Objectives
To offer knowledge and expertise for a variety of careers, including PhD programmes and academic careers, teaching, public service, journalism, research (media, commercial, political, social), publishing and related fields.
Course description
Course Description:
The MA in History is designed to act as a self-regulated year of further study, and provide a preparatory year for PhD candidates, giving a thorough grounding in research skills and methods, theoretical concepts and the techniques of conducting and writing up an independent research project. Consisting partly of taught courses and partly of independent research, it draws together a wide range of chronological, geographical and historiographic expertise to offer a challenging and flexible programme of study.
The MA in History comprises two core elements, with teaching and research tailored to the interests of individual students. In Part One, students take the core course Historical Theory and Historical Methods, which is designed to act as an introduction to the use of theory in history, with an emphasis on the practical implications for the writing of history. Students also take Research Skills and Methods, which provides specific skills training, such as research, writing and presentation skills and palaeography, and two additional tailored research skills courses to meet their specific research training needs. In addition, students follow two specialist optional courses and linked historiographical
modules to provide the intellectual, conceptual and historiographical framework for their research. Our flexible programme of study permits the content of options to vary from year to year.
Special Option subject areas (available in
most years) include:
* Austria and Germany 1866-1945
* Victorian City and Environment
* Dirt, Disease and Public Health, 1800-1914
* Order and Disorder in Early Modern Society
* Politics and Society in Early Modern Wales
* Society and Identity in Wales, 1840-1914
* Twentieth-Century Wales
* France, 1870-1945
* The Global Economy, 1944-2000
* Industrialisation in England and Wales
* Modern India, 1757-1947
* Indian Gender and Women's History
* China, 1840-2000
* Political and Social History
* History of the Crusades
* Sources for the Study of the Crusades
* Diaspora Studies
* Germany, 1945-1955
* Arts and Politics in Germany
Tailored research training modules include:
* Map-Reading for Historians
* Digital/Online Resources
* Biography and Prosopographical History
* Interpreting Early Modern Sources
* History by Numbers
* Autobiographies as Evidence
* How to Read Communist Documents
* An Introduction to Keynes
* Early Modern Palaeography
* Newspapers as Sources
* Using Business Records
* Sources for Demographic History
* Computer Methods for Historians
* Sources for New Imperial Histories
* Indian Gender and Women’s History
* Reading Old French
* Medieval Palaeography
* Reading Middle English
* Reading French Newspapers
* French for Historians
* German for Historians
The MA in History also offers a number of
specialised routes of study:
The following currently exist as routes in the
MA.
*
MA in History (Economic and Social History)
* MA in History (Asian Studies)
* MA in History (Medical History)
* MA in History (Early Modern History)
* MA in History (Crusades)
* MA in History (Diaspora Studies)
* MA in History (Modern European History)
The MSc in Social Science Research Methods (Economic and Social History) is also available. This, together with the MA in History (Economic and Social History), has ESRC recognition for postgraduate awards.
Assessment is via written examinations or assessed essays, depending on the courses chosen.
Part Two comprises a dissertation on a topic if the student’s choice, and is a maximum of 20,000 words in length, submitted in September.
Special Features:
* Flexible, geared to students’ interests.
* Opportunity to work closely with a research mentor on specialist options.
* Draws on a stimulating and supportive learning environment, with a wide range of chronological, geographical and historiographic expertise.
* Close links with interdisciplinary research groups, including the Centre for the Study of Medieval Society and Culture, the Centre for the Crusades and the Centre for Modern German History.
