Masters Degrees (Tudor History)

Course outline

This London-based course is an interdisciplinary programme enabling students to examine, by way of a dissertation of around 25,000 words, aspects of the history of the Tudor dynasty and its international importance.

Students will be encouraged to consider the interrelation of political, architectural, art, and social history. After the Course Director’s general introduction, there will be a series of twelve seminars which explore the origins of the Tudor dynasty in the Wars of the Roses and the government of the early Tudor state (and its limitations). The reign of Henry VIII will be examined as an example of ‘Renaissance monarchy’. Female monarchy and its implications for Tudor government will be another major theme. The course will also consider the material culture of Tudor England at all social levels, examining propaganda and print, architectural patronage and its development throughout the Tudor period. It will review the evidence of artistic patronage and the development of Renaissance literature and drama in the Tudor period. Reading lists will be made available before each lecture to allow for background reading and discussion with the expert speakers.

Each seminar will take place in the early evening at the Reform Club in Pall Mall, and will include a 40-minute question-and-answer session with the seminar speakers, all recognised experts in their fields.

Each seminar will be followed by a dinner at which there will be further discussion with the speaker and a general conversation about the topic in hand. The cost of the dinners is included in the tuition fees.

Tutorials and meetings will take place at the University of Buckingham’s London offices at 51 Gower Street, Bloomsbury, WC1E 6HJ.

The Course Director:

Glenn Richardson, BA (Hons), PhD, FRHistS, FSA, FHA (Hon), FHEA

Glenn Richardson is Professorial Research Fellow of the Humanities Research Institute, University of Buckingham, and is also Professor of Early Modern History at St Mary’s University London. He is a fellow of the Royal Historical Society, the Society of Antiquaries, and an Honorary Fellow of the Historical Association. He lectures regularly for the University of Oxford’s Department of Continuing Education.

His research interests are grounded in Anglo-French relations in the sixteenth century, but encompass early-modern European diplomacy and cultural exchanges more widely. His other principal areas of research are European Renaissance monarchy, the Tudor and Valois courts, and royal masculinity. Professor Richardson’s most recent publication is The Field of Cloth of Gold (Yale UP, 2013). He is currently writing a biography of Cardinal Wolsey.

Associate students

For those wishing to attend the evening research seminar programme, but unable to devote the time to the coursework or to register for the MA degree, there is the option of becoming an Associate Student. This status will enable the student to attend the ten research seminars and to meet the guest lecturers, in the first six months of the programme, but does not require the submission of written work. Associate Students are not registered for, and do not receive, the MA degree.

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This two-year, part-time Master’s programme is designed for those who wish to study at postgraduate level and are keen to develop high-level skills in historical research.

The course offers two thematic strands in which students specialise. The first, British local and regional history, is constant throughout all intakes. The second, which changes for each intake, is Politics and religion in Tudor and Stuart England for the 2016-2018 course. You will specialise in one of these two themes, studying taught modules and undertaking original research, culminating in a dissertation of 16,000 to 20,000 words.

Visit the website: http://www.ice.cam.ac.uk/mst-history

Course detail

The MSt is taught over two years in short, intensive study blocks, and begins in October 2016 (Michaelmas Term). It has been designed to be accessible to those in full- or part-time employment and to international students.

Successful applicants will become members of a Cambridge college and will join the wider graduate community, with full access to the facilities of the University.

By the end of the course students should have:

- developed an understanding of, and ability to apply critically, the main academic theories and concepts underpinning the study of history;
- extended and developed their analytical, evaluative and critical capacities;
- developed the ability to form independent judgements based on their reading, research and writing;
- demonstrable specific subject knowledge and analysis relevant to their dissertation;
- developed research skills required for further postgraduate research.

Format

The MSt is structured around four residential modules that students must attend. All students take modules 1 and 3 together; modules 2 and 4 are subject pathway modules. In the first year, each of the four residential blocks is preceded by guided preparatory reading and other activities.

A Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) offers learning support to students while they are on the programme, including learning resources, peer-to-peer and student-to-tutor discussion between modules, to build a virtual community of practice. Students are expected to have sufficient IT skills to engage with the VLE and all assignments are uploaded to the VLE for assessment.

Lectures, seminars and classes: c.75 hours in Year 1 (including some reading/prep time), c.18 hours in Year 2.

Supervision: 5 x 1-hour sessions in Year 2.

Year 1

The taught elements of the syllabus are offered during Year 1 in four intensive study blocks, usually scheduled inside Full Term, each of which is examined by an assessed essay. Sessions are offered in research training, and essay and dissertation writing.

Module 1: Theory, concepts and historiography (3 - 6 October 2016)*
Induction Day: Introduction to the course, tours of the University and Seeley History libraries, talk on Cambridge colleges.

The Annales School, international history, gender, feudalism, race, class and social status, nations and states, religion, essay workshop.

Module 2: (30 November – 2 December 2016)*
a) British local and regional history
Approaches to local history, manors and tour of medieval Cambridge, the parish, early modern culture, religion and belief, urban history, consumption, family and household, essay workshop.

OR

b) Politics and Religion in Tudor and Stuart England 1520 - 1625
Parliamentary history, Reformation history, politics, religion and memory.

Module 3: Sources, methods and research skills (22 - 24 February 2017 )*
Using library resources and archives, the census, global and transnational history, micro-history, sources for early modern history, IT for historians, Excel for historians, practical, quantitative and economic history, oral history and its discontents, anthropology and history, essay workshop.

Module 4: (19 – 21 May 2017)*
a) British local and regional history
Disease, death and doctors, plague and venereal disease, why were towns the principal determinant of mortality change from 1600 to 1900?, the old Poor Law and charity, the new Poor Law, charity and the state, workhouse medicine and mortality, smallpox, childbirth, midwifery and the man-midwife, mutual aid and self-help, the ‘professionalisation’ of medicine, essay workshop.

OR

b) Politics and Religion in Tudor and Stuart England 1625 - 1715
Sources for Tudor and Stuart political history, sources for Tudor and Stuart religious history.

* module content subject to change

Year 2

The second year is characterised by focus on the dissertation. Students will work independently on their chosen topic under the supervision of an expert in their chosen field with whom they will have regular contact. Students will be required to attend five supervisions between May 2017 and May 2018, at least three of which must be face-to-face and two of which can be online.

There will also be three day-schools at Madingley Hall, at which students provide short presentations on their research to date and at which there is some research training:

- Saturday 21 October 2017
- Saturday 2 December 2017
- Saturday 14 April 2018

Assessment

- A dissertation of 16,000-20,000 words (including footnotes and appendices, but excluding bibliography)
- Four essay assignments, each of 4,000 words maximum.

Some assignments and the dissertation require literature reviews.

How to apply: http://www.graduate.study.cam.ac.uk/applying

Funding

You may be interested to know that from 2016/17, Student Finance England (SFE) is introducing a postgraduate loans scheme for full-time and part-time Master’s courses. Information on eligibility, the amount of the loan and the level of repayment can be found in SFE’s The Student Room: http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/content.php?r=5659-Student-Finance

Please note that SFE is planning to take applications via its main Student finance website, from summer 2016: https://www.gov.uk/student-finance

Sources of government funding and financial support - including Professional and Career Development Loans

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Research programmes are best suited to students who have a clear idea of a topic they would like to investigate in detail.

The MA by Research entails producing a 30,000-word thesis.

We welcome research applications across the range of expertise within the School. We run regular seminars in medieval and Tudor studies, modern history, the history and cultural studies of science, and the study of propaganda.

Visit the website https://www.kent.ac.uk/courses/postgraduate/89/history

About the School of History

The School of History at the University of Kent offers a great environment in which to research and study. Situated in a beautiful cathedral city with its own dynamic history, the University is within easy reach of the main London archives and is convenient for travelling to mainland Europe.

The School of History is a lively, research-led department where postgraduate students are given the opportunity to work alongside academics recognised as experts in their respective fields. The School was placed eighth nationally for research intensity in the most recent Research Excellence Framework, and consistently scores highly in the National Student Survey.

There is a good community spirit within the School, which includes regular postgraduate social meetings, weekly seminars and a comprehensive training programme with the full involvement of the School’s academic staff. Thanks to the wide range of teaching and research interests in the School, we can offer equally wide scope for research supervision covering British, European, African and American history.

At present, there are particularly strong groupings of research students in medieval and early modern cultural and social history, early modern religious history, the history and cultural studies of science and medicine, military history, war and the media, and the history of Kent.

Course structure

All first-year research students attend a Methodologies and Research Skills seminar, which is split between components run by the School and others provided by the Faculty of Humanities. This training improves your knowledge of both historical theory and methods of using primary material, and can assist in funding applications.

Study support

Postgraduate resources

The resources for historical research at Kent are led by the University’s Templeman Library: a designated European Documentation Centre which holds specialised collections on slavery and antislavery, and on medical science. The Library has a substantial collection of secondary materials to back-up an excellent collection of primary sources including the British Cartoon Archive, newspapers, a large audio-visual library, and a complete set of British Second World War Ministry of Information propaganda pamphlets.

The School has a dedicated Centre for the Study of Propaganda and War, which has a distinctive archive of written, audio and visual propaganda materials, particularly in film, video and DVD. Locally, you have access to: the Canterbury Cathedral Library and Archive (a major collection for the study of medieval and early modern religious and social history); the Centre for Kentish Studies at Maidstone; and the National Maritime Collection at Greenwich. Kent is also within easy reach of the country’s premier research collections in London and the national libraries in Paris and Brussels.

Dynamic publishing culture

Staff publish regularly and widely in journals, conference proceedings and books. Among others, they have recently contributed to: Journal of Contemporary History; English Historical Review; British Journal for the History of Science; Technology and Culture; and War and Society.

Researcher Development Programme

Kent's Graduate School co-ordinates the Researcher Development Programme (http://www.kent.ac.uk/graduateschool/skills/programmes/tstindex.html) for research students, which includes workshops focused on research, specialist and transferable skills. The programme is mapped to the national Researcher Development Framework and covers a diverse range of topics, including subjectspecific research skills, research management, personal effectiveness, communication skills, networking and teamworking, and career management skills

Research areas

Medieval and early modern history

Covering c400–c1500, incorporating such themes as Anglo-Saxon England, early-modern France, palaeography, British and European politics and society, religion and papacy.

Modern history

Covering c1500–present, incorporating such themes as modern British, European and American history, British military history, and 20th-century conflict and propaganda.

History of science, technology and medicine

Incorporating such themes as colonial science and medicine, Nazi medicine, eugenics, science and technology in 19th-century Britain.

Careers

As the job market becomes increasingly competitive, postgraduate qualifications are becoming more attractive to employers seeking individuals who have finely tuned skills and abilities, which our programmes encourage you to hone. As a result of the valuable transferable skills developed during your course of study, career prospects for history graduates are wide ranging. Our graduates go on to a variety of careers, from research within the government to teaching, politics to records management and journalism, to working within museums and galleries – to name but a few.

Find out how to apply here - https://www.kent.ac.uk/courses/postgraduate/apply/

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The MRes degree is a research programme with some provision for taught modules.

It is aimed at those who wish to move beyond taught work and are prepared to engage in research in depth for a substantial postgraduate thesis, but who also wish to take modules that help develop research and related skills, and to study broader historical subjects with other postgraduates.

Times Higher Education ranked the Department of History first in the country for its performance in the latest Research Excellence Framework exercise.

Course details

After consultation with your academic supervisor, you can pursue a research thesis in any aspect of British or European history, including European discovery of the wider world, political, military or diplomatic history, or the history of early modern religion, culture, society or ideas.

You willl study three taught modules:

• Historical Methods
• Writing Early Modern History: Sources and Approaches 
• Research Preparation 

You will then complete a 20,000-word thesis on an agreed topic which relates to early modern history and which can be appropriately supervised by a member of academic staff.

Assessment

Modules are assessed in various ways – by examination, coursework, presentation, transcription and attendance. 

Learning and teaching

Past and current MRes topics for the 20,000 word thesis have included:

• Hunting for hidden meaning: an analysis of the history, interpretation and presentation of seventeenth-century plasterwork at St Michael’s Mount, Cornwall
• Colonial failure in the New World: A French and German comparison
• Dutch and English competition for the Muscovy Trade in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries
• Harnessing Nature: Gardens and Science in John Evelyn’s England
• Susan Countess of Denbigh and Women at the Caroline Court
• "Lioness”: Ladies-in-Waiting and their careers at the Tudor Court, 1509-1547
• The “Black Book” and the politics of Elizabeth Warwick
• Commercial theatre management in the age of Shakespeare
• Religious Persecution in Henrician England

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.

Employability

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.

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This course offers a flexible, challenging Masters experience. You can choose either the specialist pathway MA History (Public History and Heritage) or, alternatively, you may pursue a general History route selecting from a diverse range of units and independent study consistent with your own interests in the further study of History. This programme does not focus on one single historical period or theme and has modules that vary from year to year. These specialist modules draw on the research strengths of the department. We house the Manchester Centre for Regional History, which gives our students the advantage of our strong links with historians and archives that extend beyond the University.

Selected units on the part-time route of this course are available to distance learning students via the internet. These are currently - Historical Skills and Research Methods; A Good War; and Nobles, States and Societies.

Features and benefits of the course

-A long and successful record in teaching postgraduate students from a range of different backgrounds.
-Opportunities to become familiar with the rich range of sources available to historians in Manchester and the North West.
-Individual support available throughout the course.
-The Manchester Centre for Regional History is housed within the Department and you will benefit from our strong links with historians and archives that extend beyond the University.

The History Department has a wealth of expertise, with leading researchers whose published work covers a wide range of times and places:
• Roman Britain/archaeology
• Medieval Crusades
• Tudor religion
• Early Modern politics and culture
• Industrial Manchester
• World War Two
• Museums and Public Policy

Placement options

Public History and Heritage students have a placement element to the dissertation, working with a local heritage group, a library or archive. We will help you to source your placement.

About the Course

Core aspects include a research methods and historiographical unit and a dissertation which allows you to develop your own historical interests in a structured, supportive context.

Assessment details

Your assessment will take the form of essays, reviews, presentations and a dissertation.

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Summary

This master's degree in History provides a deep and thorough understanding of past eras, episodes and societies, as well as the skills to conduct research, manage projects, think critically, and influence others - some of the most sought after qualities amongst employers.

Roehampton offers expertise over an extensive range of historical periods from medieval tax systems to the Tudor Court, and modern Europe to the Cold War, and we allow you to choose which ages and historical events you want to specialise in. Roehampton's historians lead the field and you will study with these top scholars to develop research questions of your own.

On this MA History, you will learn how to research in digital technologies as well as traditional methods, which is crucial training for research in the 21st century. By taking modules that hone your research skills, you will be equipped to work with academics who will use their expertise to support and benefit your work, and introduce you to advanced studies in historical topics.

You will complete work placements as part of the programme where you will apply the knowledge and skills you learn in the classroom in the real world. Your work placement might be in public history, such as archives, libraries or museums, or media, community services, heritage and cultural management, or event planning. The University has connections with businesses and employers across London and you will have opportunities to build your professional network that will benefit your career.

Our location in South West London is within close proximity to the National Archives at Kew, as well as the extensive resources the rest of London has to offer. Our new University library holds over 290,000 books and journals, including extensive collections and archives. Our online learning environment enables you to access books, articles, and primary documents from wherever you are in the world.

Content

The MA History is designed for people who want to take their historical knowledge to the next step and specialise in a particular area. Whether you are interested in early modern politics, the Vietnam War, or something else entirely, you will be able to develop your own expertise at Roehampton.

You will take two core skills modules, which are designed to sharpen your research abilities and fully acquaint you with a range of historical literature. You will take a module that examines key themes in historical research and a module that includes a work placement or an academic conference.

The final stage of the MA is completing a 15,000 word dissertation in which you choose the periods, people, and themes to explore.

You will be taught in small seminar groups and will have one to one sessions with your supervisor, who will be assigned based on your research interests.

Find out more

Find out more about our History MA, including available modules, here: https://www.roehampton.ac.uk/postgraduate-courses/history-ma/

Find out more about the Department of Humanities here: https://www.roehampton.ac.uk/humanities/

For a more research-intensive approach, you can also check out our History MRes here: https://www.roehampton.ac.uk/postgraduate-courses/history/

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This modular course is designed to allow students to further their undergraduate interest in history or a related subject by developing a particular specialism in the History of Wales. The course may be taken in its own right or as a preparation for further research in this area. It combines training in research techniques and theoretical and historiographic analysis, with taught courses and a substantial dissertation. There is a choice of specialist modules covering a range of periods, matching the research interests of the teaching staff.

This programme aims to provide a detailed knowledge and understanding of a specific academic area of the history of Wales through rigorous research training. Students will become acquainted with relevant historical theoretical issues and methods of interpretation and the use of evidence. It also provides the student with the necessary research skills to carry out an original piece of historical research in the chosen area of study, under supportive supervision.

Courses
ONE Special Option module chosen from the following:

The Age of Llywelyn ap Iorwerth
State, Society and Culture in Tudor Wales
Plaid Cymru a Gwleidyddiaeth Cymru
Compulsory modules:

Themes and Issues in History
ONE Documents and Sources module (20 credits) chosen from the following: Documents and Sources in Medieval and Early Modern History OR Documents and Sources in Modern History
Initiating a Research Project
Skills Option module
MA Dissertation

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This two-year part-time Masters Degree in Literature and Arts course offers the opportunity to study the literature and arts of three different periods of English history (ranging from the c16th to the c19th) in an interdisciplinary manner over four five day residences and two online modules. The course offers full access to the library and electronic resources of the university, a team of expert tutors, and a high level of personal and academic support.

VIDES (volume of interdisciplinary essays)

VIDES 2016 - Volume 4
In the second year, as part of the preparation for the dissertation, each student writes a short essay around two documents or artefacts which they have chosen which comment on a particular topic but from contrasting viewpoints. The student group is divided up into a number of small committees responsible for peer reviewing and editing the journal, deciding on its house-style and designing it.

To make navigation around the journal easier the volume is also presented on the open.conted site where you can find a list of all the essays with their abstracts to help you identify the essays which are of interest you. We hope you enjoy the read!

If you have enjoyed VIDES 2016 - Volume 4 you might also like to read VIDES 2015 - Volume 3, VIDES 2014 - Volume 2 and VIDES 2013 - Volume 1.

Visit the website https://www.conted.ox.ac.uk/about/mst-in-literature-and-arts

Description

This literature and arts course brings together the creative, intellectual and manufactured output of people in the past. It has a twofold aim – to explore the past through the lens of human creativity, and to inform our understanding of that creativity by studying the context within which it emerged. It is therefore an interdisciplinary programme which encompasses literature, art and architectural history, history, philosophy and theology. Based in Oxford, and taking full advantage of the remarkable human and cultural resources which this university has at its disposal, the literature and arts course is designed around three sequential periods of British history, from Early Modern (c.1450) to the early twentieth century (c.1914). By studying each period through a range of disciplines, students will acquire a broad and multi-faceted picture of the past. In this framework giant achievements such as Milton’s poetry or Wren’s architecture can be understood not only as products of their times but also in so far as they stand as uniquely inspired statements, or as harbingers of future developments.

Interdisciplinary study raises challenges for a student in terms of methodologies. How do I analyse and interpret a picture when I have only ever worked with text? A poem when I have only worked with documentary sources? A building when I have only ever studied abstract ideas? How do I make viable connections between these different areas of study? An online element offered towards the beginning of the course will provide the opportunity to discover, practise and develop these skills, and to engage with current theoretical discourses concerning the way scholars relate with their source material. Similarly a more advanced on-line component in the second year will focus on interdisciplinary research skills, including trying out those skills by contributing to a small volume of papers on a subject related to the chosen dissertation topic.

Whilst focusing on British history and culture, the course will begin with an introductory unit which sets Britain in a world context and explores her cultural relationship with the rest of the world since the sixteenth century. Using the layout of the Ashmolean museum’s international collections with its emphasis on global interaction, this unit will principally be concerned with the formation of British culture through the stimuli of influences beyond Europe.

The literature and arts course aims to enable students to specialise in certain disciplines and ultimately in a particular historical period, whilst structuring their learning within a strong contextual and critical framework. It aims to enable students to make the most of the university’s resources (e.g. its libraries, computer facilities, museums and historic monuments), to provide a high quality of academic and pastoral support, and to maximise the potential for learning within a peer group. It sets out to encourage a richly democratic view of cultural history in which all men’s and women’s lives play their part.

Programme details

Structure of the Literature and Arts Course
Year One

Two core courses in year one will introduce students to post-graduate research skills and methodologies and use a series of case studies to explore some of the challenges inherent in the practice of interdisciplinary study.

Students will also take two options during year one, which will allow them to begin to specialise either by period or theme.

Year Two

A third option at the start of year two will enable students to gain wide-ranging insight into their chosen area of study before deciding on their dissertation topic. A final core course in cultural theory will prepare the student for the writing of the dissertation. This involves writing an article for and contributing to the production process of the course's online journal, Vides. The dissertation occupies the final two terms of year two.

Core Courses

Core courses will be both residential and delivered through online distance learning modules.

Residences: students will attend tutorials, seminars and lectures during five-day residences in October, February and late June/July in year one and in October of year two, plus an initial residential induction weekend, prior to the first core course. Residences will account for eighty face to face teaching hours over the two years (structured around intensive discussion in seminars).

Distance-learning: these modules are fully supported by a dedicated Virtual Learning Environment. Students will engage in on-line group discussions using the course website and email. Students will also have access to the electronic on-line resources of Oxford University's Library Services, including the Bodleian Library, and all other University libraries, including the English Faculty Library, the History Faculty Library, the Philosophy Faculty Library and the Theology Faculty Library. These modules are designed such that students need not have a sophisticated understanding of IT; materials may be provided in a variety of ways to suit the student's preference and situation.

In keeping with the Oxford ethos of tutorial instruction, individual tutorials and supervisions will be an integral part of the programme, most notably with regard to the dissertation. Individual supervision will be undertaken both face-to-face and by e-mail.

Options

Each of the options residences is structured in the same way, beginning with an historical introduction to the period and ending with a plenary discussing where connections can be made between the subjects studied through the week. The options are taught in the mornings and afternoons and represent a range of disciplines, specifically Literature, History, Visual Culture and Philosophy/Theology/History of Ideas. Each student chooses two options out of four offered. Please note that due to timetabling constrictions it is not always possible to allocate each student to their preferred options. The following list indicates the subjects which were available in 2014/15, there may be some changes for 2016.

Late Medieval and Early Modern
Shakespeare in History - Dr Lynn Robson
Tudor Monarchy– Dr Janet Dickinson
The Role of Wit, Conceit and Curious Devices in Tudor and Jacobean Art and Architecture - Dr Cathy Oakes
The Uses of History in Seventeenth-century England - Dr Gabriel Roberts

The ‘Long Eighteenth Century’
Writing, Money and the Market - Dr Carly Watson
British Collectors and Classical Antiquities – Dr Stephen Kershaw
The British Empiricists: Locke, Hume and Berkeley – Dr Peter Wyss
Overseas Trade and the Rise of Britain as a Superpower - Dr Mike Wagner

The ‘Long Nineteenth Century’
Love and Sex in the Victorian Novel - Dr David Grylls
Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Late Nineteenth Century British Culture – Professor Barrie Bullen
The British Empire and the Indian Mutiny– Dr Yasmin Khan
'Habits of Heart and Mind' - Victorian Political Culture – Professor Angus Hawkins

Dissertation

A dissertation of 11,000 words will be the focus of the final two terms of the second year.

The final core course, delivered in Hilary term of the second year, is envisaged both as a graduate-level survey of relevant cultural theory, which will provide the necessary intellectual contexts for the students' chosen dissertation topics, and as an opportunity to fine-tune the students' research and writing skills in preparation for the dissertation. After completing Vides, students will decide on their dissertation subject in consultation with the Course Director. They will be advised on reading lists and a timetable of work by their dissertation supervisor.

The dissertation is intended to demonstrate the student's knowledge and awareness of more than one subject discipline in this final piece of assessment.

Who should take the course?

The design of the Masters Degree in Literature and Arts is part-time over two years, and as such it is intended for gifted students who, due to their obligations to professional work or caring duties, would otherwise be unable to pursue higher degrees. The MSt in Literature and Arts is taught in the format of regular short residences in Oxford, together with an element of closely-monitored distance-learning.

The course is ideal for the following:

- Graduates in Humanities disciplines who have entered employment, but who wish to maintain their momentum of study progressing to a postgraduate qualification. This group will include teachers, librarians, and archivists, and others involved in humanities-related professions.

- Humanities graduates who would like to study part-time because of other responsibilities (including caring roles).

- Graduates who have reached a stage in life where they wish to pursue a new area of study, either for personal development, or to establish new career paths.

While the Masters Degree in Literature and Arts can be seen as a stand-alone qualification, it will also prepare students for doctoral work.

Find out how to apply here - http://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/graduate/applying-to-oxford

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The Postgraduate Certificate in Historical Studies offers an exciting new opening for graduates of all disciplines to pursue a taught postgraduate qualification in historical studies. This one-year part-time course offers a unique opportunity for students to combine focused study of key historical themes and concepts in British and Western European history with either a broad-based approach to history or with the opportunity to specialise by period or in a branch of the discipline (political, social, economic, art, architectural and local). The course culminates in the research and preparation of a substantial dissertation.

The Postgraduate Certificate in Historical Studies forms part of a two-year Master's programme. Students who successfully complete the Postgraduate Certificate in Historical Studies are eligible to apply to the Master's of Study in Historical Studies (https://www.conted.ox.ac.uk/about/mst-in-historical-studies).

This Historical Studies course offers a stimulating and supportive environment for study. As a student of Oxford University you will also be entitled to attend History Faculty lectures and to join the Bodleian Library. The University’s Museums and Art Galleries are within easy walking distance.

Visit the website https://www.conted.ox.ac.uk/about/postgraduate-certificate-in-historical-studies

Course content

Unit 1: Princes, States, and Revolutions
The first unit examines the interaction between the state and the individual from medieval to modern times and focuses upon authority, resistance, revolution and the development of political institutions. It introduces the development of scholarly debate, key historical themes and the critical analysis of documentary sources. Students explore disorder and rebellion in medieval and early modern England; the causes and impact of the British Civil Wars; and the causes and impact of the French Revolution.

Unit 2: European Court Patronage c.1400
The second unit explores cultural patronage in late medieval Europe and examines the diverse courtly responses to shared concerns and experiences, including the promotion of power and status; the relationship between piety and power; and the impact of dominant cultures. It introduces comparative approaches to history, the critical analysis of visual sources and the methodological issues surrounding the interpretation of material culture and the translation of written sources. Students compare the courts of Richard II of England, Philip the Bold and John the Fearless of Burgundy, Charles V and Charles VI of France, and Giangaleazzo Visconti of Milan.

Unit 3: Religious Reformations and Movements
The third unit examines the role of organised religion and religious movements in the lives of people in the past. It utilises case studies from different historical periods to explore the impact of local circumstances upon the reception and development of new ideas and further encourages engagement with historical debate and the interpretation of documentary and visual sources. Students explore: medieval monasticism; the English and European reformations of the sixteenth century; and religion and society in nineteenth-century England, including the rise of nonconformity, secularism and the Oxford Movement.

Unit 4: Memory and Conflict
The fourth unit focuses upon a central theme in the study of twentieth-century European history: how societies have chosen to remember (and forget) violent conflicts, and the relationship between public and private memory. It explores the challenges faced by historians when interpreting documentary, visual and oral sources in the writing of recent history. Students examine the theoretical context and methodological approaches to the study of memory and consider two case studies: World War I and the Spanish Civil War.

Unit 5: Special Subjects
In the final unit, students study a source-based special subject and research and write a dissertation on a related topic of their own choice. A range of subjects will be offered, varying from year to year, allowing specialization across both time periods and the historical disciplines. Examples include:

- Visualising Sanctity: Art and the Culture of Saints c1150-1500
- The Tudor Court
- The English Nobility c1540-1640
- The Great Indian Mutiny and Anglo-Indian Relations in the Nineteenth Century
- The British Empire
- Propaganda in the Twentieth Century

The on-line teaching modules

The first module provides a pre-course introduction to history and post-graduate study skills. The second focuses upon the analysis and interpretation of material sources, such as buildings and images and the third upon the analysis and interpretation of a range of documentary sources. All include a range of self-test exercises.

Libraries and computing facilities

Registered students receive an Oxford University card, valid for one year at a time, which acts as a library card for the Departmental Library at Rewley House and provides access to the unrivalled facilities of the Bodleian Libraries which include the central Bodleian, major research libraries such as the Sackler Library, Taylorian Institution Library, Bodleian Social Science Library, and faculty libraries such as English and History. Students also have access to a wide range of electronic resources including electronic journals, many of which can be accessed from home. Students on the course are entitled to use the Library at Rewley House for reference and private study and to borrow books. The loan period is normally two weeks and up to eight books may be borrowed. Students will also be encouraged to use their nearest University library. More information about the Continuing Education Library can be found at http://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/conted.

The University card also provides access to facilities at Oxford University Computing Service (OUCS), 13 Banbury Road, Oxford. Computing facilities are available to students in the Students' Computing Facility in Rewley House and at Ewert House.

Course aims

The Postgraduate Certificate in Historical Studies course is designed to:

- provide a structured introduction to the study of medieval and modern British and European history;

- develop awareness and understanding of historical processes, such as continuity and change, comparative perspectives and the investigation of historical problems;

- provide the methodology required to interpret visual arts as historical evidence;

- equip students to evaluate and interpret historical evidence critically;

- promote interest in the concept and discipline of history and its specialisms;

- enable students to develop the analytical and communication skills needed to present historical argument orally and in writing;

- prepare students for progression to study at Master's level.

By the end of the course students will be expected to:

- display a broad knowledge and understanding of the themes and methodologies studied;

- demonstrate a detailed knowledge and understanding of key topics, the historical interpretation surrounding them and the relationship between local case-studies and the national perspective;

- utilise the appropriate critical and/or technical vocabulary associated with the disciplines, periods and themes covered;

- identify underlying historical processes, make cross-comparisons between countries and periods and explore historical problems;

- assess the relationship between the visual arts and the cultural framework within which they were produced;

- evaluate and analyse texts and images as historical evidence and utilise them to support and develop an argument;

- develop, sustain and communicate historical argument orally and in writing;

- reflect upon the nature and development of the historical disciplines and their contribution to national culture;

- demonstrate the skills needed to conduct an independent research project and present it as a dissertation within a restricted timeframe.

Assessment methods

The Postgraduate Certificate in Historical Studies is assessed through coursework. This comprises: four essays of 2,500 words each, two source-based exercises of 1,500 words each and a dissertation of 8,000 words. Students will write one essay following each of the first four units and the dissertation following unit 5. There will be a wide choice of assignment subjects for each unit and students will select a dissertation topic relating to their special subject with the advice of the course team. Students will be asked to write a non-assessed book review following the first pre-course online module and the source-based exercises will follow the second and third online modules.

Assignment titles, submission deadlines and reading lists will be supplied at the start of the course.

Tuition and study

A variety of teaching methods will be used in both the face-to-face and online elements of the course. In addition to lectures, PowerPoint slide presentations and tutor-led discussion, there will be opportunities for students to undertake course exercises in small groups and to give short presentations on prepared topics.

University lectures

Students are taught by the Department’s own staff but are also entitled to attend, at no extra cost, the wide range of lectures and research seminars organised by the University of Oxford’s History Faculty. Students are able to borrow books from both the Department’s library and the History Faculty Library, and are also eligible for membership of the Bodleian Library.

Find out how to apply here - http://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/graduate/applying-to-oxford

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This unique interdisciplinary programme provides the opportunity for intensive historical, literary and art-historical study.

The MA provides a thorough grounding in the skills required for advanced study in the medieval and early modern periods. It challenges you to engage with the evidence and methods of different disciplines in order to equip you with the wide range of research techniques crucial for studying the period.

The Centre for Medieval and Early Modern Studies (MEMS)

We are an interdisciplinary centre for the study of Medieval and Early Modern periods. Our 28 teaching staff are drawn from English, History, Architecture, Classical & Archaeological Studies, History & Philosophy of Art, and the Canterbury Archaeological Trust.

MEMS offers a successful, interdisciplinary MA programme, which attracts students from across the world. A thriving community of enterprising, supportive graduate students study for research degrees and benefit from the Centre’s involvement in the prestigious EU-funded Erasmus Mundus doctoral programme, Text and Event in Early Modern Europe (TEEME). We have close relationships with Canterbury Cathedral and the Archaeological Trust, which allow our students access to a wide range of unique historical, literary and material evidence.

National ratings

School of English -

In the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2014, research by the School of English was ranked 10th for research intensity and 15th for research power in the UK.

An impressive 100% of our research-active staff submitted to the REF and 95% of our research was judged to be of international quality. The School’s environment was judged to be conducive to supporting the development of world-leading research.

School of History -

In the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2014, research by the School of History was ranked 8th for research intensity and in the top 20 in the UK for research power.

An impressive 100% of our research-active staff submitted to the REF and 99% of our research was judged to be of international quality. The School’s environment was judged to be conducive to supporting the development of world-leading research.

Course structure

As well as a compulsory module in disciplinary methods and an exciting and varied range of optional modules. In addition, you produce a final dissertation of 12-15,000 words, for which you receive one-to-one supervision.

Modules

The following modules are indicative of those offered on this programme. This list is based on the current curriculum and may change year to year in response to new curriculum developments and innovation. Most programmes will require you to study a combination of compulsory and optional modules. You may also have the option to take modules from other programmes so that you may customise your programme and explore other subject areas that interest you.

MT864 - Reading the Medieval Town: Canterbury, an International City (30 credits) - https://www.kent.ac.uk/courses/modules/module/MT864
HI874 - Religion and Society in Seventeenth-Century England (30 credits) - http://www.kent.ac.uk/courses/modules/module/HI874
MT859 - Word and Image in Tudor England (30 credits) - https://www.kent.ac.uk/courses/modules/module/MT859

Assessment

Assessment is by coursework and dissertation. The skills modules are assessed by a combination of coursework and examination.

Programme aims

This programme aims to:

- provide you with a thorough grounding in the techniques and approaches necessary for advanced research in the medieval and early modern periods
- introduce you to a wide range of literary and historical sources and to encourage you to identify and develop your own interests and expertise in the medieval and early modern periods
- enable you to undertake interdisciplinary work
- enable you to understand and use a variety of concepts, approaches and research methods to develop an understanding of the differing and contested aspects between and within the relevant disciplines
- develop your capacities to think critically and to argue a point of view with clarity and cogency, both orally and in written form
- develop your abilities to assimilate and organise a mass of diverse information
- offer you the experience of a variety of teaching, research and study skills
- develop your independent critical thinking and judgement
- promote a curriculum supported by scholarship, staff development and a research culture that provides breadth and depth of intellectual inquiry and debate
- assist you to develop cognitive and transferable skills relevant to your vocational and personal development
- offer you learning opportunities that are enjoyable, involve realistic workloads, are pedagogically based within a research-led framework and offer appropriate support for students from a diverse range of backgrounds.

Careers

The transferable skills gained from this postgraduate programme are enhanced by the University of Kent’s employability initiative and careers advice service. Many of our recent graduates have gone on to careers in heritage, museum or archivist work. Some go on to pursue research in the area, many continuing with PhDs at Kent or other higher education institutions.

Learn more about Kent

Visit us - https://www.kent.ac.uk/courses/visit/openday/pgevents.htmlhttps://www.kent.ac.uk/courses/visit/openday/pgevents.html

International Students - https://www.kent.ac.uk/internationalstudent/

Why study at Kent? - https://www.kent.ac.uk/courses/postgraduate/why/

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About the course

This programme offers a series of closely integrated core modules addressing key issues in medieval archaeology, enabling you to develop your experience and understanding of method and theory whilst developing your intellectual curiosity, critical thinking, problem solving and independent judgement. You will be encouraged to explore your own particular interests with a range of modules allowing you to focus on Anglo-Saxon, Scandinavian and later medieval, and Tudor archaeology in Europe.

Your future

Each of our masters courses is designed to equip you with valuable employment skills and prepare you for your future career. If you’re seeking to move into an archaeology-related field from a different academic or employment background, our courses and supportive staff will help you to realise your ambitions and develop professionally.

Graduates from our MA and MSc courses successfully compete for some of the most sought-after archaeological posts in the world. Our courses help students to develop essential transferable skills, and upon graduation they are also in demand by a wide variety of employers outside of the sector.Many of our graduates decide to continue their studies, carrying out doctoral research in their chosen specialist field, equipped with a solid theoretical and practical grounding from which to develop their research.

World-leading expertise

The character and strength of research carried out by Sheffield’s Archaeology department is captured under the following broad themes. These reflect the range of our research and its cross-disciplinary, embedded nature:

Funerary Archaeology
Landscape Archaeology
Bioarchaeology
Medieval Archaeology
Cultural Materials
Mediterranean Archaeology

Specialist facilities

The Archaeology department is situated on the edge of the main campus, near to Sheffield’s city centre. The department houses world-class reference collections and facilities to support teaching, learning and research in a range of archaeological disciplines. Facilities include specialist lab space dedicated to teaching and research, dedicated study spaces, and a student common room.

Fieldwork opportunities

We offer you the opportunity to get involved in our research projects in the UK, Europe and further afield.

How we will teach and assess you

Our students come from all around the world and the content of our courses reflects this. You can expect a balanced timetable of lectures, seminars and practicals. Many of our masters courses also include a fieldwork or project work component. Our teaching staff are leading scholars in their field. Through their research and field projects they are active in generating new knowledge that feeds directly into their teaching.

Funding, scholarships and bursaries

If you accept a place on one of our courses, you may be eligible to apply for WRoCAH and University of Sheffield studentships. There are also a number of departmental and programme-specific scholarships available each year. See our website for details.

Core modules

Heritage, Museum and Field: Archaeology in Practice; Ethnicity and Identity in the Early Middle Ages; Society and Culture in the Later Middle Ages; Reinventing Archaeology; Research Design: Planning, Execution and Presentation; Dissertation.

Indicative optional modules

Viking-Age Britain; Wars of the Roses to Elizabeth: The Archaeology of England 1455-1603; Introduction to Human Osteology; Archaeozoology; Two modules from the Department of History.

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Effective international engagement is built on excellent diplomacy. Our Master's degree in Diplomacy will prepare you for a career on the frontline of global affairs.

Why study Diplomacy?

Diplomacy has traditionally been understood as the way in which officials pursue their country’s foreign policy. However, in the contemporary world diplomacy has come to have a far broader application.

Officials working for the United Nations and other international bodies, such as the European Union, conduct diplomacy. So too do staff at major non-governmental bodies and charities. Even business now use diplomacy to advance their goals on the international stage.

This degree programme has been designed to prepare you for a career in diplomacy, whether working for a national foreign ministry, an international organisation, an NGO, or any other body or organisation that works globally.

As well as learning about diplomatic history and theory, you will also develop practical diplomatic skills, such as preparing briefing papers, policy documents and speeches. You will also have the chance to interact with senior diplomats and benefit from the excellent range of diplomatic missions and international organisations located in the British capital.

Why St Mary's?

This postgraduate degree builds on our proven expertise in the fields of diplomacy and international relations.

Prof James Ker-Lindsay has a practical background in conflict resolution and has worked at the Foreign Office. He has written extensively on foreign policy and diplomacy.

Prof John Charmley is one of Britain’s leading diplomatic historians and has written extensively on Churchill and the End of Empire. Prof Glenn Richardson is an authority on England’s relations with Europe in the Tudor period and Dr Claire Norton has written on Ottoman diplomacy.

The course is designed and delivered by senior figures with hands-on experience of diplomacy at the very highest levels. Prof Francis Campbell, Vice-Chancellor of St Mary’s University, served as policy advisor and private secretary to the prime minister, and has worked as an ambassador and head of the policy unit at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. 

Visiting professors include Sir Ivor Roberts and Ambassador Noel Fahey. Sir Ivor Roberts served as British Ambassador to Italy, Yugoslavia and Ireland and is also the editor of recent editions of Satow’s Diplomatic Practice (widely regarded as the most authoritative diplomatic handbook). Ambassador Noel Fahey served as Ireland’s ambassador to Germany, the United States and the Holy See.

The course also includes contributions from other senior diplomats and figures from the worlds of foreign policy and international politics.

Find out more about our MA in Diplomacy...

Please note: this programme is subject to validation.

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