Welcome to the MSc Social Justice and Community Action! In this recording, the Programme Director (Callum McGregor), Academic Cohort Lead (Claire Bynner) and Student Advisor (Daniel Davis Wood) welcome you to the programme and share some key information for new students. Callum, Claire and Dan introduce themselves, discussing their respective roles and how they can support you.
These pages describe what to do in preparation for commencing your studies.
Particulars for Social Justice and Community Action students
Listen to ‘Welcome to the programme’ information session
An introduction to the programme and the people who will support you.
Complete induction tasks
Welcome to Social Justice and Community Action! Before you arrive, we encourage you to undertake these informal tasks:
Task 1: ‘Polishing the Masters diamond’
Reflect on your skills and experience using the ‘Masters Diamond 7 facets’ scoresheet. Please see the notes and scoresheet available on this link:
MSc Social Justice and Inclusion induction materials: Task 1
Task 2: Social Justice – getting to know each other
To prepare for getting to know each other, choose a social justice issue that you are passionate about, consider why you think this is a vital issue and how you are addressing it, or could address it. Write a couple of sentences about what you hope to get from the programme and what you think others can learn from you!
Think about someone (it could be an activist, a writer, an academic etc.) who inspires you to work for social justice. Write a couple of lines about why they inspire you and how they will shape your studies and your practice.
We will draw on this in the opening weeks of the programme as you are getting to know your peers and tutors through things like live ‘coffee chats’ organised by the Academic Cohort Lead.
We’re looking forward to meeting you in September.
Best wishes,
Callum McGregor (Programme Director)
Claire Bynner (Academic Cohort Lead)
Plan your studies
As a student on a part-time programme, we recommend that you take between 1-2 courses per semester. For many of you starting in September, we have two compulsory courses which we’d encourage you to take. These are ‘Theories and Politics of Social Justice’ in Semester 1 and ‘Community Engagement: Co-constructing Knowledge with Communities’ in Semester 2. You are also able to study another optional course alongside one of these if you wish. Please get in touch with your Student Adviser as soon as possible and they will support you in this process.
Please note that students on intermittent routes (including the PGCert, PGDip and the 2-6 year MSc) need to study a minimum of 60 credits over each two years of enrolled study. You’ll have an opportunity to choose from a wider variety of courses after Easter, when Student Advisers will be gathering your course preferences for the 2026-27 academic year.
Choose your Option courses by 2 September
If you wish to take an option course in Semester 1, you must let us know your preferences before you begin your studies. The option course that we are offering in September this year is ‘Organisational Management for Social Justice’. For planning purposes, it would also be helpful to know if you would like to study the option course we are offering in semester 2, which is ‘Learning for Democracy.’
You can find information about available option courses in the Degree Programme Table and on our Programme website.
MSc Social Justice and Community Action runs internal options courses that rotate every two years. This year, we are offering the following courses:
- Semester 1: Organisational Management for Social Justice
- Semester 2: Learning for Democracy
Two other option courses will be available in the 2026-27 academic year:
You will have an opportunity to take several of these courses at some stage during your time on-programme. If you have questions about your credit load requirements and the timing of option courses, please reach out to your Student Adviser.
You are also free to request enrolment on other courses across the University. We also have strong links with other postgraduate programmes at the University of Edinburgh. These include (but are not limited to):
- MSc Digital Education
- MSc International Development
- MSc Global Challenges
Courses that tend to be popular with Social Justice and Community Action students include:
- Semester 1: Politics and Theories of International Development (PGSP11240)
- Semester 1: Global Development Challenges (Distance Learning) (PGSP11326)
- Semester 1: Social Inequality and Child and Adolescent Mental Health (Distance Learning) (CLPS11101)
- Semester 2: Analysing Development (Distance Learning) (PGSP11319)
- Semester 2: Key Skills in Development Practice (Distance Learning) (AFRI11006)
You might also consider the intensive courses offered by the Edinburgh Futures Institute (EFI). These run from 9.00 am - 5.00 pm over two days of intensive study. There isn't a list of EFI courses as such, but you can browse through online/distance learning courses on Path by using the search terms "(fusion online)", "(online)" or "(ODL)" (including the parentheses).
We cannot guarantee that you will be allocated a space on your selected course. Course choices are subject to approval by Course Organisers and Programme Directors and are dependent on course capacity. Course choices may be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. We will do our best to allocate all students their preferences.
To indicate your preferences, please fill in the form by Tuesday, 2 September. Students will be enrolled on their courses after this deadline.
If you have questions regarding the option course selection process, contact the Student Adviser.
If you would like to speak to the Programme Director about optional courses, contact: callum.mcgregor@ed.ac.uk
Preparing for your studies
Additional assistance and resources
This article was published on