MSc The Globalised Muslim World

A unique MSc programme exploring the dynamics of contemporary Muslim societies in our increasingly interconnected and globalised world.

Suspended for the 2025/26 Academic Year

An exciting restructure of the University of Edinburgh's MSc progammes is currently underway and the Globalised Muslim World MSc will therefore be suspended for the 2025/26 academic year. Students who were interested in this progamme should consider the MSc in Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies.

This exciting taught MSc programme explores the inherent diversity of the world's Muslim societies whilst encouraging students to critically analyse some of the major global, international and transnational trends and movements that cut across borders and connect Muslims across the world.

Moving Beyond the Middle East

Unlike the majority of masters programmes currently available to students with interests in contemporary Muslim societies, the MSc The Globalised Muslim World offers a genuinely global perspective, pushing the boundaries of enquiry beyond the Middle East to South Asia, Southeast Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa as well as a number of key Muslim-minority contexts in Europe and North America.

An Interdisciplinary Postgraduate Experience

The University of Edinburgh is home to a critical mass of expertise on Islam and the Muslim world with leading experts working across a number of discplines and Subject Areas. Our MSc The Globalised Muslim World capitalises on Edinburgh's world-class, multidisciplinary teaching and research by offering students option courses in a variety of Subject Areas, including:

  • Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies
  • Theology and Religious Studies
  • Politics and International Relations
  • Sociology
  • Anthropology
  • History 
MSc The Globalised Muslim world
MSc The Globalised Muslim World

This rich interdisciplinary environment helps students refine their research interests as they plan their own original research project in the form of a 15,000 word supervised dissertation.

Additional Language Options

Those with an interest in languages can also undertake introductory Arabic, Persian or Turkish during their time in Edinburgh.

Stay in Touch

If you would like to register your interest in this programme, please provide us with your contact details by completing our online contact form.

Further Information about the Programme

This programme is run over one year (full time) or two years (part time).

You will complete three core taught courses across two semesters which will provide you with the knowledge and research expertise needed in order to embark on your own original research project in the form of a 15,000-word final dissertation.

Core courses

Option courses

In addition to your core courses, you will have the opportunity to select three option courses which reflect your individual interests. Option courses are taught by leading experts from across the University of Edinburgh's College of Arts Humanities and Social Sciences. Click on any of the names below to find out more.

Option Courses may include

Dissertation

You must also complete a 15,000-word dissertation on a relevant subject of your choosing.


Professor Frédéric Volpi: Programme Director

Frédéric Volpi is Chair of the Politics of the Muslim World in the University of Edinburgh’s Department of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies. He is also the Director of the HRH Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Centre for the Study of Islam in the Contemporary World. He earned his PhD from the University of Cambridge in 2000. Before coming to Edinburgh in 2018, he was in the School of International Relations at the University of St Andrews.

Frédéric Volpi

Frédéric's research addresses the processes of democratization and authoritarianism in the contemporary Muslim world, the role of Islamist actors in social and political mobilizations, the construction of the discourse of political Islam, and the contemporary regional and transnational dynamics of North Africa and the Mediterranean region.

Learn more about Professor Volpi's work

Dr Kholoud Al-Ajarma: Programme Co-Director

Kholoud Al-Ajarma is Alwaleed Lecturer in the Globalised Muslim World with research interests in environmentalism across the contemporary Muslim World.

In addition to her academic experience in anthropology and religion, Kholoud has worked in the fields of refugee studies, gender, youth development, migration, human rights, and environmental justice in several countries of the Mediterranean region including Palestine, Jordan, Egypt, and Morocco. She was a Chevening visiting fellow at Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies and peace fellow of the MENA cohort fellowship programme of the United Nations Allience of Civilizations.

Learn more about Dr Al-Ajarma's work

Kholoud Al-Ajarma

These entry requirements are for the 2024/25 academic year and requirements for future academic years may differ.

Entry requirements for the 2025/26 academic year will be published on 1 Oct 2024.

A UK 2:1 honours degree, or its international equivalent, in a relevant discipline.

Students from China

This degree is Band C.

International qualifications

Check whether your international qualifications meet our general entry requirements:

English language requirements

Regardless of your nationality or country of residence, you must demonstrate a level of English language competency at a level that will enable you to succeed in your studies.

English language tests

We accept the following English language qualifications at the grades specified:

  • IELTS Academic: total 7.0 with at least 6.5 in each component.
  • TOEFL-iBT (including Home Edition): total 100 with at least 23 in each component. We do not accept TOEFL MyBest Score to meet our English language requirements.
  • C1 Advanced (CAE) / C2 Proficiency (CPE): total 185 with at least 176 in each component.
  • Trinity ISEISE III with passes in all four components.
  • PTE Academic: total 70 with at least 62 in each component.

Your English language qualification must be no more than three and a half years old from the start date of the programme you are applying to study, unless you are using IELTS, TOEFL, Trinity ISE or PTE, in which case it must be no more than two years old.

Degrees taught and assessed in English

We also accept an undergraduate or postgraduate degree that has been taught and assessed in English in a majority English speaking country, as defined by UK Visas and Immigration:

We also accept a degree that has been taught and assessed in English from a university on our list of approved universities in non-majority English speaking countries (non-MESC).

If you are not a national of a majority English speaking country, then your degree must be no more than three and a half years old at the beginning of your programme of study.

Find out more about our language requirements:


AwardTitleDurationStudy modeFees
MScGlobalised Muslim World1 YearFull-timeTuition fees
MScGlobalised Muslim World2 YearPart-timeTuition fees