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Full description of the programmeHFM2-CES

Culture, Environment and Sustainability (master's - 2 years)

Duration: 2 year(s)
Credits: 120
Organization: Full-time programme


Why choose this programme?

What are the main challenges in creating sustainable development? How can interdisciplinarity be a means to greater understanding of the complexities related to these challenges?

These are the overall issues taught and debated throughout the master's degree in Culture, Environment and Sustainability.

The master's degree Culture, Environment and Sustainability (CES) is a two-year programme that leads to a Master in Philosophy. CES is offered by Centre for Development and the Environment (SUM), an interdisciplinary research centre at UiO.

The aim of the CES master's programme is to provide students with knowledge and critical insights into the socio-cultural, political and scientific challenges of achieving sustainable development at both the local and global level.

This master's degree programme takes up a number of important topics related to sustainability, including ethics, culture, development theory, poverty, business and consumption. An important objective of the program is to introduce students to the complexities of interdisciplinary research.

Centre for Development and the Environment (SUM) welcomes applications from students who are interested in studying in an international and welcoming workplace. Please explore these web pages for information on the program’s structure, courses offered, learning outcomes, and how to apply.

Learning outcomes

With a master's degree in Culture Environment and Sustainability we aim to:

  • provide students with a thorough theoretical understanding of the challenge of sustainable development, with an emphasis on sociopolitical, cultural and ideological perspectives
  • give students advanced insight into the complexities of interdisciplinary research
  • train students in philosophical argumentation, historical knowledge and cultural understanding of environmental problems
  • use the ongoing case studies provided by SUM researchers to provide practical benefits to those who will be involved in research and policy in the future.

The Master Thesis is an independent piece of work. You learn to formulate academic research questions, find relevant material for your research project, critically relate to sources, and to process large quantities of information through scientific methods.

The topic for your thesis should be connected to one of SUM's research areas

Earlier thesis by master students at SUM

How to apply?

Admission is once a year. Application deadlines:

1 December:

  • International applicants.

15 April:

  • Extended deadline for citizens from
    the EU/EEA area + citizens from Switzerland.
  • Nordic citizens and applicants with a
    permanent residence in Norway.

Application process for international applicants:

Application process for Nordic citizens and applicants with a permanent residence in Norway:

  • Apply through SøknadsWeb. NB: Only for applicants holding an 11 digit Norwegian ID-number. Other applicants, please contact the department for application procedures.

Available places: 20

Tuition fees: There are no tuition fees at the University of Oslo. There is a small semester registration fee of NOK 440 (approx. 55 euro), which also gives you the benefit of the services of The Foundation for Student Life (SiO).

Admission requirements

Admission to master s degree studies
requires:

  • Higher Education Entrance Qualification (generell studiekompetanse ). Applicants with foreign education, please refer to the
    GSU-list (pdf file).
  • a completed bachelor s degree
    comparable to a Norwegian bachelor s degree.
  • a specialization defined by the
    programme.
  • a minimum grade point average (GPA) of
    C (in Norwegian scale) or equivalent from the specialization in your
    degree.
  • a language requirement documented by
    one of the tests/exams below:
    a) Passed examination in
    English foundation course (140 hours/5 periods per week) in
    Norwegian upper secondary school with a minimum grade of 4 (or an
    equivalent grade from a Nordic upper secondary school) or
    alternatively passed examination in English from second and/or
    third school year, or
    b) An
    internationally recognised English language proficiency test .

Specific requirements: The minimum requirement for admission to CES, is that the students must have at least a good second class honours degree (or equivalent) within social sciences, the humanities, or natural sciences.

Students with a natural science background should have at least half a year's studies within the humantities or social sciences to prepare them for the interdisciplinary challenges this programme offers.

We ask all applicants to our programme to add a Letter of motivation/Statement of purpose where you elaborate on your interest in or background from development and environmental issues, either from work or studies.

Ranking of applicants

Applicants are ranked according to their grade point average (GPA). Applicants who can not be estimated according to their grade point average, will be ranked based on individual assessment.

Admission to 1-2 years' Master's programmes is subject to Regulations governing admission to 1- to 2-year master's degree programmes at the University of Oslo .

Structure and accomplishment

The Master's curriculum offered by SUM follows this structure from autumn 2012:

  • 30 credits compulsory courses
  • 30 credits elective courses
  • 60 credits masters thesis

Compulsory courses from Autumn 2012 (30 credits)

  • SUM4100 Research Methods and Project Design, autumn 15 credits
  • SUM4200 Key Issues in Envionment and Development, autumn 15 credits
4. semesterWork on SUM4091 - Master's Thesis in Culture, Environment and Sustainability
3. semesterWork on SUM4091 - Master's Thesis in Culture, Environment and Sustainability
2. semesterElective courseElective courseElective course
1. semesterSUM4100 - Research Methods and Project DesignSUM4200 - Key Issues in Development and Environment
 10 ECTS credits10 ECTS credits10 ECTS credits

Structure for students starting before autumn 2012

The Master's curriculum offered by SUM follows this structure:

  • 40 credits compulsory courses
  • 20 credits elective courses
  • 60 credits masters thesis
4. semesterComplete SUM4091 - Master's Thesis in Culture, Environment and Sustainability
3. semesterWork on SUM4091 - Master's Thesis in Culture, Environment and Sustainability
2. semesterElective courseElective course SUM4011B - Research Methods (II)
1. semesterSUM4000 - Development and environment: Theory and policy challengesSUM4011A - Research Methods (I) SUM4012 - Cross-Cultural Perspectives on the Environment
 10 ECTS credits10 ECTS credits10 ECTS credits

Compulsory courses (40 credits)


Elective courses (20 credits)
The list might be object of change annualy. See course pages for which semesters the courses are offered.


It is possible to apply for recognition of 20 credits taken in other subjects when these can be seen as relevant for the candidate’s Master's Thesis. Consult the Program Director if you wish to do so.


Masters thesis (60 credits)

Register for SUM4091 - Master's Thesis in Culture, Environment and Sustainability in the third and fourth semester. This is not a courses with lectures and semianrs, but registration in StudentWeb is necessary.

Previously offered courses:

Teaching and examinations

Time and location

You will find time and place for teaching and examinations at the semester pages for each course. Please see the list of courses offered at the University of Oslo.

Courses in Development and the Environment

Teaching and learning methods

Lectures and seminars are the teaching forms used in most of our courses. The readings are here further explored and related to current and relevant research.

These teaching forms require active participation from the students, and we expect a high level of attendance at both lectures and seminars.

The teaching represent only one aspect of the learning process throughout the courses. Reading the syllabus, preparing for classes and follow-up work are important learning activites that we expect our students to engage themselves in.

We advice all our students to form study groups, to discuss the readings and topics that have been presented at the lectures and seminars with fellow students.

For more information about the specific teaching forms of each course see the individual course pages

Language

English

Location

Centre for Development and the Environment, Sognsveien 68, University of Oslo

Forms of examination and assessment

The most commonly used exam forms at the CES programme are Written exam, Home Assignment and Term Paper.

  • Written exam usually lasts 3-4 hours.
  • The home assignment is usually a one week exam following the series of lectures.
  • A term paper is an assignment that the students work on, parallell with the course teaching.

For more information about the specific exam form of each course see the individual course pages

Language of examination

In the courses comprising the programme, the exam question papers are given in English, and the answer papers are normally supposed to be delivered in English. The course descriptions provide more information about requirements concerning the language of examination

Grading scale

The programme contains both courses using the pass/fail scale and courses using the grading scale with five steps from A to E for pass and F for fail, cf. § 6.1 i Forskrift om studier og eksamener ved Universitetet i Oslo (Norwegian only). Each course description provides more information about the grading scale in use.

Diploma

The diploma is issued when you have completed the combination of courses which fulfill the degree requirements. The diploma is issued in English. With the diploma you also receive a Diploma Supplement, providing more information about the degree and about the Norwegian system of higher education.

A semester abroad

The Culture Environment and Sustainability Master's programme do not offer any particular agreements for studying abroad.

Most students do their field research the third semester of the programme. As part of the academic practice of organisinig a research project, the students are repsonsible for administrating the fieldwork themselves in cooperation with their supervisor. Some go abroad while others choose to do their research in Norway.

Projects of previous CES students

Quality assurance

The University of Oslo aims at offering an innovative and relevant education with the best teaching and tuition possible. It is therefore important that you as a student give us feedback and contribute to evaluations of your programme and courses.

The programme of study is regularly evaluated to ensure and develop the quality of the programme:

  • Each year, the programme management conducts a review to assess whether the objectives of the programme have been met. External programme supervisors monitor examinations and assessment.
  • At least every fourth year, the faculty conducts a more thorough evaluation of the programme. External representatives take part in the evaluation panel.
  • Courses in the programme are evaluated regularly, according to a schedule decided by the faculty.

Read more about the quality assurance system at the University of Oslo.

After completion / career opportunities

Carrier Opportunities

The most common carrier opportunities for students with a Master's degree in Culture Environment and Sustainability are:

  • Teaching and Research: Teaching and training, and administrative responsibilities related to supervising, councelling, executive work, and report investigations
  • Policy making:
  • Public administration
  • National and International Environmental or Development organisations

Further Studies

• Research Training at the Facultuy of Humanities The Faculty of Humanities offers 7 different research training options within its Ph.d programme.

More information about other UiO Ph.d programmes

Educational training and the Norwegian Labour Market

• Planlegge karriere : Følg med på tilbud om kurs, karriereveiledning og prosjekter i arbeidslivet.

• Praktisk-pedagogisk utdanning : vil du bli lærer, kan du søke praktisk-pedagogisk utdanning hvis du har minst 60 studiepoeng i to undervisningsfag som UiO tilbyr fagdidaktikk i

Interview with former students

Kristin - Junior Professional Officer at The United Nations Environment Programme

Having learned how to analyse, write and give constructive feedback is essential in my job at United Nations Environment Programme, says Kristin Dypedokk.

Read the full interview

Gry - Advisor at The Ministry of the Environment

Bureaucracy is a lot about reading, learning and writing. The main difference is that at work, the deadlines are tighter and documents must be shorter and more to the point than academic papers, says advisor Gry Asp Solstad at the Ministry of the Environment.

Read the full interview

Marte - prosjektleder i Oikos - Økologisk Norge

HF-utdanningen har gjort Marte von Krogh flink til å diskutere og argumentere ut fra forskjellige kunnskapssystem. Og bygge bro mellom dem. Dette er viktig i jobben som prosjektleder i Oikos - Økologisk Norge.

Les hele intervjuet

Torbjørn - journalist i Ny Tid

Jeg har lært å tenke kreativt og kritisk om samfunnspørsmål, sier Ny tid-journalist Torbjørn Tumyr Nilsen, som har en tverrfaglig master i "Culture, Environment and Sustainability".

Les hele intervjuet

Contact us

HF Student information

Visiting address: 
P. A. Munchs house, ground floor, Blindern

Visiting hours: 
11-15

Postal address: 
Postboks 1079, Blindern
0316 Blindern, Oslo, Norway

Phone: 22 85 62 93. Phone hours 9-15
Fax: 22 85 83 15
E-mail: 
Web: http://www.sum.uio.no/personer/