World History & Cultures MA

Our World History & Cultures MA offers you the chance to study the global, political, economic, and cultural interactions, the history of empires and the transnational histories of Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and the Americas.

Since the 1920s, King’s has been a key international centre for Imperial and Global History so it’s a great place to study. As well as providing training in global and transnational history, our course offers you the opportunity to personalise your degree by choosing optional modules offered by any department at King’s or from available MA courses at our London partner institutions (which include UCL, Queen Mary and Royal Holloway).

Leads to careers in education, journalism, finance, politics and cultural sectors.

Key benefits

• One of the best history departments in the world, ranked 5th in the UK for Research Quality (REF 2014) and in the top five departments of History in Europe (QS World University Rankings 2017).
• King’s graduates enjoy one of the best employment rates and starting salaries in the UK. Ranked 4th in the UK for graduate employability (Times Higher Education Wold University Rankings 2017).
• The most comprehensive coverage of the history of the European seaborne empires of any university in the UK and has key figures in the study of South Asia, Australia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean.
• Our central London location offers students unrivalled access to world-class museums, collections, archives and libraries as well as easy access to resources in Europe.
• Vibrant research culture, including seminars and conferences at which students are encouraged to participate and give papers.

Description

This MA course provides you with training in global and transnational history, while offering the opportunity to pursue a personally-tailored interdisciplinary education, through optional modules offered by any department at King’s College London, or from available MA courses at our London partner institutions. You will also be free to carry out your own research, and to draw on an exceptional range of expertise within the World History research cluster at King’s, which includes experts on Africa, South Asia, China, Latin America and the Caribbean, Australia, and the Middle East, as well as leading historians of the British Empire, Portuguese Empire, and French Empire.

We aim to provide training in the historiographical and technical skills necessary for further study, and also to allow you to develop special expertise in the areas of history and the humanities that attract you. Our course is particularly suitable if you have a clear research interest and are looking to continue in academic study.

Required Modules

You are required to take:

• Advanced Skills for Historians (20 credits)
• Transnational history (20 credits)
• Dissertation (60 credits)

You will write a 15,000-word dissertation, on a topic devised and developed through discussion with your dissertation supervisor.

If you are a part-time student, you will take the required modules in your first year and you will write your dissertation in your second year.

Optional Modules

In addition, you are required to take 80 credits from a range of optional modules. If you are a part-time student, you will take 40 credits in your first year and 40 credits in your second.

The list of optional modules may typically include:

• The British Empire (20 credits)
• Harlem: A Social & Intellectual history since 1900 (20 credits)
• On Contradictions: Themes in the Study of the Early People’s Republic of China (20 credits)
• Making of Contemporary India: Political Power & Social Order in Historical Perspective (20 credits)
• Inequality in World History (20 credits)
• Obsessed with the West: Movements & Ideologies in Modern Iran (20 credits)
• Up to 40 credits from a range of master’s modules offered outside of the department, including those offered via the intercollegiate scheme by Departments of History from across the University of London, subject to approval.
• You may also opt to take an additional 20 credits in a Level 7 language module at the Modern Languages Centre.

Career prospects

Our course will give you skills that will allow you to excel in academia and in your professional life. Many students coming out of this MA have gone on to fully-funded PhD studentships at King’s, UCL, Oxford, Cambridge, Princeton and other universities, and others have found careers in a diverse range of fields, such as the civil and foreign services, education, journalism, finance, politics and cultural sectors.

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Visit the World History & Cultures MA page on the King’s College London website for more details!