School of Global Affairs

Committed to creating an equitable, ethical and sustainable future

Group side silhouette men and women of different culture

Our values and ethos

The Lancaster School of Global Affairs takes a bold and distinctive place-based approach, drawing on arts, humanities, languages and social sciences to mutual understanding and an inclusive, equitable future. Languages and cultures are what make us distinctively human and are thus at the forefront of our ambition to remake Global Affairs.

We engage with international agencies, governments, think tanks, academia, charities, business and global trade and humanitarian organisations to confront the planetary challenges of our times. We are a respected voice in national and international debate and have influence on the critical issues. We are research-led and much of what we do relies on in-house expertise in the languages and cultures of different parts of the world.

We are committed to equitable, ethical and sustainable futures – in which human qualities and differences have clear value.

The twenty-first century has seen dramatic shifts in the global order, with a pandemic, new technologies, territorial wars and struggles over climate targets and truth.

These are the Global Affairs of the Lancaster School:

the exploration and regulation of Artificial Intelligence
the negotiation of environmental futures
thinking and acting on medical and health challenges
critical and informed engagement with all truth claims – against the general backdrop of a new global security environment

We are a place of academic excellence, engaged in the highest quality research. We also believe there should be spaces for creative, playful and quick thinking. We attract students who want to make a difference through ethical leadership and interdisciplinary knowledge and expertise.

A place of distinction

The Lancaster School of Global Affairs has developed a ‘place-based’ approach to research and education. We see aspects of the world in our place, not as a Laboratory but as a place of co-creation and innovation. What does this mean?

This approach places an emphasis on understanding and addressing the unique social, economic, cultural, and environmental characteristics and challenges of England’s North West. We have fine castles, the world-famous Lake District and other beautiful preserved landscapes.

We also have rising seas, changing climate, nuclear and post-nuclear landscapes, coastal communities and poverty, historical and contemporary prosperity, post-industrial environments, conflict over land – between farming and conservation – governance, and big tech and innovation.

Local focus: Research and interventions are tailored to the specific needs and characteristics of the North West to address distinct issues and opportunities.
Community involvement: Engaging local communities and stakeholders is central. This involvement ensures that research and solutions are informed by the lived experiences, knowledge, and priorities of the people in the area. Working with real people enhances our learning and research – seeing the role of complexity, history and compromise in finding future-oriented solutions.
Long-term commitment: We have a sustained commitment to the North West, not only through formal agreements but through spirit and ethos which has led to deeper understanding and stronger relationships.
Policy and practice integration: The findings from place-based research readily inform local and national policies, as well as practical interventions, ensuring that strategies are relevant and effective in the local context.
Equity and inclusion: Our approach aims to address inequalities by focusing on areas that may be underserved or marginalised. We work for fair and inclusive outcomes.

Wastwater in the lake district, view of still lake surrounded by mountains

Interdisciplinary by design

The School of Global Affairs offers four master’s degrees, each of which provides distinctive yet interconnected opportunities to develop the skills, knowledge, relationships and partnerships needed to meet the global challenges of our time.

Uniquely, the four programmes are built around a shared ethos and learning architecture. Programme-specific modules build in-depth knowledge of your chosen topic, while cross-programme modules offer global leadership skills and practical collaborations with strategic external partners.

Teaching, research and engagement activities are integrated across the four programmes, while opportunities to critically engage with global affairs, the environment, AI and health are embedded throughout. All four master’s degrees address these key themes through the lenses of the arts, humanities and social sciences.

Global languages and cultures

Our distinctive approach places language learning squarely in a global context. We see language learning as a means to enhance awareness and understanding of different cultures.

Our degree programmes offer the opportunity to acquire both high-level language skills and a thorough understanding of international cultures and societies. We provide beginners to advanced levels, covering contemporary aspects of the English-, French-, Spanish-, Chinese-, German- and Italian-speaking worlds.

We also offer a range of short courses via our Languages for All programme, which currently includes Arabic, Dutch and Korean as well as French, Spanish, Chinese, German and Italian.

Our popular MA Translation provides linguistic and technical skills for specialist industries such as legal, technical or medical translation.

Valuing people

We are committed to creating a fair and inclusive environment for our staff, students, partners and visitors. Equality, diversity and inclusion is an integral part of the School’s plans and activities.

Athena Swan

We are part of the University-wide effort to encourage and nurture gender equality and diversity in Higher Education. Since achieving the Bronze Athena SWAN award in 2019, our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion committee has been pro-actively working on initiatives to further enhance equality, diversity and inclusion.

Athena Swan

Blogs

Two statuesque figures (one blue, one red) shaking hands.

The power of transcultural friendly agreement

As we celebrate the 120th anniversary of the Entente Cordiale between France and the United Kingdom, we are reminded of the importance of transcultural understanding.

Critically high river waters flowing through Bewdly Bridge

Environmental Change in Our Place and Time

‘The next few years are probably the most important in our history’, stated Debra Roberts, co-chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Working Group in 2018, with an urgency that has since only intensified and been lived through by millions of people affected by extreme weather events with fire, floods, hurricanes, or drought.

A Lego female figure and a Lego robot with caption.

The AI Delusion

Artificial Intelligence is a contradiction that is defined by many smaller but related contradictions. If we consider the words artificial and intelligent, then it turns out AI is neither.

Two large robots working alongside lots of people in a library

On AI, universities, the sciences, and the humanities

The AI revolution is here. It has taken a while as the ‘winters’ of AI show. But now that the technology has reached a large part of the globalised world and Generative AI and derived applications there is a rush to get started, or at least to catch up.

Person standing in front of a sign that says 'Queer Medical Humanities Network Seed Meeting'.

How can languages and cultures research help improve LGBTQIA+ healthcare? Building a Queer Medical Humanities Network

Lecturer in French Studies Benjamin Dalton discusses how his own languages and cultures research engages with the Medical Humanities and how, after realising the strong dialogue between Queer Theory and the Medical Humanities, this inspired him to create the Queer Medical Humanities Network.

The title of the conference on a blue coloured background

Report from the international colloquium 'Los territories de la poesía hispanoamericana' / 'Territories of Hispanoamerican poetry'

As a long-term member of the research project POEPOLIT II, Cornelia Gräbner attended the colloquium Los territories de la poesía en el mundo ibérico y latinoaméricano (1990-2023) at the Université Catholique de Louvain-la-Neuve in Belgium. In this blog, she reports on three excellent days of discussions and readings, which were held in Spanish, Portuguese and Galician – a counterpoint to the dominance of English in academia.

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Latest News

A pencil sketch of a house with birds flying around it.

Publication of 'Inside / Desde la cárcel', bilingual edition of poems written by Argentinian political prisoners 1975-1981

A new publication of bilingual edition of poems written by Argentinian political prisoners (1975-1981) has recently been published as part of the British Academy's funded research project ‘Building Critical Hope at the Academic Center for the Memory of Our América’. Dr Cornelia Gräbner from the School of Global Affairs played a vital part in the discovery and publication of the collection, which pays homage to the original anonymous authors.

The silhouette of a soldier is seen next to a poem.

New Blog Post in the CAMeNA Blog Series with the Latin America Bureau: The other Militaries

Dr Cornelia Gräbner, currently on a research trip at the Academic Center for the Memory of Our América in Mexico, has published a new blog post as part of an ongoing series, in collaboration with the Latin America Bureau.

The Spanish Ambassador, Mr José Pascual Marco Martínez (left), with the Dean of Lancaster University’s Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Professor Edward Simpson (right), and The School of Global Affairs Head of Department, Dr Derek Hird (centre left), and the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Director of Internationalisation Professor Christopher Macleod.

University provides warm welcome for UK’s Spanish Ambassador

The UK’s Spanish Ambassador was on campus at Lancaster University this week to further engagement across education and research with Spain.

Special Journal Issue on Literature, Politics and the Art

A special issue of the journal Critical Comparative Studies brings together contributions from a range of writers, poets and scholars from the Americas and Europe, including work by academics from the School of Global Affairs. Co-edited by Cornelia Gräbner, the special issue “Against the Grain: Dissent, Opposition and La parola contraria in Literature, Politics and the Art” (Vol 21, No 2-3), also features work by Samuel O'Donoghue.

Partnership between Holocaust Centre North Translator-in-Residence and Lancaster’s School of Global Affairs

On October 26th, we were pleased to welcome Dr Rey Conquer, Translator-in-Residence at the Holocaust Centre North, to host a workshop based on letters sent by German-Jewish refugees interned on the Isle of Man. The event was held at the Storey and was in collaboration with Dr Nicola Thomas from the School of Global Affairs, and Lancaster’s Transcultural Writing, Practice and Research Network.