Taught Degrees
Taught degrees vary in length from 9 to 21 months, consisting of a mixture of course work and a self-motivated dissertation project. All our master’s degrees are designed for postgraduates who wish to deepen their knowledge of a period or area of history and who wish to obtain experience and training in research, these include programmes which allow graduates to familiarize themselves with specialist subject areas and their distinctive methodologiesThe History Faculty offers a wide variety of postgraduate master’s programmes. This reflects both the diversity and the clustering of research interests within the faculty. Some programmes can be taken in one or two-year forms: the M.Sc./M.Phil. in History of Science, Medicine and Technology, the M.Sc./M.Phil. in Economic and Social History, the M.St./M.Phil. in Modern British and European History, and the M.St./M.Phil. in Late Antique and Byzantine Studies. The two-year courses afford students the chance to take more specialist options, and also to complete a more substantial dissertation.
Current available taught degrees include the following:
- Late Antique and Byzantine Studies
- Medieval History
- Medieval Studies
- Modern British and European History
- Global and Imperial History
- Modern South Asian Studies
- US History
- Economic and Social History
- History of Science, Medicine, and Technology
- History of Art and Visual Culture
In most cases it will be evident from the nature of students’ interests which master’s course they should aim to take. Some uncertainty may arise in the case of economic and social history. Students with broadly ‘economic and social’ interests may choose to pursue master’s courses defined in relation to their period or region of interest. By contrast, the one-year M.Sc. and the two-year M.Phil. in Economic and Social History offer a specially structured training course which aims to equip students with a knowledge and understanding of social-science approaches and their implications for the study of history. This can offer a route into history for students with a social-science background, or, to students with a history background, a way of broadening their disciplinary base.
It is possible for students who have been accepted for one master’s programme to change subsequently to another, but there is no entitlement: the student must meet the standards that other students on the course have met; the course must not be oversubscribed; and it must be possible to find appropriate supervision.
Programmes
- Research degrees (by thesis only)
- Master of Letters (M.Litt.)
- Doctor of Philosophy (D.Phil.)