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.
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Piracy and Privateering, 1560-1816 (MAHI704)
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.
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The Civil Rights Movement (MAHI706)
Examining the African American struggle for civil rights in the 1950s and 1960s.
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The French Wars of Religion 1558-1598 (MAHI709)
The module will examine the causes, progress and termination of the French Wars of Religion after 1558. The main topics will be the relationships between Catholic and Protestant, the impact of war on royal authority, the experiences of confessional groups, towns, nobles and peasants, and the resolution of conflict under Henri IV.
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The Irish Revolution 1912-37 (MAHI710)
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.
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America and the United Nations 1945 to the present (MAHI716)
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.
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Independent Research Project in History (MAHI718)
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).
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Key Debates in Modern Japanese History (MAHI723)
This module is an introduction to the major themes of political, social and economic development in Japan in the nineteenth and twentieth century.
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Filth and the Victorians (MAHI726)
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.
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Anglo-American Relations in Maritime Perspective (MAHI727)
This module introduces Masters students to the major themes of the history of British and American maritime strategy, naval competition, and international co-operation between 1775 and 1991. It challenges students to rethink the so-called ‘special relationship’ through a maritime lens, while providing an exploration of naval history and international relations since the beginning of the American Revolution.
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Maritime Explorations and Encounters (MAHI728)
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.
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International Relations in the Middle East: A Critical Approach (IRL716)
This module introduces the students to the study of International Relations in the Middle East. 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 the Middle East.
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Inter-War Britain 1919-40 (MAHI733)
The module examines Britain in the period 1919-40 with an emphasis on Government and politics. The social, economic and foreign challenges facing Britain are examined for their ability to impact on policy and politics.
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Natural Knowledge and Narrative Knowing: Literatures of nature in North America (MAEL713)
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.
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Sea Power in History (MAHI729)
This module examines the major concepts and themes of Sea Power. Exploring the role of sea power in war and peace from the ancient world to the 20th century, it challenges students to rethink ideas about the use of navies, the wider meaning of sea power, its place in politics and society, and ultimately to move beyond the primacy of battle in conventional narratives of the course of naval history.