MSc The Globalised Muslim World
A unique masters exploring the dynamics of contemporary Muslim societies in our increasingly interconnected world. Apply before 31st July 2024 to be eligible for one of five £5000 scholarships.
Applications for the MSc The Globalised Muslim World 2024/25 academic year will be possible at the start of October 2023.
Find out more about the programme and apply on the University of Edinburgh Degree Finder.



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
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.
If you have any questions at all about the programme, you can also contact us directly: thealwaleedcentre@ed.ac.uk.
Further Information
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
- Regional Perspectives in a Globalised Muslim World
- International, Transnational and Globalised Dynamics of the Muslim world
- Research Methods and Dissertation Writing on the Muslim World (taught across semesters 1 and 2)
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:
- Globalised Muslim Politics - Professor Frederic Volpi
- Muslims in Europe - Ezgi Guner
-
Muslim Africa in Global Perspective - Dr Ezgi Guner
- Muslim Society in Southeast Asia - Dr Siti Sarah Muwahidah
- Islamic Africa - Dr Jeremy Dell
- Unfolding Afghanistan in a Globalised Context - Dr Sayed Mahdi Mosawi
- South Asia: Culture, Politics & Economy Dr Hugo Gorringe
- Political Contestation in the Middle East - Dr Ewan Stein
- International Relations Theory - Dr Andrew Neal
- International Security - Dr Andrew Neal
- The Middle East in International Relations - Dr Lucy Abbott
- Gender and Media in the Arab World - Dr Ebtihal Muhadeen
- The History and Culture of Iran - Dr Andrew Newman
- Digital Islamic Art History - Dr Glaire Anderson
- Critical Readings in Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies - Dr Elvire Corboz
- Major Themes in the Study of Islam - Dr Shadaab Rahemtulla
- Political Islam: Key Thinkers and their Contexts - Dr Shadaab Rahemtulla
- Liberation Theologies in Christianity and Islam - Dr Shadaab Rahemtulla
- From diatribe to dialogue in Christian-Muslim relations - Dr Joshua Ralston
-
Islamic Theology: Classical and Contemporary Perspectives - Dr Joshua Ralston
- Arabic language
- Persian language
- Turkish language
Dissertation
You must also complete a 15,000-word dissertation on a relevant subject of your choosing.
For the 2024/25 academic year, the Alwaleed Centre for the Study of Islam in the Contemporary World is offering scholarships of £5000 to five exceptional applicants to the MSc Globalised Muslim World programme.
If you have applied for the MSc The Globaslied Muslim World programme and wish to be considered for a scholarship, you can apply by clicking HERE.
Scholarships are available to both UK and international students and will be paid directly to successful applicants once they have commenced their studies and paid their full tuition fees. The deadline for scholarship applications is midnight on Monday 31st July 2024.
If you have any questions about these scholarships, please do not hesitate to contact us: thealwaleedcentre@ed.ac.uk.
Other funding options are available, with plans to offer scholarships in subsequent years.
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'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.
Applications for the MSc The Globalised Muslim World are now being accepted for the 2023/23 academic year. The deadline for applications is the end of July 2022.
Find out more about the programme and apply on the University of Edinburgh Degree Finder.