History of Health, Medicine and Society

The first semester will lay the foundations of your studies, introducing you to historical research methods, and key sources, debates and methodologies in the history of health, medicine and society. You’ll take part in a source analysis workshop and gain practical knowledge of documentary, visual and material sources in the university and local area which can be used to study the history of health, medicine and society.

You’ll also develop specialist knowledge of the development of the history of medicine and the social history of medicine as historical sub-disciplines, and the place of health and medicine within the discipline of history.

In Semester Two, you’ll build on this knowledge with your choice from a wide range of optional modules, including specialist topics such as birth , death and illness in the Middle Ages; Medicine and warfare in the 19th and 20th centuries or disease and sexuality in Africa. You’ll also have the opportunity to work collaboratively with partner organisations, such as the West Yorkshire Archive Service, by studying the ‘Making History: Archive collaborations’ module.

Throughout the programme, you’ll develop your knowledge across a variety of areas as well as key skills in research and critical analysis. You’ll showcase these skills when you complete your dissertation, which will be independently researched on a topic of your choice and submitted by the end of the programme in September.

If you choose to study part-time, you’ll study over a longer period and take fewer modules in each year.

Course structure

These are typical modules/components studied and may change from time to time. Read more in our Terms and conditions.

Modules Year 1

Compulsory modules

• Research Methodology in History 30 credits
• Dissertation (History of Health, Medicine and Society) 60 credits
• Approaches to the History of Health and Medicine 30 credits

Optional modules

• Making History: Archive Collaborations 30 credits
• Medicine and Warfare in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries 30 credits
• Women, Gender and Sexuality: Archives and Approaches 30 credits
• Sexuality and Disease in African History 30 credits
• Contesting Patriarchy: Debating Gender Justice in Colonial and Post-Colonial India. 30 credits
• Lifecycles: Birth, Death and Illness in the Middle Ages 30 credits
• Special Option (History of Science) 30 credits
• Science in the Museum: Interpretations & Practices 30 credits
• The Origin of Modern Medicine (Birth of the Clinic) 30 credits

For more information on typical modules, read History of Health, Medicine and Society MA Full Time in the course catalogue

For more information on typical modules, read History of Health, Medicine and Society MA Part Time in the course catalogue

Learning and teaching

We use a range of teaching and learning methods. The majority of your modules will be taught through weekly seminars, where you’ll discuss issues and themes in your chosen modules with a small group of students and your tutors. Independent study is also crucial to this degree, giving you the space to shape your own studies and develop your skills.

Assessment

We use different types of assessment to help you develop a wide range of skills, including presentations, research proposals, project reports and essays, depending on the subjects you choose.