History: Africa/Asia – (M.A.)

Contents

Each student is required to write a dissertation and to choose three units of taught courses from a wide range of options. One of the three courses will be recognised as the student’s Major course and the student will write a 10,000 word dissertation (their 4th unit) on a topic linked to that course.

In choosing their courses most students focus either on a particular region – Africa, the Near and Middle East, South Asia, South East Asia, or East Asia – or on a particular theme, for example the rise of nationalism in colonial Africa or Asia; economic and social change in the colonial world; the history of Islam.

This degree programme consists of four elements, including a 10,000- word dissertation written in conjunction with the course chosen as major:

1. The major course (equivalent to 1.0 unit) chosen from the Major and Minor Courses list.
   Note that a half-unit course can be chosen as major provided that it is taken with another approved half-unit.
2. Dissertation (1.0 unit).
3. A minor course or courses (equivalent to 1.0 unit) chosen from the Major and Minor Courses List.
4. Another minor course (equivalent to 1.0 unit) chosen from any of the courses below, or including a language course/courses, or an approved course from another department.

Please note that not all the courses listed here will be available every year, and some new courses are likely to be added. For up-to-date information consult the Convener of the History MA Programme, who will also be pleased to provide more detailed information on individual courses.

Course Options

Major and Minor Courses

Comparative/Global

• The International History of the Contemporary World - 15PHIH021 (0.5 Unit) - Term 1
• History of Environment and Globalisation in Asia and Africa - 15PHIH023 (0.5 Unit) - Term 1

Africa

• West African Coastal Societies and Cultures, 1786-1930 - 15PHIC054 (1 Unit) - Full Year - Not Running 2011/2012
• Social and Cultural Transformations in Southern Africa Since 1945 - 15PHIH003 (0.5 Unit) - Term 1 - Not Running 2011/2012
• Colonial Conquest and Social Change in Southern Africa - 15PHIH002 (0.5 Unit) - Term 1 - Not Running 2011/2012
• History of Health and Healing in Africa - 15PHIH020 (0.5 Unit) - Term 1 - Not Running 2011/2012
• History, Peoples and Cultures of Ethiopia (Masters) - 15PHIC057 (1 Unit) - Full Year - Not Running 2011/2012
• Colonial and contemporary North Africa I: from the eve of colonialism to 1962 - 15PHIH017 (22.5 Unit)
• Gendering African History - 15PHIH027 (0.5 Unit) - Term 1 - Not Running 2011/2012
• Gender, law and the family in the history of modern South Asia - 15PHIC068 (1 Unit) - Full Year
• Colonial and contemporary North Africa II: from the dawn of independence to the present - 15PHIH018 (0.5 Unit)
• Culture and Practice of Warfare in Pre-Colonial Sub-Saharan Africa - 15PHIH004 (0.5 Unit) - Term 1
• Painting and Architecture in Christian NE Africa: 2nd - 17th Centuries - 15PARC012 (1 Unit) - Full Year - Not Running 2011/2012
• Power, Authority And Political Thought In East & Cent Africa 1850-2000 - 15PHIC058 ( Unit)
• Congo Wars: A Century of Violence in Central Africa - 15PHIH007 (0.5 Unit) - Term 1 - Not Running 2011/2012
• Histories of Ethnicity and Conflict in South East Asia I - Making States and Building Nations - 15PHIH011 (0.5 Unit) - Term 1 - Not Running 2011/2012

Near and Middle East

• Origins and Development of Islam in the Middle East: Problems and Perspectives - 15PHIC040 (1 Unit) - Full Year
• The End of Empire in the Middle East & the Balkans - 15PHIC004 (1 Unit) - Full Year
• Modernity and the Transformation of the Middle East 1839-1958 - 15PHIC019 (1 Unit) - Full Year
• Envisioning the Past: Arabic Perspectives On History - 15PHIH005 (0.5 Unit) - Term 1 - Not Running 2011/2012
• Outsiders in Medieval Middle Eastern Societies: Minorities, Social Outcasts and Foreigners - 15PHIH006 (0.5 Unit) - Term 1
• Islamic Devotional Art and Architecture - 15PARH038 (0.5 Unit) - Term 1 - Not Running 2011/2012
• Ottoman Architecture in Istanbul: 15th-19th Century - 15PARH045 (0.5 Unit) - Term 2
• The Middle East, the Mongols and the Silk Road to China - 15PHIC067 (1 Unit) - Full Year

Central Asia

South Asia

• Islam in South Asia - 15PHIC042 (1 Unit) - Full Year
• Body, Power and Society in Early India - 15PHIC020 (1 Unit) - Full Year - Not Running 2011/2012
• Problems and Debates in the Social History of Modern South Asia - 15PHIC064 (1 Unit) - Full Year - Not Running 2011/2012
• History and Doctrines of Indian Buddhism - 15PSRC059 (1 Unit) - Full Year
• The Indian Temple - 15PARC034 (1 Unit) - Full Year
• Pakistan: History, Culture, Islam - 15PSAC288 (1 Unit) - Full Year - Not Running 2011/2012
• Modern Bengal: the Evolution of Bengali Culture and Society from 1690 to the Present Day (MA) - 15PSAC289 (1 Unit) - Full Year
• Lineages of the Medieval: Texts and Histories in the South Asian World I - 15PHIH008 (0.5 Unit) - Term 1 - Not Running 2011/2012
• A Seascape in Transformation: Themes in Indian Ocean History - 15PHIC066 (1 Unit) - Full Year - Not Running 2011/2012

East Asia

• Japanese Modernity I - 15PHIH013 (0.5 Unit) - Term 1
• Japanese Modernity II - 15PHIH014 (0.5 Unit) - Term 2
• Knowledge and Power in Early Modern China - 15PHIH024 (0.5 Unit) - Term 1
• Nationhood and Competing Identities in Modern China - 15PHIH022 (0.5 Unit) - Term 2
• Topics in Modern Korean History - 15PEAC059 (1 Unit) - Full Year
• Topics in the History of Traditional Korea - 15PEAC053 (1 Unit) - Full Year
• History of Religion in Imperial China - 15PSRC051 (1 Unit) - Full Year - Not Running 2011/2012
• Locating China I: China and Other Worldviews Before 'Westernization' - 15PSRH025 (0.5 Unit) - Term 1 - Not Running 2011/2012
• Locating China II: Mission and Misfits in the British Construction of China - 15PSRH026 (0.5 Unit) - Term 1 - Not Running 2011/2012
• Sex and Gender in the 20th Century: Contemporary Japan - 15PHIH010 (0.5 Unit) - Term 1 - Not Running 2011/2012

South East Asia

• Society and Politics in Late Colonial South East Asia - 15PHIC037 (1 Unit) - Full Year - Not Running 2011/2012
• The State and the Art: Photography and Nation Building in Burma - 15PHIH015 (0.5 Unit) - Term 1 - Not Running 2011/2012
• State and Culture in Mainland South East Asia in the Sixteenth to Nineteenth Centuries - 15PHIH016 (0.5 Unit) - Term 1 - Not Running 2011/2012
• World War II, Cold War, and the "War On Terror": the United States and South East Asia - 15PHIC059 (1 Unit) - Full Year
• Jawi and the Malay Manuscript Tradition (Masters) - 15PSEH006 (0.5 Unit) - Term 1 - Not Running 2011/2012
• Pre-Modern historical Texts of Java, Bali and the Malay World in English Translation (Masters) - 15PSEH007 (0.5 Unit) - Term 1 - Not Running 2011/2012
• Histories of Ethnicity and Conflict in South East Asia I - Making States and Building Nations - 15PHIH011 (0.5 Unit) - Term 1 - Not Running 2011/2012
• Histories of Ethnicity and Conflict in South East Asia II - Non-National Perspectives - 15PHIH012 (0.5 Unit) - Term 1 - Not Running 2011/2012

Minor Courses

Also available from this list are language courses from the Faculty of Languages & Cultures.

Methodology

• Research Methods in History With Special Reference to Asia and Africa - 15PHIC033 (1 Unit) - Full Year
• Media Production Skills - 15PANH050 (0.5 Unit) - Term 2

Funding details

There are some scholarships and bursaries available for postgraduate students. These are very competitive and early application is advised.

Loans

Another way to fund your studies is through educational loans. Some high street banks offer loans for education. The other option is a career development loan. Before taking out a loan ensure that you understand what the repayments will be and that you will be able to afford them.

A Professional and Career Development Loan is a bank loan for UK students designed to help you pay for your course. Repayments start one month after you complete your course. You can borrow between £300 and £8,000. The bank will approve your loan according to your credit rating.

Eligible US students can apply for Stafford Federal Loans, Federal Plus and private loans to cover their tuition and maintenance costs.

The Registry Fees and Scholarship section can also certify student registration for other loans, such as Canadian educational loans.

Please contact:

• Registry Fees Section if you have any queries on educational loans or fees for degree courses.
• Noel Connaughton for fees information for occasional courses, certificates and diplomas.
• CEFIMS for fees information for distance learning courses.

Other Sources of Funding

Useful funding information can also be found at:

• Hotcourses Scholarship Search
• HERO funding information for research students