The course offers two thematic strands in which students specialise. The first, British local and regional history, is constant throughout all intakes. The second, which changes for each intake, is Politics and religion in Tudor and Stuart England for the 2016-2018 course. You will specialise in one of these two themes, studying taught modules and undertaking original research, culminating in a dissertation of 16,000 to 20,000 words.
The MSt is taught over two years in short, intensive study blocks, and begins in October 2016 (Michaelmas Term). It has been designed to be accessible to those in full- or part-time employment and to international students.
Successful applicants will become members of a Cambridge college and will join the wider graduate community, with full access to the facilities of the University.
Aims of the programme
By the end of the course students should have:
- developed an understanding of, and ability to apply critically, the main academic theories and concepts underpinning the study of history;
- extended and developed their analytical, evaluative and critical capacities;
- developed the ability to form independent judgements based on their reading, research and writing;
- demonstrable specific subject knowledge and analysis relevant to their dissertation;
- developed research skills required for further postgraduate research.
Teaching and learning
The MSt is structured around four residential modules that students must attend. All students take modules 1 and 3 together; modules 2 and 4 are subject pathway modules. In the first year, each of the four residential blocks is preceded by guided preparatory reading and other activities.
A Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) offers learning support to students while they are on the programme, including learning resources, peer-to-peer and student-to-tutor discussion between modules, to build a virtual community of practice. Students are expected to have sufficient IT skills to engage with the VLE and all assignments are uploaded to the VLE for assessment.
Year 1
The taught elements of the syllabus are offered during Year 1 in four intensive study blocks, usually scheduled inside Full Term, each of which is examined by an assessed essay. Sessions are offered in research training, and essay and dissertation writing.
Module 1: Theory, concepts and historiography (3 - 6 October 2016)*
Induction Day: Introduction to the course, tours of the University and Seeley History libraries, talk on Cambridge colleges.
The Annales School, international history, gender, feudalism, race, class and social status, nations and states, religion, essay workshop.
Module 2: (30 November – 2 December 2016)*
a) British local and regional history
Approaches to local history, manors and tour of medieval Cambridge, the parish, early modern culture, religion and belief, urban history, consumption, family and household, essay workshop.
OR
b) Politics and Religion in Tudor and Stuart England 1520 - 1625
Parliamentary history, Reformation history, politics, religion and memory.
Module 3: Sources, methods and research skills (22 - 24 February 2017 )*
Using library resources and archives, the census, global and transnational history, micro-history, sources for early modern history, IT for historians, Excel for historians, practical, quantitative and economic history, oral history and its discontents, anthropology and history, essay workshop.
Module 4: (19 – 21 May 2017)*
a) British local and regional history
Disease, death and doctors, plague and venereal disease, why were towns the principal determinant of mortality change from 1600 to 1900?, the old Poor Law and charity, the new Poor Law, charity and the state, workhouse medicine and mortality, smallpox, childbirth, midwifery and the man-midwife, mutual aid and self-help, the ‘professionalisation’ of medicine, essay workshop.
OR
b) Politics and Religion in Tudor and Stuart England 1625 - 1715
Sources for Tudor and Stuart political history, sources for Tudor and Stuart religious history.
* module content subject to change
Year 2
The second year is characterised by focus on the dissertation. Students will work independently on their chosen topic under the supervision of an expert in their chosen field with whom they will have regular contact. Students will be required to attend five supervisions between May 2017 and May 2018, at least three of which must be face-to-face and two of which can be online.
There will also be three day-schools at Madingley Hall, at which students provide short presentations on their research to date and at which there is some research training:
- Saturday 21 October 2017
- Saturday 2 December 2017
- Saturday 14 April 2018
Contact time
Lectures, seminars and classes: c.75 hours in Year 1 (including some reading/prep time), c.18 hours in Year 2.
- Supervision: 5 x 1-hour sessions in Year 2.
Assessment
Thesis
A dissertation of 16,000-20,000 words (including footnotes and appendices, but excluding bibliography).
Essays, projects and other written work
- Four essay assignments, each of 4,000 words maximum.
Some assignments and the dissertation require literature reviews.
Feedback
Students are given formal feedback on their assignments and informal feedback throughout their course, including during supervisions. Supervisions also result in an annual progress report at the end of Year 1 and termly reports during Year 2.
Entry requirements
Expected academic standard
Applicants for this course will normally have achieved a UK 2.i honours degree or overseas equivalent.
There is provision to accept non-standard applicants who do not satisfy the standard academic criterion. Such applicants must produce evidence of relevant and equivalent experience and their suitability for the course.
Language requirement
- IELTS Academic: Overall band score of 7.5 (with a minimum of 7.0 in each individual component)
- CAE: Grade A
- CPE: Grade A, B, or C
- TOEFL iBIT: Overall score of at least 110 with no element below 25
Supporting documents
You will be required to provide the following supporting documents as part of your application:
Supporting documents required for application (PDF file)
Fees and funding
The combined graduate fee for 2016, which includes College membership, is £6,702 per annum for Home/EU students and £13,401 per annum for overseas students. Students on this course can apply to Wolfson, St Edmund's or Lucy Cavendish (which takes only women). Please note that there may be small additional fees payable to a college for specific services provided; for further information please contact the Course Administrator.
Students will be expected to cover the application fee (£50 online) and any costs of travel and accommodation during residential sessions in Cambridge. As a student studying for the MSt in History, you may book en-suite accommodation at Madingley Hall (including breakfast) for study periods at an MSt rate of c.£35 per night. Please note that, although you will be a member of a college, you will not be entitled to college accommodation.
You may be interested to know that from 2016/17, Student Finance England (SFE) is introducing a postgraduate loans scheme for full-time and part-time Master’s courses. Information on eligibility, the amount of the loan and the level of repayment can be found in SFE’s The Student Room. Please note that SFE is planning to take applications via its main Student finance website, from summer 2016.
Sources of government funding and financial support - including Professional and Career Development Loans
How to apply
Applications will be accepted online until Thursday 21 April 2016. Please note that the selection process will not begin until after the application deadline.
Read the MSt Application Guide to find out more about the application process and what you need to do and consider as a potential applicant. See below for details of the supporting documents you will need to provide when applying for this course.
Apply online when you are ready to start the application process.
Please note that the course will accept its next intake in 2018-2020 and will open for application in autumn 2017.
Find out more
If you would like academic guidance on your research topic beofre making an application, please contact Dr Samantha Williams at skw30@cam.ac.uk.
If you have any questions about the application process, contact our Admissions team: mst.admissions@ice.cam.ac.uk or +44 (0)1223 746262.
For all other enquiries and to register interest for the 2018-2020 intake, contact the Course Administrator, Dr Liz Morfoot: Liz.Morfoot@ice.cam.ac.uk or +44 (0)1223 746226
