School of Government and International Affairs

from Faculty of Social Sciences and Health: International Brochure

School of Education

The impact of collaboration

A unique collaboration –understanding China

Working with China presents significant opportunities with its global economic platform Belt Road Initiative (BRI). To help navigate, the School has launched our ‘BRI dialogues’ as part of our alSabah Programme. Led by Professor Anoush Ehteshami in partnership with 3Sixty Strategic Advisors, these conversations with key decision shapers give a deep dive into the changing nature of the international system and the growing global role of East Asia.

These dialogues aim to provide senior executives and decision makers with actionable, relevant insights on China and its BRI programme of activities. They seek to establish a clearer appreciation of how to ‘COPE’ in China: how to deal with Complexities, capitalise on Opportunities, understand the country’s return to Power, and brace for the impact of the Externalities of China.

Key guests to our dialogues include prominent academics from other universities including Stephen Chan PBE, Professor Shaun Breslin, and Associate Professor Niv Horesh, as well as other influential people such as journalist James Chau, business leader Louis-Vincent Gave, and development economist Anzetse Were. The conversations are all available on YouTube – see the QR code to the right.

Working across departments to improve female travel safety

Our research involves collaboration with other faculty departments. Professor Emma Murphy was co-investigator for Anthropology-led research project, ‘Youth engagement and skills acquisition within Africa’s transport sector’. Spread across three cities with Professor Murphy based in Tunis, the study focused on young female transport users and workers and led to gender-sensitive transport skills guidance.

There were three, interlinked strands to the research: the ‘user strand’, ‘employment strand’ and ‘action research strand’. In Tunis, researchers were employed on the ground to interview users and workers across the transport network: male and female taxi drivers, female bus drivers –sometimes sitting with them as they drove – tram drivers and transport union reps.

Transaid, an NGO, used this research to create training programmes for female transport users and employees. For users, the training helped women understand how the transport system is organised – i.e. who’s responsible for what, how to identify issues and report them, and what and how to demand of transport companies.

For workers, Transaid worked with public transport companies to deliver training to upskill female management. While this training was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, with trainees struggling to access online training and later get time off for in-person training, the training was reported as being invaluable for these women.

More on this project can be found in the Department of Anthropology section on pages 10-11

Pro- and anti-migrant mobilisation in the Mediterranean

Political processes that unfold in refugee reception sites often spur mobilisations both for and against migration, leading to impacts ranging from legal ramifications in refugee protection to electoral support of the far right. Dr Olga Demetriou is coleading a project with Professor Antonis Ellinas (University of Cyprus) to analyse these processes, working with individuals and communities in Spain, Italy, Greece, and Cyprus to understand the dynamics of activist work around migration and the impact of refugee reception on local communities. The collaboration involves partnering with universities in Spain (University of Granada) and Italy (University of Siena) as well as a wide network of academics, practitioners, and activists in Europe and the MENA region.

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Education and International Scholarships

International students

Durham has a long history of welcoming students and academics from countries across the globe. Over 4,500 international students from 156 countries chose to make Durham University their home, creating a welcoming and diverse community. Our academic curriculum has been shaped over the years to account for students coming from a wide range of national settings – from making course content more relevant and meaningful to an international audience, to evaluating how we can make assessments more inclusive to a wider range of students, to the different modes of teaching which we employ.

While all our students get access to resources such as advisor appointments, workshops, and career fairs, we also have tailored information for international students. This includes details of overseas opportunities and employers as well as job hunting platforms such as Student Circus. Our Durham International Student Employability Programme (DISEP) provides interactive sessions covering key elements of the job selection process that go into great detail on language use and cultural expectations of employers. Many of the employers we work with are registered sponsors of the Skilled Worker visa and are keen to recruit talented students and graduates from around the world.

We’re committed to supporting the best students regardless of their financial circumstances. We offer international scholarships and bursaries that are funded by us through partnerships with external organisations, or through generous donations from alumni and friends of the University. We specifically offer scholarships, awards and bursaries that are dedicated to support international students.

International opportunities

Whether students are from the UK or overseas, we aim to provide a wellrounded, internationally focused curriculum. Our newly developed module beginning in the 2023 academic year, Decolonising Knowledge and Power, will be an elective option open to all undergraduate students in their first year. The cross-departmental, interdisciplinary module aims to introduce students to concepts and case studies related to decolonisation and promote the value of a multidisciplinary and intersectional perspective.

There are also opportunities for students gain intercultural experience during their degree. Many subjects include overseas trips as part of their programmes, such as international fieldwork – see our pages on Archaeology and Anthropology. All of our students can apply to spend a year abroad as part of their studies at one of our many partner universities, which can be an invaluable opportunity to gain a larger understanding of the wider world. Students can apply for a placement year, depending on the degree programme they’re on, as well as internships and volunteering opportunities.

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> Scholarships Bursaries and Awards

> Careers, Employability and Enterprise

> Information for international students