Contemporary History (MSc)

at University of Edinburgh

The programme combines methodological and substantive courses with intensive student participation. The analysis of diverse primary source material is essential, as is situating research findings within an established historiographical tradition. You will complete three compulsory courses and select a further three options from a wide range on offer. You will also complete a dissertation.
 

The compulsory courses are:

• Historical Methodology
• Historical Research: Skills and Sources
• Introduction to Contemporary History
   

Option courses previously offered include those listed below. Option courses change from year to year and those available when you start your studies may be different from those shown in the list. Nevertheless, these give you a good idea of the range of courses we offer:

• The United States and the Vietnam War: Origins and Repercussions
• The Sixties in the United States
• African Print Cultures: Newspapers and their Publics in Modern African History, c. 1880 to 1975
• Islamic History
• Global Environmental History
• Black Activism in Britain since 1800
• An Age of Great Dreams: The 1960s in the United States
• Empire or Continent?: British Foreign Policy in the Era of the Great War
• Conservatism in the United States, c.1930-c.1990
• The Civil Rights Movement
• Themes in American Historiography
• The United States and the Cold War
• War and Identities in Twentieth Century Britain and Ireland
• History as Romance, Profession, Critique: Theory and Scholarship in the West, 1835 to 1985
• Cinema and Society in South Asia, 1947-Present
• Genocide in Contemporary History
• Thinking the 20th Century - Hannah Arendt and the breakdown of European Civilization
• Citizens and Subjects: concepts of citizenship in modern African intellectual history
• The British Empire in Political Thought
• Revolutions in Modern Europe
• Gender, Crime and Deviancy: Britain c. 1860-1960
• Contemporary Scotland
• Gender in the History of the Americas
• A Cultural History of Photography
• China's foreign and security policy: a twentieth-century perspective
• Cinema and Society in Britain
• The Closest of Enemies: Cuban-American Relations 1898-2014

A UK 2:1 honours degree, a minimum US 3.25 GPA or international equivalent in a subject related to this programme.
 

Relevant experience, or professional or other qualifications will also be considered.
 

English language requirements

You must demonstrate a level of English language competency at a level that will enable you to succeed in your studies, regardless of your nationality or country of residence.
 

English language tests

We accept the following English language qualifications at the grades specified*:

• IELTS Academic: total 6.5 with at least 6.0 in each component.
• TOEFL-iBT (including Home Edition): total 92 with at least 20 in each component. We do not accept TOEFL MyBest Score to meet our English language requirements.
• C1 Advanced (CAE) / C2 Proficiency (CPE): total 176 with at least 169 in each component.
• Trinity ISE: ISE II with distinctions in all four components.
• PTE Academic: total 62 with at least 59 in each component.
• Your English language qualification must be no more than three and a half years old from the start date of the programme you are applying to study, unless you are using IELTS, TOEFL, Trinity ISE or PTE, in which case it must be no more than two years old.

International/EU    
£25,300    
 

International full-time student fees
 

If you are an Overseas/International taught student studying full-time over multiple years, you will:

• not be affected by the annual tuition fee increase
• be charged a fixed annual fee based on your start date

This is an advanced qualification, valued and respected by employers and also suitable as preparation for a PhD and a long-term academic career. The combination of skills training, specialised seminars, and independent research provides you with transferable skills that will be beneficial whatever path you choose.
 

Graduates work in related areas such as museums, policy think-tanks, national and international civil services, non-governmental organisations, galleries, libraries and historic trusts. Others enter business, media, public administration or marketing.