Course Overview

The MSc in Humanitarian Practice has been created to meet the professional and personal development needs of those working in the humanitarian sector, producing graduates who will meet the increasing demand for humanitarian leadership. The blended nature of this course promotes lifelong learning. 

It is delivered as part of the Leadership Education Academic Partnership (LEAP) programme, and crosses traditional subject boundaries to enable you to reflect critically on issues arising from your own work, the wider humanitarian agenda and develop the skills set needed for contemporary humanitarian practitioners. Focusing on a wide range of humanitarian issues, the programme offers a thorough investigation of the agents of change in the humanitarian field.

It brings together the disciplines of public and global health, political science, international relations, history, epidemiology, disaster risk management and peacebuilding, as well as the expertise of academics and leading practitioners. 

As an LSTM and HCRI student, you will benefit from a comprehensive and multidisciplinary approach to teaching and research, as well as individual tutoring and supervision from academics from a wide range of disciplines. 

Unique Partnership

The programme is delivered jointly by LSTM and HCRI, in partnership with international medical humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). This partnership brings together multidisciplinary academic expertise and operational humanitarian experience, and opens access to a broad range of courses across the two academic institutions. 

The programme has been designed to reflect the scoping and strategic needs as identified by MSF, but also relevant for other humanitarian organizations. Through the partnership, we ensure that the programme will enhance the knowledge and skills of staff who work in a humanitarian organisation setting. 

Flexible blended programme

This is a flexible programme that is designed to allow study to fit around the work commitments of those already working in the humanitarian sector. It offers three entry routes leading to a Postgraduate Certificate, Postgraduate Diploma or a Master of Science (MSc).

The programme comprises core modules delivered jointly by academics at LSTM and the University of Manchester, and a wide range of optional modules are available at both institutions. 

The blended learning approach combines online and campus-based learning. This flexible approach gives you the best of both worlds: opportunities to work where and when it suits you, as well as access to the face-to-face teaching, world-class facilities and networking available at LSTM and the University of Manchester. 

Through a combination of blended modules, short courses, traditional semester long units, and online provision students will be able to access the programmes at times that are convenient to their working lives, and to study modules both remotely online and in person at LSTM and the University of Manchester for short periods of time.