a selected area of Disaster Management, Emergency Management and/or Resilience.

Delivered fully online, this MSc course in Disaster Management & Resilience can be studied over approximately 1 or 2 Years to suit your requirements. This provides you with flexibility, especially if you are already in full-time employment or have other commitments. We have specifically designed the course to aid professionals working in the field already and for those wishing to embark in such a career who have transferable or existing knowledge, skills, or qualifications.  

We provide a focus on bringing together core theories with the real-world requirements of delivering disaster management, emergency management, and societal resilience to allow you to develop your expertise.  We use real-world case studies and policies from a wide range of international disasters and frameworks for comparison and consideration allowing you to discover, challenge and discuss issues which affect resilience.  You will develop skills in using evidence to provide a firm foundation for your ideas and arguments allow you to communicate these effectively.

Using these skill we will delve behind how and why things are done in disaster and resilience management, giving special attention to why different aspects are undertaken the way that they are, and whether there are lessons to be learnt to improve work towards disaster risk reduction, prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery.

This is an opportunity for you to develop master’s level education in the concepts, theories and academic skills surrounding disaster management and resilience.  Including areas of societal resilience, vulnerability, risk reduction, disruption to the functioning of community/society and recovery, along with an understanding of how these are relevant, and can be applied, to professional practice.

Our team is experienced in and passionate about disaster, emergency and resilience management and we look forward to discussing the opportunities ahead in building a resilient society for current and future disaster risks, and in developing our profession to meet these challenges.

Postgraduate Loyalty Discount:

You can get 20% discount on a taught postgraduate course if you’re a University of Wolverhampton Graduate.

The University offers a generous 20% Loyalty Discount to students progressing from an undergraduate programme to a taught postgraduate on-site programme, where both courses are University of Wolverhampton Awards.

There is no time limit on how long ago you completed your degree as long as this is your first Masters level qualification.

The discount applies to the first year of enrolment only. Students who receive a loyalty discount are not entitled to any further tuition discount or bursary. For full terms and conditions click here.


Self-funded:

If you are paying for the fees yourself then the fees can be paid in 3 instalments: November, January and April. More information can be found by clicking here.


Sponsored - Your employer, embassy or organisation can pay for your Tuition fees:

Your employer, embassy or organisation agrees to pay all or part of your tuition fees; the University will refer to them as your sponsor and will invoice them for the appropriate amount.

We must receive notification of sponsorship in writing as soon as possible, and before enrolment, confirming that the sponsor will pay your tuition fees.


Financial Hardship:

Students can apply to the Dennis Turner Opportunity Fund for help with course related costs however this cannot be used for fees or to cover general living costs.


Charitable Funding:

You might also want to explore the possibility of funding from charitable trusts; please see the following websites Association of Charitable Foundations, Directory of Social Change or Family Action. Most charities and trust funds offer limited bursaries targeted to specific groups of students so you will need to research whether any of them are relevant to your situation.

You can find more information on the University’s Funding, cost, fee and support pages.

Telephone

01902 32 22 22

Email

enquiries@wlv.ac.uk

Online

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