Early Modern History

Course detail Description

Our Early Modern History MA bridges the division between British and European history that exists on many courses, focusing on ways in which cultural, political and social themes stretch across the period c.1500–1800.

The course is taught by experts in the histories of the Reformation and the Enlightenment, gender, the material world of the Renaissance, race and racism, and on Britain, Ireland, France, the Netherlands, Portugal and the Iberian world. Their research connects the political and the social, the cultural and the religious dimensions of the early modern world, and our course will give you interdisciplinary perspectives on early modern history.

You will write a dissertation at the end of your course, but you will begin by testing concepts such as identity, mentality, religion; by challenging models of change including modernization, state-building, the civilising process, reformation, enlightenment and revolution; and by trying out different methodologies such as cultural history, gender, thinking with material objects, global history, using digital data.

Our optional modules offer you different perspectives on religion, society, politics and culture, by examining primary sources of all kinds alongside the most recent historiographical interpretations. We will also develop your practical skills through modules such as advanced historical skills, including palaeography, Latin from beginner to advanced levels, and offer the chance to learn a European language. The flexibility of the course means that you can also take relevant modules from other departments in, for example, early modern English or French literature, the Iberian world and Digital Humanities. You can also attend relevant undergraduate lecture series such as Power, Culture and Belief in Europe 1500–1800 and Early Modern Britain 1500–1750.

You will have access to an excellent range of library resources. Our long-standing expertise in the early modern period means our library has an extensive collection of journals and books in this field. You can also use the British Library, Senate House Library (University of London) and the Institute of Historical Research. We provide access to the most significant online collections of primary printed material, Early English Books Online and the Eighteenth Century Online and to JSTOR and other online resources for secondary material.

Teaching
We teach our modules through small seminar groups where we will debate and discuss ideas based on extensive reading.

If you are a full-time student, we will provide you with six to nine hours of teaching each week, and we will expect you to undertake 32 to 34 hours of independent study.

If you are a part-time student, we will provide you with two to six hours of teaching each week, and we will expect you to undertake 14 to 18 hours of independent study.

For your dissertation we will provide you with six hours of one-to-one supervision and we will expect you to undertake 574 hours of independent study.

Typically, one credit equates to 10 hours of work.

Assessment
We will assess your performance through coursework and occasionally exams. The majority of the history modules are assessed by coursework essay; other optional modules may differ.

Regulating body
King’s College London is regulated by the Office for Students.

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Structure

Year 1

Courses are divided into modules. You will normally take modules totalling 180 credits.

You are required to take:

• Approaches to Early Modern History (40 credits)
• Advanced Skills for Historians (20 credits)
• Dissertation (60 credits)

In addition, you are required to take 60 credits from a range of optional modules, which may typically include:

• Power, Identity & Religion: Reformations in England & Europe (20 credits)
• Ritual in Early Modern Society (20 credits)
• Body & Society in Early Modern Europe (20 credits)
• From Hume to Darwin: God, Man & Nature in European Thought (20 credits)
• Liberty, Reason & the State: British Moral & Political Thought in Early-modernity (20 credits)
• Inequality in World History (20 credits)
• Up to 40 credits from a range of master’s level modules offered outside the department, including intercollegiately, subject to approval
• One graduate level language module offered by King’s Modern Language Centre

If you are a part-time student, you will take Approaches to Early Modern History in your first year, along with 20 credits of optional modules. In your second year you will take Advanced Skills for Historians and your dissertation module, along with 40 credits of optional modules.

King’s College London reviews the modules offered on a regular basis to provide up-to-date, innovative and relevant programmes of study. Therefore, modules offered may change. We suggest you keep an eye on the course finder on our website for updates.