As one of the largest History Departments in the UK we are able to offer a depth of subject expertise rarely matched by other institutions. This means that we can offer a breadth of study with a large chronological range from medieval to modern covering global history from Britain, Europe, Africa, the Americas and Asia. Our students have excellent access to top academics in specialist fields, including one to one supervision sessions.
Within the department we have experts in topics including economic and social history, political history and religious and cultural history, which link to our six dedicated research centres. There are distinct opportunities on this course including, a supervised independent study module to enable you to follow your own interests.
The University library has extensive holdings, audio-visual collections and medieval manuscripts in our Special Collections. Exeter Cathedral Library Archives and the Devon Heritage Centre contain further significant medieval manuscripts, documents and early printed books.
Exeter Historians have a diverse range of interests and we pride ourselves on our flexible approach to learning that includes part-time options and plenty of interdisciplinary collaboration such as with Classics, Theology, and Archaeology. You might for instance choose a Latin module or a module on Medieval Archaeology to complement your main path of study.
You will be taught mostly in small group seminars as we believe this is the best way to allow our students access and interaction with academic staff. In your seminars you will contribute to discussions and debates as well as present findings, research and interpretations of readings.
At the end of your programme you will complete a dissertation up to 25,000 words long on a topic of your choosing, something which may later form part of a PhD research proposal. Some of the topics our students have covered in the past include:
A wide range of optional modules are available which reflect the varied research interests of academic staff. These interests range widely from the early medieval period to the twentieth century and cover Britain, Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas. All aspects of the discipline are represented, from social, religious, cultural and gender history to the study of politics, economic development, international relations, and military conflict in a variety of contexts and eras. Particular areas of strength include early modern history, naval and maritime history, medical history, and the history of the connections between war, state and society.
Your choice of optional modules may include subjects as diverse as ritual in the Middle Ages; witchcraft and the supernatural in the 16th and 17th centuries; maritime and naval history; sexuality; health, medicine; gender and the body; party politics and international diplomacy; and the impact of modern wars on culture, economy, society and memory.
- offers an excellent education in a very wide range of historical subjects and geographical locations over a broad time-span from Anglo-Saxon England to modern Western and Eastern Europe, some parts of Asia, North and South America, and Africa;
- produces graduates who are highly competent in subject-specific, core academic, and personal and key skills that are both relevant and transferable to employment;
- draws on the expertise of a number of highly respected research centres which are at the forefront of their respective disciplines;
- participation in joint seminar programmes offering insights into a very wide range of research cultures and specialisms;
- excellent preparation for students intending to continue on to doctoral-level research with a good track record in obtaining funding for further study.
Research is at the heart of History and our students are encouraged to come to Departmental Research Seminars and become an active part of wider research community. Our research centres regularly hold seminars and other research events which MA students are welcome to attend.
Our current research centres include:
As well as our History specific research centres you are also welcome to get involved in of the other research centres across the College of Humanities or the University. You can find out more about our Academic Staff and their research interests on our Research pages.
This masters degree is designed for students who want to prepare for a PhD or gain research skills and knowledge in a specific area of history for their professional development. You research an aspect of modern British, European or global history and develop skills as a researcher and specialist in your area.
During the course you work towards a 30,000 word dissertation on a topic agreed between you and your supervisor. It is ideal if you want to pursue a specific topic or research area in detail.
Throughout the course you receive one-to-one support from an experienced supervisor with expertise in your chosen area of study. Your supervisor guides you through the course, helping you conduct a literature survey and engage with theoretical, methodological and critical issues.
This is a flexible course that allows you to combine work with professional development. Supervision sessions are arranged individually with your supervisory team ensuring content is tailored to your individual needs.
We have a vibrant research culture and we value and support all our research students who make a vital contribution to the intellectual life of the University. There are regular research training events, seminars and informal meetings where you can practise delivering conference papers in a supportive environment. Funds are available to support you in attending conferences and we encourage you to deliver papers and publish your work. The Humanities Research Centre runs a monthly postgraduate research group which functions as an informal setting where postgraduates can get to know one another and where they have the opportunity to present and discuss their work.
We are a group of 18 historians specialising in the period from the late eighteenth century to the present. We have research clusters in:
Current staff research interests are wide-ranging and include • Africans in Europe / Black European history • modern Armenia • Britain and the Great War • the history of Czechoslovakia • colonialism and anti-colonialism in India • economic crises and disasters • European colonialism and imperialism • feminism and empire • German history in the twentieth century • globalisation • industrial and natural disasters • labour history • local and community history • migration • military and naval history • nineteenth-century radicalism and popular politics • rural history • Stalinism • US history.
Please see the Humanities staff pages for a list of staff and their current research.
This degree is hosted in the Faculty of Development and Society Graduate School.
You complete
Assessment
This research degree offers you continuing professional development, particularly in related areas such as • teaching • media • journalism • marketing • editing • publishing. You also gain more general employability skills.
The course also provides an established route into a PhD and an academic career.
A research degree in your chosen history subject is a period of intensive, supervised investigative work. It builds on your previous academic or professional experience and allows you to develop an original area of expertise.
You work closely with a director of studies and a supervisor who are specialists in your chosen field to produce an extended thesis of up to 80,000 words in the case of doctoral research.
We have a vibrant research culture and we value and support all our research students who make a vital contribution to the intellectual life of the University. There are regular research training events, seminars and informal meetings where you can practise delivering conference papers in a supportive environment. Funds are available to support you in attending conferences and we encourage you to deliver papers and publish your work.
We are regularly advertising studentships funded by Sheffield Hallam University directly or through the North of England Consortium for the Arts and Humanities. It may also be possible to apply for Arts and Humanities Research Council studentships. Some part-time teaching may also be available.
We are a group of 18 historians specialising in the period from the late eighteenth century to the present. We have research clusters in:
Current staff research interests are wide-ranging and include • Africans in Europe/Black European history • modern Armenia • Britain and the Great War • the history of Czechoslovakia • colonialism and anti-colonialism in India • economic crises and disasters • European colonialism and imperialism • feminism and empire • German history in the twentieth century • globalisation • industrial and natural disasters • labour history • local and community history • migration • military and naval history • nineteenth-century radicalism and popular politics • rural history • Stalinism • US history.
Please see the Humanities staff pages for a list of staff and their current research.
This degree is hosted in the Faculty of Development and Society Graduate School.
Full-time – at least 35 hours a week on average over three years
Part-time – at least 12 hours a week on average for up to seven years
There is a split mode available for international students who want to study in their own country.
Various start dates
Your study depends on your chosen area of research but includes a compulsory research methods module for students without prior research qualifications at postgraduate level.
Following your research degree, you can go on to teach history in further and higher education. You can also find careers in other related areas such as
The MRes in Economic and Social History will allow you to focus specifically on economic and social history and its methods of analysis, while giving you the opportunity to study other topics in international history, religious and cultural history, political history, naval or gender history.
You can select from option modules that include subjects such as ritual in the Middle Ages; witchcraft and the supernatural in the 16th and 17th centuries; sexuality; health, medicine; gender and the body; party politics and international diplomacy; and the impact of modern wars on culture, economy, society and memory.
The MRes provides essential training for PhD study in History, as well as an opportunity to develop particular interests in the history of different countries and periods through taught modules and a 25,000 word dissertation on a topic of your choosing within the MRes programme subject area.
- offers an excellent education in a very wide range of historical subjects and geographical locations over a broad time-span from Anglo-Saxon England to modern Western and Eastern Europe, some parts of Asia, North and South America, and Africa;
- produces graduates who are highly competent in subject-specific, core academic, and personal and key skills that are both relevant and transferable to employment;
- draws on the expertise of a number of highly respected research centres which are at the forefront of their respective disciplines;
- participation in joint seminar programmes offering insights into a very wide range of research cultures and specialisms;
- excellent preparation for students intending to continue on to doctoral-level research with a good track record in obtaining funding for further study.
Some examples of the optional modules which may be available are; Qualitative Methods in Social Research; Applied Quantitative Data Analysis; Philosophy of the Social Sciences ; Gender, Society and Culture in Early Modern England; Medieval Research Skills; Interpreting the Middle Ages; Supervised Independent Study in the Humanities; Supervised Independent Study in the Humanities; British Naval Power in the Era of Sail 1660-1815; Approaches to War and Society in the Twentieth Century; Medicine in Medieval and Early Modern England; Everyday Life in the Soviet Union; War 1450 to the Presen and Empires and Globalisation, c.1800-2000.
The modules listed here provide examples of what you can expect to learn on this degree course based on recent academic teaching. The precise modules available to you in future years may vary depending on staff availability and research interests, new topics of study, timetabling and student demand
