MPhil in Modern European History
The M.Phil. in Modern European History, launched in 2000 and backed by the History Faculty’s Modern European History Research Centre is an innovative and intensive two-year programme that provides a thorough training in historical methods; offers a range of specialist options drawing on the latest research; and includes a sustained period devoted to individual archival research and dissertation writing. Students on this degree programme have access to a comprehensive provision of skills training for postgraduates, as well as a systematic schedule of introductions to the unrivalled research facilities of the University of Oxford. M.Phil. students are also encouraged to take full advantage of the History Faculty’s extensive range of specialist scholarly seminars and colloquia in all fields of history.
The Oxford M.Phil. is unusual not only in offering the wider scope of a two-year programme, but also in embracing both early modern (1500-1800) and modern (post-1800) European and British History. It serves either as a free-standing Master’s programme or as a comprehensive preparation for D.Phil. research in the fields of history within its scope. Students are assigned to a specialist in their field for dissertation supervision and advice, but they are also encouraged to consult other members of the History Faculty (and of other appropriate faculties) as needed.
An independently researched dissertation of up to 30,000 words is submitted towards the end of Year Two of the M.Phil. programme. Dissertation research is undertaken primarily following the first-year schedule of training in theory and methods, and initiation into period-specific research through option papers. However, in parallel to their course work students will work with their supervisor(s) on the honing and planning of their individual project. Topic and title of the dissertation must be approved by the candidate’s supervisor and the course convenor towards the end of Trinity Term in the first year of the programme, but students will be given opportunity in the second year to adjust their dissertation title in he light of their archival research. Long Vacation and Michaelmas Term of their second year are set aside exclusively for archival research, undertaken in either European or British archives.
Successful M.Phil. dissertations are usually deposited with the Bodleian Library, and are also freely available for scholarly consultation in the Library.
A knowledge of European languages is often a necessary skill for serious work in the field of modern history, and the Faculty encourages and supports their acquisition wholeheartedly. As a two-year programme, the M.Phil. offers ample time for students to improve existing foreign language skills or to learn a new language in order to extend their research. The University’s Language Centre provides courses in major languages at every level, including reading courses. In the case of continental European topics, students will need to satisfy their supervisor and the course convenor that they have, or are acquiring, adequate (reading) knowledge of the relevant language(s) to pursue their dissertation work competently. Those specialising in the history of the British Isles should note, however, that their research will also profit from linguistic competence in other languages than English, and they are therefore advised to make judicious use of the opportunities for language training.
We regularly encourage students to comment on the programme and their learning experience, and some students have agreed to have their statements published.
Successful candidates often use the M.Phil. as a preparation for further research, and the programme has been structured with this possibility in mind. It should be stressed, however, that the admission of any candidate to further study at Oxford will depend on his/her overall performance in the M.Phil., together with the viability of any proposed research topic and the availability of appropriate supervision at Oxford. Doctoral research generally takes another two or three years and is eligible for AHRC support.
Details of the M.Phil. programme and its administration are published in the Graduate Office’s master’s degrees section of the Faculty WebSite.
