The University of Sheffield
Prospective Postgraduates

MA Modern History

Alan Rowley, Postgraduate in the Department of Sheffield

Key facts

  • Department of History, Faculty of Arts and Humanities
  • 1 year full-time/2 years part-time

Fees and funding

University and AHRC Studentships are available.

Please contact us or see our website for further details. You’ll need to submit your application by the University deadline in March preceding a September entry. You should have an offer of a place on a course before you apply for a studentship.

Financial information for postgraduate taught courses

Entry requirements

A 2:1 honours degree or equivalent in history or other humanities or social science discipline from a UK or overseas university.

You may be asked to supply examples of previous written work.

English language requirements: overall IELTS grade of 7.0 with a minimum of 6.5 in each component, or equivalent.

Entry requirements for international students

Any questions?

If you'd like to know more about any aspect of our courses, contact us:

E: history@sheffield.ac.uk
T: +44 (0)114 222 2552

Apply now

About the course

Historians have long been fascinated by modernity and the societies to which it gave rise.

The MA in Modern History explores these changes, allowing you to explore the political cleavages and cultural uncertainty unleashed by the great revolutions. The mobilisations and resistance of the two world wars, and the transnational forces of empire and globalisation.

Core modules

  • Research presentation
  • Modernity and Power: individuals and the state in the modern world
  • Dissertation

Optional modules

  • The Fin-de-Siècle
  • International Relations and the Early Cold War in Britain
  • Media and Political Culture in Modern Britain
  • Voices of the Great War: violence and experiences in Great Britain and Germany, 1914–1919
  • Modernity on Trial: America in the 1920s
  • Women and Political Emancipation in Britain from Suffrage to Thatcher
  • Colonialism on Film
  • Life Stories: men and women in war and revolution, 1917–49
  • Nehru and India
  • Life During Wartime America in the 1970s and 1980s
  • Research Skills for Historians
  • PhD proposal
  • The Historical Novel
  • 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