Through a suite of world leading degree programmes, and cutting-edge research, the School of Applied Social and Policy Sciences is a global hub for critical thinking and social innovation, which confront big societal challenges (poverty, discrimination, insecurity, and climate change) and advance the public good (justice, peace, health, human rights, and dignity).
Based on two campuses, Jordanstown and Magee, the School has over 70 permanent members of academic and business support staff, together with additional fixed-term posts, research associates and visiting professors.
We offer interdisciplinary taught programmes in a range of areas including:
- Criminology and criminal justice
- Community development
- Peace-building and conflict analysis
- Politics and international studies
- Public administration
- Public policy, health and social policy, and social policy
- Social work
- Sociology
- Youth work
Together, this provision offers a wide range of vocationally relevant taught undergraduate and postgraduate degrees, all of which enjoy a long-established reputation for high quality teaching informed by nationally and internationally recognised research and scholarship.
Our programmes prepare graduates for a dynamic professional life that has social impact. Cutting-edge curricula allow learners to critically engage with transformative social scientific concepts and professional methods that have fundamentally shaped their area of study, in active and applied settings.
All courses pay close attention to student support and career development mentoring. A characteristic of our programmes is the diverse opportunities they provide for study abroad, and work-based learning, both locally and internationally.
Our Learning Vision
Higher education should be a transformative experience. Transformation takes place when learners are exposed to ground-breaking ideas, technical innovation and best professional practice in applied settings that confront real-world challenges.
Critical thinking, problem solving, creativity, teamwork, and professional resilience, are at the core of our degrees.
Through active and applied learning environments that immerse participants within the dilemmas of real-world practice, students are encouraged to challenge their perceptions of the world, themselves, and what is possible, guided by academic-practitioners researching at the frontiers of policy, professional practice and society, nationally and internationally.
We ensure the relevance of our curriculum, learning activities and degree outcomes through strategic partnerships with practitioners from government, the public sector, civil society, and industry. The School also actively harnesses feedback from current learners, and graduates.
We pride ourselves on welcoming students to an open, informal and supportive setting.
We encourage a life-long approach to learning, and have been proud to support many of our students move from undergraduate to doctoral level over the course of their professional life.