Social and Cultural History MA

Course overview

This wide-ranging course focuses on the history of people, their societies and cultures. You will explore how people have lived and died across a broad span of historical periods and geographies.

The core modules and dissertation workshops will introduce you to key concepts in social and cultural history and improve your research and writing skills. You will also choose from a range of optional modules, allowing you to focus on societies and periods that are of interest to you. There are opportunities to pursue distinct routes through the course, including health histories and histories of identity.

You could study health care in Africa, communities and castes in India, European life courses or the movements of people across the world. You’ll be able to focus on gender, race and religion as well as other issues that have shaped the lives of individuals and communities, from the medieval to the modern.

Taught by expert researchers within the School of History and across the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures, this course uses the latest approaches and thinking in social and cultural history to give you an insight into the lives of others.

This course is also available to study part-time over 24 months.

Applying

Entry requirements

A bachelor degree with a 2:1 (Hons) in history, or a degree scheme that includes a significant proportion of history, or a related subject such as cultural studies, literature, or sociology.

English language requirements

IELTS 6.5 overall, with no less than 6.0 in all components. For other English qualifications, read English language equivalent qualifications.

Improve your English

International students who do not meet the English language requirements for this programme may be able to study our postgraduate pre-sessional English course, to help improve your English language level.

This pre-sessional course is designed with a progression route to your degree programme and you’ll learn academic English in the context of your subject area. To find out more, read Language for Arts and Humanities (6 weeks) and Language for Social Science and Arts: Arts and Humanities (10 weeks).

We also offer online pre-sessionals alongside our on-campus pre-sessionals. Find out more about our six week online pre-sessional and our 10 week online pre-sessional.

You can also study pre-sessionals for longer periods – read about our postgraduate pre-sessional English courses.

Career opportunities

This course will enable you to both build historical knowledge and gain high-level research, analysis and communication skills that will prove valuable in a wide range of careers. Graduates have found success in a wide range of careers in education, research, administration and the private sector. Many others have continued with their studies at PhD level.

We offer different forms of support to help you reach your career goals. You’ll have the chance to attend our career groups, meeting students with similar plans, or you could become a paid academic mentor to an undergraduate completing their final-year dissertation. You could also apply for one of the internships we offer each year. Additional opportunities are available through our archival and heritage partners.