Dual MA/MSc Curriculum
Students earn two degrees upon successful completion of the program: Columbia’s MA in European History, Politics, and Society and LSE’s MSc in Culture and Conflict in a Global Europe.
The program requires two years of full-time study, which must be taken in sequence (first year at Columbia in New York, and second year at LSE in London). Students complete their final project (dissertation or applied policy project) in the second year of the program when they study at the LSE.
Students cannot complete one year of the program and receive only one degree. Both degrees are awarded simultaneously and only after all program requirements for both Columbia’s MA and the LSE’s MSc have been met.
In their first year of the program at Columbia, students need to meet the same requirements (30 credits) as students enrolled in the MA in European History, Politics, and Society. Instead of completing an MA thesis, however, students in the dual degree program take a 4-credit, pre-approved course directly relevant to their final project topic. In addition, instead of having to satisfy the language requirement by the end of their first year, students in the dual degree program can take their full two years in the program to do so.
Students in the dual degree program also take part in the year-long Columbia-LSE European workshop. Led jointly by faculty from the two universities, the workshop convenes twice a month during the fall and spring semesters and explores developments in modern and contemporary Europe.
In the second year at the LSE, the requirements of the program (4.0 units) will be the same as for the MSc in Culture and Conflict in a Global Europe.
At the LSE, students on the dual degree will be able to choose between two options for their final project:
- writing a 10,000-word dissertation based on original research on European politics, economies, societies, and cultures; or
- participating in an applied policy project on a current policy issue and writing a 3,000-word policy brief and a 7,000-word policy study.