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Institute of Continuing Education (ICE)

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This two-year, part-time Master’s programme is designed for those who wish to study at postgraduate level and are keen to develop high-level skills in historical research.

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Overview

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, in 2018-2020 will be Global history. You will specialise in one of these two themes, studying taught modules and undertaking original research, culminating in a dissertation of 16,000 - 20,000 words.

The MSt is taught over two years in short, intensive study blocks, and begins in September 2018 (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.

Open Morning

The powerpoint presentation given by Dr Samantha Williams and Dr Leigh Denault at the Open Morning at Madingley Hall on 1 December 2017 can be found at the end of this webpage.

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.

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 which are mostly scheduled inside Full Term, each of which is examined by an assessed essay. Sessions are offered in research training, and essay and dissertation writing. Teaching methods combine informal lectures and class discussion, the study of primary sources, and student-led peer-to-peer learning.

British local and regional history includes the study of local communities and regions in England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland. Units of analysis might include the family, the street, the neighbourhood, the parish, the town or city, the poor law union, the county, and the wider region. British local and regional history embraces rural and urban history. Local historians use a wide range of methods, but there is an emphasis upon local documentary evidence. Many of the themes of this course can be explored via local history, such as gender, race, religion, class and social status, and culture.

Global history combines close, textured area studies of Asia, Africa, the Pacific, the Americas and the Middle East with comparative and connected histories that link localities, states and empires to wider narratives of change. This approach, centring global structures and processes but also individuals and local spaces, brings depth and specificity to histories of convergences and divergences. Cambridge has been at the forefront of movements to rethink imperial and colonial impact and legacies, and to trace how concepts such as empire, modernity, nationalism were understood, experienced, and challenged, from the early modern period to the present day.

Scholars using a world history approach have focussed not only on a broader geographic frame, but also on rethinking ‘regions’ beyond national borders (‘the Atlantic world’, ‘the Indian ocean’, the Sinophone world), unpacking environmental histories, and studying religions, gender, ideas, sciences and migrations. World historians at Cambridge have contributed to new ‘global intellectual histories’ as well as to new understandings of identity, citizenship, political movements, monarchy and empire. The world history pathway will allow students to gain experience with a wide range of world history research and teaching, from new approaches to Chinese history to rethinking the role of religion in colonial encounters.

Module 1: Theory, concepts and historiography (24 – 27 September 2018)

The induction day includes an introduction to the course and tours of the University and Seeley History libraries. Topics might include the Annales School, international history, gender, feudalism, race, class and social status, nations and states, religion.

Module 2: (28 - 30 November 2018)

a) British local and regional history

Topics might include approaches to local history, manors and tour of medieval Cambridge, the parish, early modern culture, religion and belief, urban history, consumption, family and household.

OR

b) Global history

Exact content to be confirmed.

Module 3: Sources, methods and research skills (20 - 22 February 2019)

Topics might include using library resources and archives, the census, microhistory, sources for early modern history, IT for historians practical, quantitative history, oral history, anthropology and history.

Module 4: (22 - 24 May 2019)

a) British local and regional history

Poverty, disease and medicine, 1601-1914: topics might include disease, death and doctors, plague and venereal disease, urban mortality, 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.

OR

b) Global history

Exact content to be confirmed.

Please note that the content of all modules is indicative and may be 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 2019 and May 2020, 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 26 October 2019
  • Saturday 18 January 2020
  • Saturday 18 April 2020

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.

Find out more

If you would like academic guidance on your research topic before making an application, please contact the Course Director 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, contact the Course Administrator, Dr Liz Morfoot: emm30@cam.ac.uk or +44 (0)1223 746226

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

Applicants for whom English is not their first language will need to provide evidence of proficiency in the English language by completing one of the following:

  • 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
Fees and funding

Fees

The combined graduate fee for 2018-2020, which includes College membership, is £5,000 per annum for Home/EU students and £10,000 per annum for overseas students. The fee can be paid across the two years of the course in eight equal instalments. Students taking this course may apply to the following Colleges: Wolfson, St Edmund's, Selwyn or Lucy Cavendish (women-only College). 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.

Funding

Information regarding Professional and Career Development Loans can be found here -  Sources of government funding and financial support.  

For information on a loan from Student Finance England for course fees and a contribution towards living costs, please see https://www.ice.cam.ac.uk/info/student-loans

The Institute of Continuing Education does not offer any of its bursaries for this course.

 

How to apply

How to apply

Applications will be accepted online from Friday 15 September 2017 until Wednesday 28 March 2018. Interviews for short-listed candidates will be held in early April 2018 (in person or by Skype) and the interview dates will be posted on this page shortly. 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. You are required to provide supporting documents as part of your application.  Please ensure you have also read the document Supporting documents for application to be found under Documents below, before you start your application. 

You should have your research proposal and writing sample ready before you begin, as they will be submitted as part of the application form and cannot be submitted later.

Apply online when you are ready to start the application process. If you have any questions about the application process, contact our Admissions team: mst.admissions@ice.cam.ac.uk or +44 (0)1223 746262.

Interviews

All short-listed applicants will be invited to interview at Madingley Hall, with Dr Williams and Dr Denault. Face-to-face interviews are preferred but interviews may also be conducted by Skype or conference call.

Interview dates:

First round: 11 and 12 January 2018

Second round: 12 and 13 April 2018

 

Enquiries

Admissions enquiries

MSt Admissions - Institute of Continuing Education
University of Cambridge
Madingley Hall, Madingley
Cambridge
CB23 8AQ
United Kingdom
+44 (0)1223 746262

General enquiries

Arts and Sciences Enquiries
Institute of Continuing Education
Madingley Hall
Cambridge
CB23 8AQ
United Kingdom
+44 (0)1223 761322

Course dates

24 Sep 2018 to 30 Jun 2020

Course duration

2 years

Apply by

28 Mar 2018

Course fee

Home: £10,000
Overseas: £20,000

Academic Directors, Course Directors and Tutors are subject to change, when necessary.

Venue

Institute of Continuing Education
University of Cambridge
Cambridge
CB23 8AQ
United Kingdom

Qualifications / Credits

Master of Studies

Course code

HSM14