MSc Social Justice and Community Action

This page contains information for students starting the MSc Social Justice and Community Action programme at the University of Edinburgh in January 2025.

Your Programme Director

Dr Callum McGregor

Programme Director

  • Moray House School of Education and Sport

Contact details

Preparing for your studies

What to do in preparation for commencing your studies.

Key dates

Find key dates for the coming academic year, including your programme-specific Welcome Week activities and the start of teaching. Download programme handbook, technologies handbook and details on your first course, 'Theories and Politics of Social Justice'.

Useful reading

To help you best prepare for your degree, your Programme Director has identified some pre-reading materials which you may want to engage with.

Whether you have signed up for the masters, postgraduate diploma or certificate, I'd like to extend a warm welcome to the MSc Social Justice and Community Action. In joining us, you are becoming part of a global community of learners with a shared dedication to advancing social justice in diverse settings. 

Our programme is designed to critically engage you with the contested theories, politics and practices of social justice in local and global contexts. The goal of this programme is to challenge and support each of you to connect ideas of liberty, equality, citizenship and democracy to real-world practice. The knowledge you will gain is relevant to work in many contexts including with communities, grassroots activism, public policy, organisational management and more. The core content of this interdisciplinary programme will draw on perspectives from a range of disciplines, for example, anthropology, critical education, community development, politics, critical social theory, social policy and sociology. The digital medium of this fully online distance learning programme facilitates flexible, high-quality, critical and collaborative learning environments for you, as part-time students. 

On these pages, you will find useful information to help you prepare for your studies, as well as key dates and useful reading. Please read all of this information carefully and note that on the 'Preparing for your studies' page there are some tasks for you to complete. 

If anything is unclear or you would like further assistance, please get in touch with me at callum.mcgregor@ed.ac.uk, or our Programme Administrator, Annie, at socialjustice@ed.ac.uk. 

Please take some time to watch/listen to our pre-recorded welcome for January joiners, where the Programme Director (that’s me!), Academic Cohort Lead (Dr Claire Bynner) and Student Advisor (Daniel Davis Wood) introduce themselves and give you some essential information about the programme, their roles and how they can support you.   

We are also running a live 'drop-in' welcome event on Wednesday 8th January 1pm - 2.30pm where we will answer any questions you may have. 

 I'm looking very much forward to working with you!

PG support team

The postgraduate taught programmes (PGT) are supported by a dedicated Administration and Support Team.

Our Postgraduate support service teams play a pivotal role in all aspects of your experience studying with us, ranging from student support and general guidance, providing course material, timetables and importantly, getting marks out to you.

These teams will guide you through your time at Edinburgh, from the moment you join us at Welcome Week, until your graduation day. Support continues after graduation, as you will always have a friendly face to greet you and helpful assistance when you need it as a member of our alumni community.

The main purpose of the Teaching Office is to ensure your smooth progression through the programme. As such, they share programme-specific email accounts which you are encouraged to use as this is monitored by multiple staff members, so you are always provided with support, assistance and guidance when you need it, without delay.


Upon joining the University, all taught students are allocated a Student Adviser who will provide you with direct support throughout your time at University. Your Student Adviser will be your first point of contact for support with academic, wellbeing and practical matters. Your Student Adviser’s name and contact details will be available on MyEd and EUCLID, and they will introduce themselves to you during induction.

At Moray House, our team of Student Advisers are based in the Student Experience and Support Office (SESO), in G.09, Charteris Land. If you have a question about any aspect of your life as a student at Moray House, you can visit the office or contact the team.


Welcome from the Careers Service at the University of Edinburgh! We have developed a new series of flexible career development presentations designed to support postgraduate students at the College of Arts Humanities and Social Sciences. We will cover the career essentials, including marketing your qualification, career planning & decision making, building your professional profile, networking & navigating the job market and address your needs whether you have joined directly from your undergraduate degree (developing your career) or come with 3+ years of professional experience (advancing your career).


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