Medicine, Science and Society: Historical and Theoretical Perspectives (MA - MSc)
ObjectivesThis degree programme is intended for those who want to enhance their understanding of the historical roots and the social and conceptual foundations of science and medicine. Emphasis is laid on the ways in which contemporary preoccupations have emerged from quite different systems of ideas in other times and places. A wide range of options is offered, covering topics from the Renaissance to the present and from Africa to Italy, though the focus is on developments in Britain. The programme is taught by internationally reputed scholars who share their research findings with students. Depending on your choice of modules and dissertation topic, you will be awarded either an MA or an MSc.
Entry requirementsEntry requirements Flexible. A good degree, although other qualifications may be considered.
Academic titleMedicine, Science and Society: Historical and Theoretical Perspectives (MA / MSc)
Course descriptionIn the first term, all students take a 10-week core course. This deals with broad issues arising from the history of science and medicine. In the summer term, there is a five-week course on research skills. This acts as a preparation for the dissertation, which has to be submitted by 30 September of the final year of the course.
Students also take four options, selected from the list below. Each module is taught over 10 weeks. Most are taught biennially.
Core course
-The History and Theory of Modern Science and Medicine.
Option modules include:
-Death, Disease and the Early Modern City
-The ‘Decline of Magic’ – Magical Ideas in English Society, 1650–1750
-The Changing Shape of Knowledge, 1550–1750
-The Origins of Environmentalism
-Darwin, Darwinism and the Modern World
-Freud and Psychoanalysis – Past, Present, Future(s)
-Disease and Society in Africa in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries
-Medicines, Industry and Society in the Twentieth Century
-Philosophy of Science
-Why War? – History, Psychoanalysis and Politics c.1900–1950
-Psychoanalysis and Fascism
-Degeneration – Science, Culture and Social Prophecy, 1850-1945
-Practitioners, Patients, Pills and Potions – the Medical World of Pre--industrial Europe c.1400–c.1600
-Mind, Body and Self in Nineteenth-Century Culture.
-Dissertation, due 30 September, second year.