MA History

• Year 1

• You can study MA History full time over one year or part time split across two years.

  Your studies consist of four modules, two of which are core: Key debates and research methods in history – an assessment of current trends and methodologies in the discipline of history, and public history – an examination of the theory and practice of how the past is presented to public audiences.

  You supplement these with two option modules, where you select the areas of history that interest you the most as you choose from the research specialisms of the History team.*

  The team's areas of expertise include: early modern European and British history including religious and military history; imperialism, colonialism and de-colonisation in the modern period; the political, cultural and social history of 19th-century Britain; Ireland since 1900; British military and diplomatic history during the 20th century; European integration; politics and society in the USA since 1900; and modern Japan.

  The programme culminates in an independently researched MA History dissertation.

  Core modules

  MAHI700
  Key Debates and Research Methods in History

  This module will provide students both with an understanding of current debates about approaches, theories and methodologies in History and a grounding in research skills such as locating and using primary source material and making effective use of library and database resources.

  MAHI701
  Public History

  This work-facing module examines the theory and practice of how the past is presented to public audiences. Students will explore, through site-based case studies and written projects, the creation, nature, use and understanding of various forms of public history, for example those associated with heritage and museums, oral history, film and 'popular' historical writing.

  MAHI702
  MA History Dissertation

  In this module students complete a dissertation on an aspect of history of their own choosing. The topic is negotiated between students and teaching staff, who provide tutorial support and advice about all aspects of the project from initiation to completion.

  Optional modules

  MAHI704
  Piracy and Privateering, 1560-1816

  This module explores piracy and privateering activity in the seas around the British Isles and further afield from the reign of Queen Elizabeth to the end of the second Barbary War in 1816. This course focuses on the social history of piracy and privateering, the organisation of pirate society, and the economic impact of piracy and privateering.

  MAHI706
  The Civil Rights Movement

  Examining the African American struggle for civil rights in the 1950s and 1960s.

  MAHI710
  The Irish Revolution 1912-37

  This module examines the political, social and cultural history of Ireland during the period 1912-1937 with particular focus on causes and effects of partition and the nature what is known as the Irish revolution.

  MAHI716
  America and the United Nations 1945 to the present

  This module provides a detailed examination of the relationship between the United States of America and the United Nations in the management of international relations from 1945 to the present.

  MAHI718
  Independent Research Project in History

  A research project leading to an essay (8000 words), devised with tutorial supervision, in a field not offered in the History module options, or where the student has previously studied the topic within a module at BA level 6 and is consequently not permitted to take the MA option version (also, in exceptional circumstances where the module option timetable means that a student is unable to choose an option).

  MAHI723
  Key Debates in Modern Japanese History

  This module is an introduction to the major themes of political, social and economic development in Japan in the nineteenth and twentieth century.

  MAHI726
  Filth and the Victorians

  In this module students study the Victorian era from the perspective of environment, public hygiene, cultural values of cleanliness and fear of physical, moral and other forms of contamination. Drawing on urban histories, histories of medicine and science, the module also uses a range of literary and artistic sources.

  MAHI728
  Maritime Explorations and Encounters

  This module challenges students to rethink their ideas about the use of navies in exploration, leading explorers such as Sir Francis Drake, Captain James Cook and Charles Darwin, the place of Plymouth in maritime exploration and the nature of encounters with native peoples.

  MAEL713
  Natural Knowledge and Narrative Knowing: Literatures of nature in North America

  With a chronology from the colonial period to the twentieth century, this module examines the environmental literatures of North America, acknowledging the contexts and legacies of settler colonialism. By engaging with a diverse ranges of prose texts – eg. natural histories, the periodical press, novels, travel narratives – this module will analyse competing systems of knowledge production, western and indigenous, through a variety of literary forms.

  MAHI715
  The Family, Sex and Society in Britain, 1450-1700

  This module examines interpersonal relationships in Britain 1450 -1700. Focusing on marriage, family, changing patterns of sexual behaviour, it considers the changing nature, experience, meaning of family life and intimate relations in an era of religious and political upheaval.

  IRL722
  Revolution and World Order in Southwest Asia

  This module introduces the students to the study of International Relations in Southwest Asia. It does this by examining processes such as uprisings and revolutions, and concepts such as democracy and authoritarianism. The module’s approach encourages students to think about the relationship between domestic and international politics and the importance of historical context. Crucially, these concepts, processes, and approaches are valid in 21st century politics beyond Southwest Asia.

MA History programme specification_4479