MA History

You will spend approximately six to eight hours per week in seminar or workshop classes, rising in some weeks to ten hours or more depending on scheduling. This course is delivered primarily through seminar and workshop teaching. Seminars focus on sources, developments, and debates in the field, while workshops concentrate on skills training, development, and practice. Your actual contact hours will depend on the optional modules you select.

Taught postgraduate History students devote more of their time to independent study, to reading, research, and writing. You can expect to spend up to 160 hours per module in independent study and preparation, and to complete your assessments. Some modules such as the Dissertation are based even more on a supervision and study model, with students often spending their spring and summer months on their projects.

You should expect to spend two hours in class per course, and up to another three hours per class preparing for your seminars. You will need to spend additional time preparing your assessments. Full-time students take three modules per Trimester, so each week you might expect to dedicate around thirteen hours to your in-class learning and preparation. These numbers vary considerably by module, with some modules requiring less intensive class attendance and some retaining a traditional two-hour format. Your assessments will vary in terms of their time requirements: the Dissertation often takes many weeks of work to complete, whereas a report or presentation might be accomplished in a matter of a few days’ research and writing. 

All students will be taught by full-time academic staff who are specialist authors, researchers, and teachers in their respective historical fields.

All courses are informed by the University’s Learning and Teaching Strategy.