Early Modern History

Contents

Module information for our postgraduate degree programme Early Modern History MRes.

The degree consists of three elements: the thesis, the taught module on historiography and a research training module:

Thesis (120 credits)
This is a major part of the degree which you will work on throughout the academic session and to which you will be assigned an individual supervisor. The thesis must be no longer than 20,000 words and can be submitted at any time after the end of September in the year following entry into the degree. (For part-time students this will be two years following entry into the degree.) If you are interested in studying for this degree, you should contact the Department of History with a proposed topic of research so that a suitable supervisor can be found.

Historical Methods module (40 credits)
This is a module taken by most students on taught master's programmes within the Department. The first half of the module involves studying some of the most important "schools" of historical writing since 1945 and reading and discussing some of the major works by historians linked to those schools. The second half of the module is specifically related to the particular concerns of early modern historians. Classes meet in the first half of the module for two hours each week and students write two assessed essays.

Research Skills Training module (20 credits)
This module will vary according to your interest and requirements. All students will receive the bibliographical training offered through Information Services and some training in IT. In addition linguistic, palaeographical, quantitative methods and other training will be offered. This is quite a flexible module and, where appropriate, you may wish to substitute certain skills courses for a theoretical or historiographical essay related to your field of research instead.

The modules are assessed in various ways - by examination, coursework, attendance etc.