Environmental History MLitt

The modules in this programme have varying methods of delivery and assessment. For more details of each module, including weekly contact hours, teaching methods and assessment, please see the latest module catalogue which is for the 2018–2019 academic year; some elements may be subject to change for 2019 entry.

Compuslory

Students choose one of:

• History in the Making: Theories, Approaches and Practices (1 and 2): examines the development of history-writing and historical research since the Enlightenment, and the emergence of fields, trends and new approaches in current historiography.
• Global Times – Plural Spaces 1 and Global Times – Plural Spaces 2: offers a strong foundation in the major approaches to comparative and transnational history as well as the emerging field of spatial history.

and one of:

• Disease and Environment (c.1500–2000): examines the manner in which sickness and death have shaped human history, both biologically and culturally, over the past 500 years, focusing primarily on an Anglo-American context.
• Environmental Disasters: Crisis, Catastrophe and Risk in the Modern World (1755 to Present): explores the nature of 'natural' disasters and the social and cultural factors that shaped and framed them.
• Environmental History: Nature and the Western World (1800–2000): studies environmental history over the past two centuries in an international context.

Depending on credit weighting, students choose one or two optional modules. These can also be from one of the compulsory choices not taken.

Optional modules are subject to change each year and require a minimum number of participants to be offered; some may only allow limited numbers of students .

• Directed Reading in Modern History: offers a directed reading project designed to encourage the development of skills of historical analysis through concentrated study of a topic chosen by the student.
• Environmental Management in Scotland: provides geographical instruction on this timely subject (only available in alternate years).
• History of Modern Science: introduces core themes in the history of science from the Scientific Revolution onwards.
• Perceptions of Central and Eastern Europe: an advanced historical study of the transformations in the perception of Central and Eastern Europe since the emergence of modern nationalism in the mid-nineteenth century.
• Skills in Transnational History: leads to the acquisition and development of skills in the digital humanities and skills required for using specific historical sources.
• Themes in American History: a selection of the most important issues in the history of North America, from its foundations as European colonies onwards.

Student dissertations will be supervised by members of the teaching staff who will advise on the choice of subject and provide guidance throughout the research process. The completed dissertation of not more than 15,000 words must be submitted by a date specified in August.

If students choose not to complete the dissertation requirement for the MLitt, there is an exit award available that allows suitably qualified candidates to receive a Postgraduate Diploma. By choosing an exit award, you will finish your degree at the end of the second semester of study and receive a PGDip instead of an MLitt.