Visit our website for more information on fees, scholarships, postgraduate loans and other funding options to study Early Modern History at Swansea University - 'Welsh University of the Year 2017' (Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2017).
The MA in Early Modern History offers the study of the period of history that runs from the fifteenth to the eighteenth centuries, and encompasses the Renaissance, Reformation and Counter Reformation, and Enlightenment.
The wide-ranging expertise of Swansea University's early modern historians allows students to study British, European, American or Asian History. The MA in Early Modern History explores the history of art and culture, empire, gender, politics, religion, sexuality and science.
Swansea University has excellent research resources for postgraduate study in the area of Early Modern History. In addition to the general holdings in the University library, the National Library of Wales at Aberystwyth is within travelling distance. The University works closely with the National Galleries and Museums of Wales. There are a postgraduate common room and an electronic resources room available in the James Callaghan Building for students enrolled in the MA in Early Modern History programme.
The College of Arts and Humanities has a Graduate Centre. The Graduate Centre fosters and supports individual and collaborative research activity of international excellence and offers a vibrant and supportive environment for students pursuing postgraduate research and taught masters study. The Centre provides postgraduate training to enhance academic and professional development and facilitates participation in seminar programmes, workshops and international conferences.
The full-time Early Modern History course structure is split across the year with three modules taken in each academic semester (a total of six modules) and then a dissertation over the summer.
Students study three compulsory modules and three optional modules. The dissertation is written on a specialist research topic of the student's choosing.
Part-time study is available.
Students interested in early modern history from a history or related background. Students interested in preparation for postgraduate research, MPhil or PhD, or who wish to develop skills and knowledge related to early modern history.
Modules on the Early Modern History course typically include:
• Historical Methods and Approaches
• New Departures in the Writing of History
• Gender & Humour in Medieval Europe
• From Princely Possessions to Public Museums: A History of Collecting and Display
• Venice and the Sea
• Medieval Manuscripts
• Directed Reading in History
- To acquire advanced knowledge and understanding of a range of topics related to early modern history.
- To develop theoretical and methodological skills relevant to all aspects of the study of early modern history.
- To lay a solid foundation of knowledge and analytical and presentational skills for further research work in the field.
All staff in the Department of History and Classics are research active and publish books and articles in their areas of expertise. Our researchers are involved with the Arts and Humanities research centres: the Callaghan Centre for the Study of Conflict, Power and Empire, the Richard Burton Centre for the Study of Wales and the Research Groups: MEMO: the Centre for Medieval and Early modern Research and GENCAS: the Centre for Research into Gender in Culture and Society. Regular research seminars and lectures are run through these groups and also through the Research Institute for Arts and Humanities (RIAH) which students are encouraged to attend.
Career expectations are excellent for Early Modern History graduates. MA degree holders may move on to doctoral study or enter employment in such areas as museums, heritage and tourism; marketing, sales and advertising; business, art, design and culture; media and PR; social and welfare professions; humanitarian organisations; the civil service, and education.
“I graduated with a First-Class Honours BA History degree and an MA in Early Modern History from Swansea University. My four years of study here were truly the most enjoyable of my life so far! The lecturers, tutors and all members of the History department were also incredibly friendly and always willing to help. The MA was fully funded by a University Alumni bursary. The range of modules available to MA students is exceptional and the facilities here are fantastic. With a designated Arts and Humanities Postgraduate computer room and common-room area, as well as the University’s very own archives, Swansea is a great place to study History.”
Cath Horler, Early Modern History, MA
Visit our website for more information on fees, scholarships, postgraduate loans and other funding options to study Modern History at Swansea University - 'Welsh University of the Year 2017' (Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2017).
The MA in Modern History is designed for students who are particularly interested in the study of the modern period and the emergence of the characteristics of modernity from the pre-modern world.
The expertise of Swansea’s modern historians encompasses Welsh, British, European and global history, with specialisms in economic and industrial history, questions of identity and nationality, imperialism, medicine, politics, sexuality, and sport.
Swansea has a long history of excellence in the study of modern history, and many students who have completed their MA successfully have also studied for their doctorate here.
Students on the MA in Modern History course will benefit from the College of Arts and Humanities' Graduate Centre. The Graduate Centre fosters and supports individual and collaborative research activity of international excellence and offers a vibrant and supportive environment for students pursuing postgraduate research and taught masters study. The Centre provides postgraduate training to enhance academic and professional development and facilitates participation in seminar programmes, workshops and international conferences.
The full-time Modern History course structure is split across the year with three modules taken in each academic semester (a total of six modules) and then a dissertation over the summer. Students study three compulsory modules and three optional modules. The dissertation is written on a specialist research topic of the student's choosing.
Part-time study for the MA in Modern History is available.
- To acquire advanced knowledge and understanding of a range of topics related to modern history.
- To develop theoretical, practical and methodological skills relevant to all aspects of the study of modern history.
- To lay a solid foundation of knowledge and analytical and presentational skills for further research work in the field.
Modules on the MA Modern History course typically include:
• Historical Methods and Approaches
• New Departures in the Writing of History
• Communicating History
• Fascism and Culture
• From Princely Possessions to Public Museums: A History of Collecting and Display
• Power, Conflict, and Society in the Modern World
• Venice and the Sea
• Directed Reading in History
Students interested in Modern History from a history or related background. Students interested in preparation for postgraduate research, MPhil or PhD, or who wish to develop skills and knowledge related to modern history.
Career expectations are excellent for Modern History graduates. MA degree holders may move on to doctoral study or enter employment in such areas as museums, heritage and tourism; marketing, sales and advertising; business, art, design and culture; media and PR; social and welfare professions; humanitarian organisations; the civil service, and education.
All staff in the Department of History and Classics are research active and publish books and articles in their areas of expertise.
Our researchers are involved with the Arts and Humanities research centres: the Callaghan Centre for the Study of Conflict, Power and Empire and the Richard Burton Centre for the Study of Wales. Regular research seminars and lectures are run through these Centres and also through the Research Institute for Arts and Humanities (RIAH) which students are encouraged to attend.
Visit our website for more information on fees, scholarships, postgraduate loans and other funding options to study History at Swansea University - 'Welsh University of the Year 2017' (Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2017).
The MA by Research in History is a research degree pursued over one year full-time or two years part-time. Students on the History research programme undertake research under the supervision of History staff, and produce a thesis that makes an original contribution to knowledge and understanding of some aspect of the past.
The expertise of the Department of History and Classics spans from the ancient cultures and languages of ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome to the history of late twentieth- and early twenty-first-century Europe. The research of our staff and postgraduates is integral to the life of the Department of History and Classics, and it means that Swansea is a dynamic, exciting, and stimulating place to study.
History and Classics is part of the Research Institute for the Arts and Humanities (RIAH: http://www.swansea.ac.uk/riah/), which organises a large number of seminars, conferences, and other research activities. There are also a number of research groups which act as focal points for staff and postgraduates, including: the Richard Burton Centre for the Study of Wales, Centre for Ancient Narrative Literature (KYKNOS), Centre for Medieval and Early Modern Research (MEMO), and the Centre for research into Gender in Culture and Society (GENCAS).
As a student of the History research programme you have access to skills and training programmes offered by the College of Arts and Humanities and the University.
The MA by Research in History is ideal for those who would like to do an initial research degree, either as a stand-alone culmination to their studies or with a view to further, subsequent research, e.g. in form of a PhD. Research proposals are invited on any topic in medieval, early modern, or modern history for which staff can provide supervision.
For informal enquiries regarding the MA by research in History programme please contact: Dr Fritz-Gregor Herrmann ([email protected]).
Research interests in the Department of History and Classics include:
Medieval History
• The Anglo-Norman ‘Realm’ and the Angevin Empire
• Capetian France, especially the monarchy, aristocracy, and religious orders
• The Cathars and the Albigensian Crusade
• Charters and the documentary records of medieval France and England
• The Mediterranean world, especially the Crusades, later medieval Italian society and politics, and the Italian Renaissance, including art history
• England and Wales in the central and late Middle Ages, including the aristocracy and gentry, the Welsh Marches, urban history, law and crime, women and the law, religious belief and practice, and education and literacy
• Gender and the life cycle in late medieval Europe
• Medieval frontier societies and borderlands, and concepts of frontiers from the late Roman Empire to the present day
Early Modern History
• Most aspects of British history between 1500 and 1800, especially religious, scientific, cultural and gender history
• The history of health and medicine in early modern Britain
• History of Disabilities
• The Portuguese Empire
• The Reformation and Counter-Reformation
• Science, intellectual life, collecting and museums in early modern Europe
• The social history of early modern sex and marriage
• Crime and witchcraft
• The Enlightenment, republicanism and international relations in the eighteenth century
Modern History
• Most aspects of Welsh history, especially industrial society
• The cultural, intellectual and urban history of nineteenth-century and twentieth-century Britain
• Modern international history
• The United States since 1750, in particular slavery, the South and the Civil War
• The economic and imperial history of Britain in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries
• Emigration and urbanisation in the British Isles between the eighteenth and twentieth centuries
• The political history of the UK since 1800
• Military and society in Europe between 1750 and 1815
• Austrian and German history in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries
• Austrian, German and Central European history, especially in the fields of urban, labour and post-1945 history
• Modern economic history
• Quantitative aspects of British economic growth from the sixteenth to the twenty-first centuries
• Anti-capitalist and socialist political economy
• Policing and police forces in twentieth-century Europe
• Italian fascism
• Allied Occupation of Italy
• Contemporary French and Italian social an d cultural history
• Memory studies and oral history of twentieth-century Europe
• History of protest and activism in the 1960s and 1970s
Visit our website for more information on fees, scholarships, postgraduate loans and other funding options to study History at Swansea University - 'Welsh University of the Year 2017' (Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2017).
The MA in History is an exciting programme that covers a wide range of topics in history from the Middle Ages onwards.
The wide-ranging expertise of Swansea University's historians offers the study of British, European, American or Asian History. The History MA allows students to explore the history of art and culture, empire, gender, politics, religion, sexuality and science.
Students on the MA History programme are introduced to key concepts that shape the study of history. The MA in History students benefit not only from the unusual concentration of historians at Swansea, but also from the existence of the College of Arts and Humanities Research Centres, the Callaghan Centre for the Study of Conflict, Power and Empires and the Richard Burton Centre.
History MA students benefit from the the College of Arts and Humanities' Graduate Centre. The Graduate Centre fosters and supports individual and collaborative research activity of international excellence and offers a vibrant and supportive environment for students pursuing postgraduate research and taught masters study including the MA in History programme. The Centre provides postgraduate training to enhance academic and professional development and facilitates participation in seminar programmes, workshops and international conferences.
The full-time History course structure is split across the year with three modules taken in each academic semester (a total of six modules) and then a dissertation over the summer. History students study three compulsory modules and three optional modules. The dissertation is written on a specialist research topic of the student's choosing.
Part-time study for MA in History is available.
- To acquire advanced knowledge and understanding of a range of topics related to history.
- To develop theoretical and methodological skills relevant to all aspects of the study of history.
- To lay a solid foundation of knowledge and analytical and presentational skills for further research work in the field.
Modules on the History course typically include:
• Historical Methods and Approaches
• New Departures in the Writing of History
• Communicating History
• Directed Reading in History
• From Princely Possessions to Public Museums: A History of Collecting and Display
• Power, Conflict, and Society in the Modern World
• Venice and the Sea
• Medieval Manuscripts
• Fascism & Culture
Students from a history or related background. Students interested in preparation for postgraduate research, MPhil or PhD, or who wish to develop skills and knowledge related to history.
All staff in the Department of History and Classics are research active and publish books and articles in their areas of expertise. Staff and students are members of a range of Arts and Humanities research centres: the Callaghan Centre for the Study of Conflict, Power and Empire, the Richard Burton Centre for the Study of Wales and the Research Groups: MEMO: the Centre for Medieval and Early Modern Research and GENCAS: the Centre for Research into Gender in Culture and Society. Regular research seminars and lectures are run through these groups and through the Research Institute for Arts and Humanities (RIAH) giving students including those of the MA in History programme access to cutting-edge research.
Career expectations are excellent for History graduates. MA degree holders in History may move on to doctoral study or enter employment in such areas as museums, heritage and tourism; marketing, sales and advertising; business, art, design and culture; media and PR; social and welfare professions; humanitarian organisations; the civil service, and education.
“I graduated with a First-Class Honours BA History degree and an MA in History from Swansea University. My four years of study here were truly the most enjoyable of my life so far! The lecturers, tutors and all members of the History department were also incredibly friendly and always willing to help. The History MA was fully funded by a University Alumni bursary. The range of modules available to MA students is exceptional and the facilities here are fantastic. With a designated Arts and Humanities Postgraduate computer room and common-room area, as well as the University’s very own archives, Swansea is a great place to study History.”
Cath Horler, History, MA
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.
Are you interested in exploring the history of sixteenth-, seventeenth- or eighteenth-century Britain, Europe and the wider world?
The MA Early Modern History, organised by the Centre for Reformation and Early Modern Studies (CREMS), is taught by leading scholars whose expertise covers the Catholic and Protestant Reformations, New World discoveries, and the political, cultural and religious worlds of sixteenth-, seventeenth- and eighteenth-century England and Europe. It combines political, religious, social, cultural, material and intellectual approaches to introduce the early modern period in all its richness and complexity, and to equip students with the knowledge and skills to take a fresh look at early modern history.
The enormous breadth of staff expertise gives you a rich variety of options, and a wide range of possibilities for your dissertation topic. The programme also offers comprehensive research training opportunities, providing the ideal grounding to undertake a PhD in this area.
Times Higher Education ranked the Department of History first in the country for its performance in the latest Research Excellence Framework exercise.
Early modern history has become increasingly interdisciplinary, with researchers drawing on the insights of anthropology, sociology, cultural and literary studies, art history, and musicology, as well as history, when writing about the past.
Topics such as violence, clothing, gender, exploration, art, drama, music, buildings and material culture have come to be seen as crucial to understanding the transformations that were taking place across the period c.1500-c.1700. These new approaches are integral to the teaching and research training provided on this course. There is also an annual field trip, designed to explore key themes and issues outside of the classroom, in the context of key buildings, documents and historical artefacts.
You will study two core modules in early modern history (full descriptions available below):
You will also study the department's core module in 'Historical Methods', take a module in research preparation, and choose from a range of optional modules, including special subjects, advanced options, and further research training.
Assessment
Modules are typically assessed by written assignment, with the exception of Research Preparation which also requires a presentation. You will also complete a 15,000-word dissertation on an agreed topic. The range of supervisory expertise within CREMS means that we can support dissertations in almost any area, so long as there are sufficient historical sources to support your chosen topic. Birmingham provides access to excellent library resources in early modern history, including an impressive range of digitised primary source material, from state papers and archives to printed books and much more.
The Centre for Reformation and Early Modern Studies (CREMS) provides a focus for research in this area at Birmingham.
Its leading members have a high international research profile, making this one of Britain’s largest clusters of expertise in this area. The Centre also has a regular seminar series, which will support and inform your learning. This includes an annual lecture (past speakers have included Diarmaid MacCulloch, Peter Lake, Mark Greengrass, Andrew Pettegree, Ulinka Rublack and Susan Brigden) and an ongoing programme of conferences.
CREMS also has particularly close links with the Shakespeare Institute in Stratford-upon-Avon which provides a focus for a full range of seminars, conferences and research activities related to the study of the literary history of Elizabethan and Jacobean England.
During your course, you will receive thorough training in research methods relating to the history of this period, including instruction in palaeography to enable you to read original manuscripts, training in various languages as required, and a regular seminar that explores interdisciplinary approaches to the theory and practice of research.
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).
This popular Modern History course is focused on European and British history from the mid 18th century onwards and explores the key topics of the period, from European nation building to modern British politics. The couse is designed primarily for those interested in Continental European and/or British History and draws on a wide range of approaches to give you a comparative perspective.
It offers a huge range of options taught by world-leading experts, including modules taught in the Institute of Contemporary British History.
The degree leads to further research or careers in education, journalism, finance, politics and cultural sectors.
The history of modern Europe and Britain has always been central to our teaching. This popular Modern History MA course will give you the skills that you need to study modern history, and you will explore the key topics of the period, from European nation building to modern British politics. We have designed this MA primarily for those interested in Continental European and/or British History since the mid-18th century, and the course draws on a wide range of approaches to give you a comparative perspective. You will also have the opportunity to study a modern language, which will extend the range of sources that you can engage with.
We will help you to make comparisons between the experiences of different societies and polities, a skill that we believe is fundamental to understanding historical issues, and to think broadly, not just in terms of country, period and discipline.
The course will give you access to an exceptionally wide range of optional modules from across the Faculty of Arts & Humanities, as well as other institutions. You can also attend relevant undergraduate lecture series, such as Europe from 1793–1991 and Politics & Society in Britain, 1780–1945.
Institute of Contemporary British History (ICBH)
The Institute of Contemporary British History (ICBH) joined us in September 2010, and it has close links with the Department of History, enabling you to take ICBH modules and participate in Institute activities.
Centre for the History of Science, Technology and Medicine (CHoSTM)
The Centre for the History of Science, Technology and Medicine (CHoSTM) joined us in August 2013. The Centre is one of the most vibrant groups of historians devoted to the study of science, technology and medicine in the world, covering a wide chronological range, and concerned with global as well as national histories. You can take modules offered by CHoSTM and we will encourage you to attend their fortnightly seminar series.
Provides a distinctive programme suitable both for those intending to proceed to a PhD and for those who wish to study modern history at an advanced level. Encourage a broad vision in study that escapes rigid divisions of country, period or discipline.
Teaching
Full-time study: 4-8 hours of taught classes per week.
Part-time study: 2-6 hours of taught classes per week.
Assessment
The taught compulsory and optional modules are assessed by coursework and/or take-home examination. The compulsory 15,000 word dissertation enables students to research a topic of their choice, working one-to-one with an academic supervisor.
As one of the largest History Departments in the UK we are able to offer a depth of subject expertise rarely matched by other institutions. This means that we can offer a breadth of study with a large chronological range from medieval to modern covering global history from Britain, Europe, Africa, the Americas and Asia. Our students have excellent access to top academics in specialist fields, including one to one supervision sessions.
Within the department we have experts in topics including economic and social history, political history and religious and cultural history, which link to our six dedicated research centres. There are distinct opportunities on this course including, a supervised independent study module to enable you to follow your own interests.
The University library has extensive holdings, audio-visual collections and medieval manuscripts in our Special Collections. Exeter Cathedral Library Archives and the Devon Heritage Centre contain further significant medieval manuscripts, documents and early printed books.
Exeter Historians have a diverse range of interests and we pride ourselves on our flexible approach to learning that includes part-time options and plenty of interdisciplinary collaboration such as with Classics, Theology, and Archaeology. You might for instance choose a Latin module or a module on Medieval Archaeology to complement your main path of study.
You will be taught mostly in small group seminars as we believe this is the best way to allow our students access and interaction with academic staff. In your seminars you will contribute to discussions and debates as well as present findings, research and interpretations of readings.
At the end of your programme you will complete a dissertation up to 25,000 words long on a topic of your choosing, something which may later form part of a PhD research proposal. Some of the topics our students have covered in the past include:
A wide range of optional modules are available which reflect the varied research interests of academic staff. These interests range widely from the early medieval period to the twentieth century and cover Britain, Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas. All aspects of the discipline are represented, from social, religious, cultural and gender history to the study of politics, economic development, international relations, and military conflict in a variety of contexts and eras. Particular areas of strength include early modern history, naval and maritime history, medical history, and the history of the connections between war, state and society.
Your choice of optional modules may include subjects as diverse as ritual in the Middle Ages; witchcraft and the supernatural in the 16th and 17th centuries; maritime and naval history; sexuality; health, medicine; gender and the body; party politics and international diplomacy; and the impact of modern wars on culture, economy, society and memory.
- offers an excellent education in a very wide range of historical subjects and geographical locations over a broad time-span from Anglo-Saxon England to modern Western and Eastern Europe, some parts of Asia, North and South America, and Africa;
- produces graduates who are highly competent in subject-specific, core academic, and personal and key skills that are both relevant and transferable to employment;
- draws on the expertise of a number of highly respected research centres which are at the forefront of their respective disciplines;
- participation in joint seminar programmes offering insights into a very wide range of research cultures and specialisms;
- excellent preparation for students intending to continue on to doctoral-level research with a good track record in obtaining funding for further study.
Research is at the heart of History and our students are encouraged to come to Departmental Research Seminars and become an active part of wider research community. Our research centres regularly hold seminars and other research events which MA students are welcome to attend.
Our current research centres include:
As well as our History specific research centres you are also welcome to get involved in of the other research centres across the College of Humanities or the University. You can find out more about our Academic Staff and their research interests on our Research pages.
Our innovative MA Historical Research & Public History provides advanced training in historical method, historiography, theory and the practices of historical research, in addition to exploring history as it is represented and debated in the public sphere, including in museums and galleries, heritage sites, public policy, and the media.
Our MA Historical Research & Public History offers a rich and intensive study of historical research and public history, designed to produce talented and sought-after historians who are able to apply their skills not only to academia but also to the practice of history in the public sphere.
This Master’s programme can be completed in one year (full-time), or stretched over two years (part-time). International students who require a visa are only eligible to study this programme on a one-year, full-time basis.
The MA Historical Research & Public History comprises seven courses studied full-time across a single academic year, or part-time over two academic years.
There are five compulsory courses: The Historian’s Craft, Public History, and Applied Public History, plus two Dissertation courses. Students can choose from a range of historical periods and topics for their remaining courses.
The MA Historical Research & Public History will be delivered predominantly through seminars, of no more than ten people, and individual tutorials.
Students who are enrolled full-time should anticipate devoting approximately 35-40 hours per week to their studies for the duration of their degree. In Michaelmas and Hilary terms, this will include approximately six to seven formal contact hours per week, with the remainder consisting of structured independent study.
Independent study primarily comprises preparing both formative and summative work, though it may also include participation in History Society meetings, History Research seminars, and professorial lectures. In Trinity term, students predominantly work independently to write their dissertations.
Part-time students will, on average, devote half as much time to their studies over a period lasting twice as long.
Students will write formative essays during the year, which will receive written tutor feedback.
Summative assessment of the MA Historical Research & Public History will be via essays undertaken by students throughout the academic year, in addition to their extended research proposal and dissertation of 15,000 words.
Timetables are usually made available to students during Freshers’ Week. Teaching can be scheduled to take place during any day of the week. However, when possible, Wednesday afternoons are usually reserved for sports and cultural activities.
NCH degrees are designed and created by the College’s professors and faculty. The courses reflect their areas of expertise and research interests, meaning that they are actively engaged with the material that they will teach you, and there may be opportunities for students to participate in active research.
In the case of the MA Historical Research & Public History programme, the curriculum was overseen and developed by the NCH History Faculty. Depth Study courses are devised and taught the members of the NCH History faculty. These include Dr Lars Kjaer BA, MPhil, PhD, Lecturer in Medieval History, Dr Edmund Neill MA, DPhil (Oxon), MSc (LSE), FRHistS, Lecturer in Modern History and Dr Olly Ayers BA (Manchester), PhD (Kent), Lecturer in History and Politics.
The New College of the Humanities MA Historical Research & Public History degree programme is validated by Swansea University as being of an appropriate standard and quality and will lead to the Swansea University award of a Master of Arts (MA).
This programme focuses on the period c1500-2000, drawing on the considerable range of expertise within the School to offer a broad selection of modules, allowing you to tailor your programme to your interests.
Visit the website: https://www.kent.ac.uk/courses/postgraduate/74/modern-history
You learn from academics regarded as experts in their fields. You develop your capacity to think critically about past events, approach sources from a variety of perspectives and strive to understand the complex issues surrounding context and significance. You engage with the wider historiography and discourse associated with your studies, understanding the structure and nature of cultural, political and social forces in the modern period.
This programme aims to:
- place the study of texts, images and artefacts, in their historical contexts, at the centre of student learning and analysis;
- ensure that students of modern history (ie history after 1500) acquire knowledge and understanding in the historical modes of theory and analysis
- enable you to understand and use the concepts, approaches and methods of modern history in different academic contexts and refine their understanding of the differing and contested aspects between, and within, the relevant disciplines
- develop your capacities to think critically about past events and experiences
- encourage you to relate the academic study of modern history to questions of public debate and concern
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.
- Methods and Interpretations of Historical Research
- Reading the Medieval Town: Canterbury, an International City
- Medicine, Environment and Society in the Modern World
- The Vietnam War in History, Media and Memory
- History of Science and Communication
- Religion and Society in Seventeenth-Century England
- No End of a Lesson:Britain and the Boer War
- Geographies of Knowledge c 1750-1950
- Science in Translation:Western Science in the Non-Western World
- Deformed, Deranged and Deviant
- The Black Death and Transformation of Europe, 1346-1400
- Dissertation: Modern History 1500-2000
All courses are assessed by coursework, and the dissertation counts for half the final grade (comprising one third assessed preparation, two thirds actual dissertation).
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.
How to apply: https://www.kent.ac.uk/courses/postgraduate/apply/
We have a scholarship fund of over £9 million to support our taught and research students with their tuition fees and living costs. Find out more: https://www.kent.ac.uk/scholarships/postgraduate/
If you need to improve your English before and during your postgraduate studies, Kent offers a range of modules and programmes in English for Academic Purposes (EAP). Find out more here: https://www.kent.ac.uk/courses/postgraduate/international/english.html
Taught Masters degrees in History, Art History, Philosophy and American Studies at Sussex, a top 20 University
