MA American History

About the course

Contemporary politics shows that there is more need than ever for critical understanding of the formative political, social, economic and intellectual trends in American history.

This MA allows you to study the historical development of the United States from the first encounter between Europeans and Native Americans in the colonial period through to the end of the Cold War.

Core modules

• Research presentation
• Approaches to the American Past
• Dissertation

Optional modules

• International Relations and the Early Cold War
• Eighteenth-Century British American Colonies
• A People's Conflict: the Union and the US civil war
• Life During Wartime America in the 1970s and 1980s
• Modernity on Trial: America in the 1920s
• Research Skills for Historians
• PhD proposal
• Burying the White Gods: indigenous people in the early modern colonial world
• Presenting the Past: making history public
• Work Placement

Teaching

• Seminars
• Individual tutorials

Assessment

• Bibliographical and source-based exercises
• Written papers
• Oral presentation
• Dissertation (15,000 words)
• There are no unseen examinations

Part-time study

This course can be taken part-time. Seminars are held during working hours (9am–6pm) – there are no lectures. The number of contact hours will vary over the two years, but you'll have at least one two-hour seminar each week.

You'll take one core module each year and the rest of your course will be made up from optional modules giving you plenty of choice and flexibility over what you study.

Your career

Our courses are designed to prepare you for a career. We also provide professional development for teachers, writers and curators. The modules Presenting the Past and Work Placement give you real, hands-on experience. But all our modules will make a difference to your personal and professional development.

Careers advice is available from the moment you start your course. Our graduates work in the heritage and museum sector, journalism, teaching, law, NGOs and the civil service. Their job titles include Youth Engagement Officer at the National Media Museum, Copy Editor for Oxford University Press, Projects Administrator at the Prince's Foundation for Children and the Arts.

Our staff and students

Our teaching staff are active researchers. In the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise, we were ranked tenth in the UK. Sixty five per cent of our research was rated world-leading or internationally excellent. This research informs what we teach.

Our students are active too. They organise social activities and trips. In discussion groups, seminars and conferences you can get together with staff and students from Sheffield and other universities to share ideas.

History with work experience

All our MAs have an optional Work Placement module. You could carry out archive work for a country house, assist with research for a public exhibition, or design online learning materials for school children studying history.

Facilities

We're based in a new, purpose-built facility for the arts and humanities. The building has modern teaching and research facilities and dedicated postgraduate study areas.

Apply now

You can apply for postgraduate study using our Postgraduate Online Application Form. It is a quick and easy process.

Postgraduate Online Application Form