COURSE CURRICULUM

MA History programme are designed to build strong research skills, methodological awareness, and hands-on experience with historical sources while preparing students for advanced independent study. Working with Historical Collections: Sources and Audiences focuses on direct engagement with historical artefacts and archival materials, developing practical skills such as palaeography, object analysis, and digital methods for interpreting and presenting historical evidence. Becoming a Historian: Theory and Themes introduces key historical methodologies and encourages critical reflection on how theoretical assumptions and traditions shape historical interpretation and outcomes, strengthening analytical thinking and scholarly rigour. A parallel strand, Becoming a Historian: Theory and Themes in Medieval History, applies these methodological insights specifically to medieval studies, allowing deeper engagement with period-specific approaches. Towards the Dissertation supports students in developing a clear research topic, structuring a proposal, and building a strong bibliography, ensuring readiness for independent academic work. The Dissertation itself forms the core of the programme, enabling students to produce an original, in-depth piece of historical research under academic supervision on a topic of personal interest. Alongside these, optional modules allow students to specialise further through focused historical case studies that may vary each year, helping them deepen subject expertise while developing transferable research, writing, and analytical skills relevant to academic, cultural, or professional careers.