History MA (Hons)

In the first two years of your degree (known as sub-honours) you will take the required modules in History alongside modules in at least one other subject.

1st Year

Students will take at least three from the following selection of first-year modules:

• The Early Modern Western World (c. 1450-1770): looks at continental European history in the early modern period, and the expansion of Europe.
• The Fall of Rome and the Origins of Europe (400-1000): examines how political, cultural and social life changed in the worlds of Byzantium, Islam and the ‘barbarian’ West in response to major upheavals.
• Greek History to Alexander the Great: provides a broad survey of ancient Greek history and looks at the political development of Athens and Sparta, the impact of the Athenian Empire, and Greek culture in its heyday.
• Roman History from Foundation to Empire: considers the rise of Rome to world power from humble beginnings, examining the political, cultural and economic consequences of its imperialism.
• Scotland and the English Empire 1070-1500: compares and relates the societies of the English crown and the kingdom of Scotland in the aftermath of the Norman Conquest of England.
• Themes in Late Modern History (c. 1776-2001): provides a thematic coverage of major political and social developments in the Western world during the 19th and 20th centuries.

Students will take at least three from the following selection of second-year modules:

• History as a Discipline: Development and Key Concepts: provides an introduction to key theoretical and methodological approaches which have characterised the emergence of History as a discipline since the Middle Ages.
• Introduction to Middle Eastern History: provides an introduction to Middle Eastern History from the dramatic reconfiguration of the Middle East in late Antiquity to its contested and contentious recent past.
• Mediaeval Europe (1000-1400): examines key themes that helped to shape Western Europe from the 11th to 14th centuries, a period known as the ‘High Middle Ages’.
• Mediterranean Communities: deals with the human settlement and material culture of the entire Mediterranean World throughout classical antiquity.
• The Roman Empire: studies the Roman empire with particular reference to social, religious and economic changes as well as to political and military history.
• Scotland, Britain and Empire (c. 1500-2000): provides an introduction to how and why the British nation state evolved from the separate kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland and how and why it has survived over the last three centuries.

If you decide to take History in your third and fourth years, you choose modules from a wide variety of advanced options.

Here is a sample of Honours modules which have been offered in previous years:

• Age of Conquest: Edward I - Scotland and Wales (1239-1307)
• The Decline and Fall of the French Old Regime (1715-1789)
• The Formation of Islamic Iran: From the Arab Conquests to the Seljuq Empire (600-1200)
• Heretics and Social Outcasts in Western Europe
• The Mediaeval Castle
• Power without Responsibility? The British Press and Politics (1850-1939).

Some modules at Honours level are intended to build your portfolio and provide you with career experience. For example, the Recording the Past module allows you to submit a multimedia historical project in the form of a radio programme, video documentary, website or another appropriate medium.

In fourth year, students may also undertake a dissertation of around 10,000 to 12,000 words on a topic of their choice or an Honours project. These modules based on independent research enable you to develop key research skills which are desired by both prospective employers and by graduate schools offering postgraduate degrees.

The sub-honours modules listed here are the compulsory modules that students must take in order to graduate in this subject. However, most students at St Andrews take additional modules, either in their primary subject or from other subjects they are interested in. For Honours-level, students choose from a range of Honours modules, some of which are listed above.