Would you like to participate in a dynamic and flexible course that can be tailored to meet your interests and career aspirations?

The MA History course will introduce you to rich historical subjects, as well as how to complete historical research in the digital age. All modules will be taught by staff who are experts in their field and draw upon their expertise to enhance your learning experience.

Offering a flexible approach to study, this course incorporates five core modules, which mix conventional historical study with training in research methods. We include close consideration of the big interpretative questions, animating the study of history today. A particular strength of the course is how it familiarises students with digital history projects and contemporary debates.

These taught modules provide you with the skills needed to write your dissertation on a subject of your choice. Working with a specialist supervisor, your dissertation topic will reflect your interests and showcase your knowledge throughout your degree.

You will be supported throughout your degree by your specialist supervisor as well as the staff working in the Department of History at Northumbria University. The department is made up of around 30 historians, all of which are active in publishing journal articles and books when not teaching. They specialise in a range of different time periods, geographical regions and incorporate a variety of different approaches to history. Our staff are very approachable and always keen to hear what our students are working on.  

Throughout your postgraduate studies, you will have access to our leading learning facilities, and you will be welcome at academic events and seminars hosted by the new Institute of the Humanities. This includes the fortnightly History Research Seminar, where we welcome historians from throughout the world to show us their latest research.

Master of Research opportunity

If you already have quite a clear idea about a particular topic you’d like to explore, or you’re interested in a research-based career, then you might want to consider our History MRes.

Find out more about studying an MRes at Northumbria here

The MA History course offers a programme of study that will empower you to problematise the past, set your own field of enquiry and test your ability to manage a significant research project.

This course is primarily delivered via a classroom setting, with regular face-to-face supervision. This course can also be undertaken as a distance-learning course through a Virtual Learning Environment (VLR).

Our wide-ranging modules will deepen your historical understanding and help prepare you for the dissertation. 'War and Peace in Historical Context' will develop your understanding of the social, cultural and political consequences of war in rich and varied contexts. 'British Empire and its Imperial Rivals' will enhance your understanding of the global history of colonialism, one of history's most dynamic forces. 'Historical Contexts' has a twofold purpose. It will introduce you to some of the key questions animating current historiography and showcase the historical expertise within the department. Finally, 'History in the Digital Age: Institutions, Issues and Ideas', an innovative and wide-ranging module, will give you the insights and cutting-edge skills needed to make a success of your dissertation.

The assessment methods employed on this course include historical and historiographical essays, oral and written presentations, critical reviews and portfolios of work.

Your dissertation will form a large part of the assessment process and will be overseen by a supervisor who specialises in your subject area.

Throughout your studies you will benefit from working with our team of specialist historians who were recently ranked in the UK’s top 20 for the quality of their history publications (REF 2014).

The subjects our academics teach reflect their research interests. All are authors of influential books and articles, adding new knowledge and perspectives to our understanding of the past.

You will be assigned a dedicated dissertation supervisor with specialist knowledge of your chosen subject area. They will guide you through your project with the help of our team of support staff.

Boasting doctorates, awards and extensive academic knowledge in their particular specialism, you can be confident you are learning from the best.

Throughout the duration of your course you will have access to state-of-the-art facilities to support your learning experience.

Further facilities are available at the Institute for the Humanities, a special research space in the University’s Lipman Building. These include a resource room, specialist computing equipment and interview rooms. You will also have access to a designated Humanities Student Hub, providing space for self-study, group work or a rest in between teaching sessions.

You will receive support at every step of your learning journey through our on-campus facilities and innovative e-Learning Portal, Blackboard, which will allow you to access electronic versions of your course’s supporting documentation.

We provide a supportive and informal learning environment, offering feedback at all key stages of your course.

The MA History course is centred around research-rich learning and delivery.

Delivered by our team of renowned academics, you will be learning from research-active experts who boast specialisms in all aspects of history including early modern and modern British, European, imperial and global history. In addition to our established strength in political, cultural and social history, we have growing strengths in environmental history and the history of material culture.

Many staff are qualified to professorial level and engaged in collaborative research projects, which are often part of national or international research networks.

More than three quarters of Northumbria University’s History department’s research outputs are rated as being world-leading or internationally excellent, placing us in the upper quartile for history research in the UK. We have also been ranked among the top 20 universities in the UK for research power in History, according to the 2014 Research Excellence Framework.

On completion of this course you will possess expert research skills thanks to your ability to collect, sift through and organise historical data. You will also be able to confidently use state-of-the-art digital researching tools.

Employability skills are embedded throughout all aspects of this course and, on completion, you will possess a range of attributes that are highly valued in today’s competitive job market. These skills include effective workload management, IT, problem solving, communication, teamwork and self-motivation.

Your previous qualifications and the specialist nature of this course will provide a strong foundation for your future work or study.

The MA History course has been designed to form the basis for those wishing to progress to PhD level and we offer advice in writing PhD and funding applications should you decide to take this route.

The broad range of skills and knowledge acquired on this course can help to enhance promotion prospects in many professions, most notably teaching, professional research, museums or archives, public policy and project management. It should also enhance your prospects of employment should you wish to move into such vocations.

You will also leave prepared for a career as a researcher or employment within a broader business environment.