This programme will allow you to take a broad approach to African, Indian, American, British and European history from the early modern period to the 21st century.
A core module will allow you to sharpen your research skills, and you’ll choose from a wide range of optional modules spanning nations, continents, periods and themes to explore topics that interest you. You could study black internationalism alongside early modern Europe, the Spanish state, Stalinism, political violence in India or apartheid.
You’ll be taught by leading researchers as part of a large and diverse School of History and Leeds Humanities Research Institute, supported by active research groups and extensive library resources. Our research interests range from social history and identity to political history, nationalism and internationalism, meaning this flexible programme offers plenty of opportunities to gain important skills while focusing on issues that suit your interests.
You’ll study in a supportive environment with a wide range of resources. The world-class Brotherton Library has one of the best history collections in the UK, ranging from monographs and journals to conference papers, theses and over 100 digital databases of primary sources and other materials for fundamental research. The Brotherton also has its own special collections including the Leeds Russian Archive and the Feminist Archive North.
The Alf Mattinson Collection is full of printed works and papers related to the history of the Labour Party, and the Romany collection and Liddle Collection offer insights into Romany culture and the First World War respectively.
This programme is also available to study part-time over 24 months.
You’ll study one core module in your first semester, introducing you to different research methodologies in history and allowing you to develop your skills. You’ll also select from a wide range of optional modules throughout the year, allowing you to pursue topics that interest you such as the history of Yorkshire, the European Enlightenment or issues surrounding global security.
You’ll also have the opportunity to work collaboratively with partner organisations, such as the West Yorkshire Archive Service, by studying the ‘Making History: Archive Collaborations’ module.
This programme will equip you with in-depth subject knowledge, as well as high-level skills in research, interpretation and analysis. You’ll be able to demonstrate these when you complete your dissertation on a modern history topic of your choice, which you’ll submit by the end of the programme.
If you choose to study part-time, you’ll study over a longer period and take fewer modules in each year.
These are typical modules/components studied and may change from time to time. Read more in our Terms and conditions.
Compulsory modules
Optional modules
For more information on typical modules, read Modern History MA Full Time in the course catalogue
For more information on typical modules, read Modern History MA Part Time in the course catalogue
We use a range of teaching and learning methods. The majority of your modules will be taught through weekly seminars, where you’ll discuss issues and themes in your chosen modules with a small group of students and your tutors. Independent study is also crucial to this degree, giving you the space to shape your own studies and develop your skills.
We use different types of assessment to help you develop a wide range of skills, including presentations, research proposals, case studies and essays, depending on the subjects you choose.
This programme will heighten your cultural and social awareness as well as allowing you to build your historical knowledge. You’ll also gain high-level research, analysis and communication skills that will prove valuable in a wide range of careers.
Graduates have found success in a wide range of careers in education, research and the private sector. Many others have continued with their studies at PhD level.
We offer different forms of support to help you reach your career goals. You’ll have the chance to attend our career groups, meeting students with similar plans, or you could become a paid academic mentor to an undergraduate completing their final-year dissertation. You could also apply for one of the internships we offer each year.
We encourage you to prepare for your career from day one. That’s one of the reasons Leeds graduates are so sought after by employers.
The Careers Centre and staff in your faculty provide a range of help and advice to help you plan your career and make well-informed decisions along the way, even after you graduate. Find out more at the Careers website.
This programme approaches contemporary history through issues and problems with vital on-going importance, including environmental politics, information technology, post-colonial migration, internationalism and empire.
It does so across the 20th century and up to the present day, without geographical limits. It therefore offers a wide range of modules on history at a variety of scales: from the self to the city, from nation to imperium.
The MA in Contemporary History allows you to benefit from the expertise of a very large number of modern and contemporary historians at Birmingham. You will be able to specialise on many areas of British, American, African, South Asian, Middle East and European History. The programme also provides ideal preparation for PhD research.
Times Higher Education ranked the Department of History first in the country for its performance in the latest Research Excellence Framework exercise.
The MA Contemporary History is designed to provide you with a solid grounding in the major outlines of recent world history, along with a wide choice of specialised modules to suit your own interest.
By combining breadth with depth, it provides a framework within which you will be able to develop both your empirical and conceptual knowledge of the recent past.
You will study two core modules which use some of the best recent historical writing to cover the period since 1914:
You will also take two ‘skills and methods’ modules:
You will also choose optional modules to the value of 40 credits (two single modules or one double module). These can be taken from the Department of History or from other programmes offered in the College of Arts and Law, with the approval of the Programme Director. An indicative list of options within History can be found below.
Assessment
Modules are typically assessed by written assignment. You will also complete a 15,000-word dissertation.
The Contemporary History MA is taught by members of the Birmingham Centre for Modern and Contemporary History (BCMCH), which provides an intellectual forum for academic staff and postgraduates working within the field, and provides a base for research both for its members and in collaboration with other institutions.
BCMCH draws together the expertise of the School of History and Cultures, the Modern Languages Department, American and Canadian Studies and the Centre for Russian and East European Studies (CREES) meaningthat you’ll be able to gain insight from a range of academics and peers from across the University. It also supports a research seminar series of invited speakers throughout the academic year as well as an annual lecture series and various informal reading groups.
Learning and teaching takes on this course place via seminars, tutorials, reading texts on theory and methods and your own research on primary sources.
Support with academic writing
As a postgraduate student in the College of Arts and Law, you have access to the Academic Writing Advisory Service (AWAS) which aims to help your transition from undergraduate to taught Masters level, or back into academia after time away. The service offers guidance on writing assignments and dissertations for your MA/MSc programme with individual support from an academic writing advisor via tutorials, email and the provision of online materials.
International students can access support for English Language development and skills through the Birmingham International Academy (BIA).
Your degree will provide excellent preparation for employment and this will be further enhanced by a range of employability support services offered by the University.
The University's Careers Network provides advice and information specifically for postgraduates that will help you to develop an effective career and skills development strategy, and to make the most of your time with us at the University. The College of Arts and Law also has a dedicated careers and employability team to deliver tailored programmes of careers events and local support.
You will have opportunities to: meet employers face-to-face at on-campus recruitment fairs; attend employer presentations and skills workshops; receive individual guidance on your job applications, writing your CV and improving your interview technique; and access to comprehensive listings of hundreds of graduate jobs and work experience opportunities.
You will also be able to access our full range of careers support for up to two years after graduation.
Postgraduate employability: History
Birmingham’s History graduates develop a broad range of transferable skills that are highly valued by a range of employers. These skills include: familiarity with research methods; the ability to manage large quantities of information from diverse sources; the ability to organise information in a logical and coherent manner; the expertise to write clearly and concisely and to tight deadlines; critical and analytical ability; the capacity for argument, debate and speculation; and the ability to base conclusions on statistical research.
Some of our History postgraduates go on to use their studies directly, for example in heritage, museums or the armed forces; others use their transferable skills in a range of occupations from finance, to publishing, to fundraising. Employers that graduates have gone on to work for include: Royal Air Force; Ministry of Defence; University of Birmingham; Big Lottery Fund; Royal Air Force Museum; and University of Oxford.
This MA provides a unique range of options from the early modern period to the present, covering lands where mighty empires and many nations have interacted and competed over the centuries: the Russian Empire, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Habsburg Monarchy, the Ottoman Empire, the German Empire, and their successor states.
Students are encouraged to choose from modules which are as diverse in geography as they are varied in approach. The programme is especially rich in modules exploring the relationship between power and culture. Several methods modules are available, including Methods of Area Studies Research (MASR).
Students undertake modules to the value of 180 credits.
The programme consists of one core module (30 credits), a choice from a range of optional modules (90 credits) and a research dissertation (60 credits).
Core module
Optional modules
Dissertation/report
All MA students undertake an independent research project which culminates in a dissertation of approximately 10,000-12,000 words.
Teaching and learning
The programme is delivered through a combination of lectures, seminars, presentations, and self study. Student performance is assessed through examinations, essays, a portfolio of work (which includes annotated bibliography, bullet-point presentation, encyclopaedia-style entry, and book review), oral presentation, document analysis, and the dissertation.
Further information on modules and degree structure is available on the department website: History (SSEES) MA
With their specialist knowledge and language skills, SSEES Master's graduates can be found in business, finance, the media, international agencies, charities, diplomacy, international security organisations, the law, and academia.
Some graduates advise the Russian, Polish, American, and other governments, and the European Commission.
Recent career destinations for this degree
Employability
Students who have successfully completed this programme have moved into further academic research and doctoral studies, careers in teaching and careers in government, NGOs or the European Parliament. The regional specialism of this MA along with the opportunity to learn a language is attractive to employers. Networking is facilitated by two major collaborations led by SSEES: CEELBAS and the International Master's (IMESS). Scholarships, internship opportunities and excellent links with other universities in the region provide further benefits.
Careers data is taken from the ‘Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education’ survey undertaken by HESA looking at the destinations of UK and EU students in the 2013–2015 graduating cohorts six months after graduation.
The UCL School of Slavonic & East European Studies (SSEES) is a world-leading specialist institution, and the largest national centre in the UK, for the study of central, Eastern and south-east Europe and Russia.
Located in Bloomsbury, SSEES offers an ideal location for scholars. The British Library, British Museum, University of London Library and other similar research centres are all close by.
The SSEES Library is unequalled in Britain for the depth and breadth of its collections, the majority of which are on open access in the SSEES building.
The Research Excellence Framework, or REF, is the system for assessing the quality of research in UK higher education institutions. The 2014 REF was carried out by the UK's higher education funding bodies, and the results used to allocate research funding from 2015/16.
The following REF score was awarded to the department: SSEES - School of Slavonic & East European Studies
64% rated 4* (‘world-leading’) or 3* (‘internationally excellent’)
Learn more about the scope of UCL's research, and browse case studies, on our Research Impact website.
Twentieth century Britain is one of the most exciting areas of modern history. With new documents being released every year and new archives being added to all the time, new researchers are finding an incredible range of topics to explore, examine and reassess.
Ideal for students interested in questions about Britain’s recent past, this course is designed to develop skills in critical analysis and academic research, enabling you to acquire research skills, as well as understand and apply research methodologies to the study of twentieth century British history.
Times Higher Education ranked the Department of History first in the country for its performance in the latest Research Excellence Framework exercise.
MRes programmes offer a unique opportunity to deepen and develop your knowledge of the subject by combining taught elements with research training and an individual research project. They can lead to doctoral research, and will also provide the chance for you to undertake scholarly research as an enrichment of undergraduate study or for career development purposes.
The Twentieth Century British History MRes includes three taught modules:
You will then complete a 20,000-word thesis on an agreed topic which relates to the history of twentieth century Britain and which can be appropriately supervised by a member of academic staff. If you are interested in studying for this degree, you should contact the Department of History with a proposed topic of research so that a suitable supervisor can be found. We strongly encourage you to do this in advance of making your formal application, if at all possible: the sooner you have a clear idea of your basic research field, the better. The research interests and areas of supervision offered by staff in twentieth century British history are broad and embrace all aspects of modern Britain.
The Twentieth Century British History MRes is taught by members of the Birmingham Centre for Modern and Contemporary History (BCMCH) and the Centre for Modern British Studies, which provides an intellectual forum for academic staff and postgraduates working within the field, and provides a base for research both for its members and in collaboration with other institutions.
BCMCH draws together the expertise of the School of History and Cultures, the Modern Languages Department, American and Canadian Studies and the Centre for Russian and East European Studies (CREES) meaning that you’ll be able to gain insight from a range of academics and peers from across the University. It also supports a research seminar series of invited speakers throughout the academic year as well as an annual lecture series and various informal reading groups.
You will also become part of, and contribute to, the lively international community of the College of Arts and Law Graduate School, which offers dedicated research resources and a supportive working environment. Our team of academic and operational staff are on hand to offer support and advice to all postgraduate students within the College.
Your degree will provide excellent preparation for employment and this will be further enhanced by a range of employability support services offered by the University.
The University's Careers Network provides advice and information specifically for postgraduates that will help you to develop an effective career and skills development strategy, and to make the most of your time with us at the University. The College of Arts and Law also has a dedicated careers and employability team to deliver tailored programmes of careers events and local support.
You will have opportunities to: meet employers face-to-face at on-campus recruitment fairs; attend employer presentations and skills workshops; receive individual guidance on your job applications, writing your CV and improving your interview technique; and access to comprehensive listings of hundreds of graduate jobs and work experience opportunities.
You will also be able to access our full range of careers support for up to two years after graduation.
Postgraduate employability: History
Birmingham’s History graduates develop a broad range of transferable skills that are highly valued by a range of employers. These skills include: familiarity with research methods; the ability to manage large quantities of information from diverse sources; the ability to organise information in a logical and coherent manner; the expertise to write clearly and concisely and to tight deadlines; critical and analytical ability; the capacity for argument, debate and speculation; and the ability to base conclusions on statistical research.
Some of our History postgraduates go on to use their studies directly, for example in heritage, museums or the armed forces; others use their transferable skills in a range of occupations from finance, to publishing, to fundraising. Employers that graduates have gone on to work for include: Royal Air Force; Ministry of Defence; University of Birmingham; Big Lottery Fund; Royal Air Force Museum; and University of Oxford.
Our Russian Politics & Society MSc focuses on contemporary political, economic and social policy challenges. You will gain detailed knowledge of the interconnected reform challenges that have faced Russia in recent decades, a comprehensive knowledge of Russian current events, and an understanding of a range of disciplinary and theoretical approaches to policy and academic analysis.
As part of King’s Russia Institute’s Russian Policy Studies course, we have designed our MSc in Russian Politics & Society to provide you with the skills, knowledge and understanding necessary to analyse a broad range of contemporary Russian policy challenges in practical and theoretical contexts. You will gain an in-depth knowledge of the interlocking social, political and economic challenges that have faced Russia in recent decades, a comprehensive knowledge of Russian current events and an understanding of a range of disciplinary and theoretical approaches to policy and academic analysis. In addition, you will pursue specialised research and study in a relevant field of your choice. Throughout, you will be aware of the comparative context and we will encourage you to use your knowledge of the Russian case to challenge existing global theoretical and policy approaches.
Our Russian Policy Studies course provides you with a thorough knowledge and understanding of:
Additionally, our MSc Russian Politics & Society course will focus on:
Our course will particularly appeal if you are a graduate of Russian/Slavonic studies, European, energy or security studies, comparative politics, or another course and have developed an interest in Russia and/or if you are looking for a career involving work in or about Russia.
Teaching
You will typically have 20 hours of teaching per 20-credit taught module as well as 180 hours of self-study (some modules may involve lab work or e-learning which would require less self-guided learning). Typically, one credit equates to 10 hours of work.
For the dissertation module, you will have 16 contact hours of workshops and one-to-one or group consultation with supervisors to complement 584 hours of self-study and project work.
If you are taking the part time course, you will take at least 60 credits of required modules during your first year, and take the remaining credits and your dissertation in your second year. This can, however, be individually discussed with the student.
Assessment
Russia Institute modules will be assessed by essays, other written work (including policy briefs and memoranda, scenario analyses and models), timed written exams, in-class quizzes and presentations, and class participation and attendance. Most 20-credit modules will have a volume of assessment equivalent to a 4,000 word essay, but this may be distributed over several different assessments. The dissertation module assessment will be 100 per cent on the dissertation itself (14,000 words); a 1,000-word dissertation proposal is required but not assessed. Assessment of modules from other departments/institutes may vary.
Our graduates use the skills and knowledge they develop over this course to excel in careers in diplomacy, the international civil service, non-governmental organisations, media and journalism, analytical and research or strategic roles in business, including investment. Others have continued their research to further study.
The Russian Studies MA draws on the unique area studies expertise at the UCL School of Slavonic & East European Studies (SSEES) to offer a choice of modules unparalleled in depth and breadth, ranging from Russia's medieval history to its contemporary politics, from 19th-century literature to 21st-century film.
Russian culture is explored from a variety of perspectives. Students specialise in literature and culture, social sciences or history, or combine modules into an interdisciplinary programme. They are encouraged to develop their research skills, and many choose to learn Russian, or improve their command of Russian, through a language course.
Students undertake modules to the value of 180 credits.
The programme consists of one of a choice of three core modules (30 credits), a choice of a Russian language module (30 credits) and/or optional modules (to a total of 90 credits), and a research dissertation (60 credits).
Core modules
This is a multidisciplinary programme. Nevertheless, students are required to gain a thorough methodological and theoretical grounding in disciplinary study and hence must choose between one of the following three modules:
Optional modules
90 credits from a range of options, which may include:
Dissertation/report
All MA students undertake an independent research project, which culminates in a dissertation of 10,000–12,000 words.
Teaching and learning
The programme is delivered through a combination of lectures, seminars, workshops, film viewings, tutorials and specialist language courses. Assessment is carried out through unseen examinations, long essays, coursework and the research dissertation.
Detailed module information
See full details of modules for this programme.
AHRC Scholarships may be available.
For a comprehensive list of the funding opportunities available at UCL, including funding relevant to your nationality, please visit the Scholarships and Funding website.
With their specialist knowledge and language skills, SSEES Master's graduates can be found in business, finance, the media, international agencies, charities, diplomacy, international security organisations, the law, and academia.
Some graduates advise the Russian, Polish, American, and other governments, and the European Commission.
Recent career destinations for this degree
Employability
Russia is one of the most exciting and important countries in the world, and SSEES is the ideal place in which to study it. Students who have successfully completed the programme have progressed to further academic research on the region, or have obtained employment in such organisations as the European Parliament and the Ministry of Defence, as well as roles in business, think tanks, NGOs, or similar, both in Britain and abroad. Networking is facilitated by two major collaborations led by SSEES: CEELBAS and the International Master's (IMESS). Scholarships, internship opportunities and excellent links with other universities in the region provide further benefits.
Careers data is taken from the ‘Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education’ survey undertaken by HESA looking at the destinations of UK and EU students in the 2013–2015 graduating cohorts six months after graduation.
SSEES is a world-leading specialist institution, and the largest national centre in the UK, for the study of central, Eastern and south-east Europe and Russia.
Located in Bloomsbury, SSEES offers an ideal location for scholars. The British Library, British Museum, University of London Library and other similar research centres are all close by.
The SSEES Library is unequalled in Britain for the depth and breadth of its collections, the majority of which are on open access in the SSEES building.
This double degree programme is a research-focused postgraduate programme in German and Russian Law with a fully integrated study-abroad component. As a student enrolled in this programme, you will study towards your double Master's degree at two universities – the University of Passau (Germany) and Siberian Federal University in Krasnoyarsk (Russia). The programme carries a total workload of 120 ECTS credits and is directed at students who have an undergraduate degree in law or in a subject with a strong legal focus.
The programme acquaints German students with the principles of the Russian legal system, allowing them, for instance, to put the focus on the economic and tax laws in Germany and Russia. This requires knowledge of Russian (legal) language, which is taught as part of the degree programme.
As a student enrolled in this degree programme, you will acquire the skills and knowledge required to work as a jurist in the area of German and Russian law, while simultaneously developing the competencies required for independent scholarly work.
– The first fully integrated Russo-German law degree programme in Germany
– Students spend two semesters at the partner university in Krasnoyarsk
– No tuition fees whatsoever
– The same module catalogue at both universities
– Joint colloquia with German and Russian students
– Compulsory internship abroad as part of the programme
– Previous academic achievements at other German or Russian universities are eligible for recognition
– The University of Passau and Siberian Federal University each award a final certificate making reference to the respective opposite
university (double degree)
The degree programme consists of five areas of study:
A) General Scientific Foundations
You will attend lectures on the philosophy of law and complete one foreign language course. This part of the degree programme allows you to engage in advanced study of the theoretical underpinnings of law at the beginning of your Master's programme, while the language course imparts the language skills you will need for studying in Russia.
B) Professional Cycle
Module group B.I – Legal Methods and History of Law
Module group B.I is composed of the following foundation courses: methods and history of comparative legal studies; history of political and legal science; history and methods of law; beginner's colloquium: current problems of law. These modules provide the research-methodological and theoretical foundations for comparative legal studies and working with foreign law. The primary purpose of the beginner's colloquium is to help students on the course to identify more closely with the degree programme. All students complete the beginner's colloquium in Krasnoyarsk.
Module group B.II – Principles of foreign law
Students enrolled in the programme complete this module group during their stay at the partner university. This involves courses on the principles of German and Russian law, as well as other courses. The required electives include courses on the core areas of the respective foreign law: Russian students in Passau will complete one two-semester foundation course in either civil law, public law or criminal law, and at least one additional course from this list for a duration of one semester.
Module group B.III – Specialisation
Students will study the courses taught in this module group upon their return to their home university. This module group allows you to set your own specialisation by choosing a sub-discipline which you will study in greater depth. The module is designed to maximise your choice, allowing you to focus on selected questions of (public) economic or (civil) business law, tax law, or international and European law. In addition, German students can complete courses with an East-Central-European focus offered by the University's Faculty of Arts and Humanities.
C) Research
In this segment of the programme, you will apply the theoretical knowledge accumulated over the previous semesters. In a variety of courses, you will gain the ability to write shorter academic papers. You will also use this module group to write up a synopsis of your Master's thesis, which you will present and discuss in the group. The research colloquium is open to all students in Passau.
D) Professional Preparation
This part of the programme prepares you for legal work in an international context. The practical module consists of a six to eight-week internship, which you will usually complete abroad.
E) Final Assessments
At the end of the degree programme, you will undergo an oral examination. In addition, all students are required to write a Master's thesis (preferably on comparative law) in German, English or Russian and undergo an oral defence.
This is an advanced and progressive programme that presents you with a unique opportunity to understand historical and contemporary developments in the economy, politics, culture, and society of Russia and the countries of Eastern Europe and Eurasia.
You will take four core courses and one optional course, as well as complete a dissertation as a piece of independent research. You will select a specialist pathway, which includes a specialist core courses and a language. (Choices vary depending on pathway).
All pathways
Central and East European Studies
Russian Studies
Eurasian Studies
Many of our graduates have gone on to establish careers as lecturers and researchers at universities in the UK, Norway, Greece, Italy, and Poland or have become secondary school teachers. Our graduates have also been very successful in establishing careers with organisations such as BBC World Service, British Army, British Civil Service, British Council, Centre for Defence Information (Moscow), Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, European Policies Research Centre, University of Strathclyde (Glasgow), European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (London), Jamestown Foundation (Washington D.C), KPMG, Ministry of Defence, UK, Open Society Foundation (Bratislava), Open Society Institute (Budapest), Operation Mobilisation, Czech Republic and the Trust for Civil Society in Central & Eastern Europe (Warsaw).
