My name is Ross Carrol and I'm a
lecturer in political theory here at the
University of Exeter. I'm also the
Director of the MA in Political Thought
here at Exeter. Our MA, I think, is
unique in the sense that we offer a real
diversity of approach to the study of
political thought. We have scholars here
who are conducting cutting-edge research
in issues of contemporary, political
theory, such as democracy, citizenship,
representative government and human
rights. We also; however, have scholars of
a more historical orientation, who are
interrogating the origins in history of
our contemporary, political vocabulary
going all the way from Thomas Hobbes in
the early modern period, up to the 19th
century Kant, Hegel, Mill and Marx. We also,
of course, are a vibrant research
community and one that is particularly
good at incorporating MA students into
the day-to-day life of the department. We
have, for instance, a weekly political
theory reading group, a very supportive
environment at which political theory MA
students can test their ideas for their
dissertations or research papers. We also,
of course, are situated in the Politics
Department of the University of Exeter,
which is a large and growing and
excellent department in the UK. We have
specialisations in area studies,
international relations, and of course,
political theory and MA students in our
MA are welcome to take modules in those
other fields. Lastly we are based, of
course, in Exeter, a town which has a
superb quality of life and people often
ask me what kind of employability
students can look forward to after
taking this degree, it's my response to
that is that there are all sorts of
careers that an MA in Political Thought
can prepare you for. We've had graduates
go on to successful careers in
journalism, in the civil service, but also,
in research and academia itself. Indeed
many have gone on to study a doctoral
level here at Exeter.
