History (MSc by Research) (PRMSCHIS1A2F)

• Awarding institution
• Teaching institution
• Programme accredited by
• Final award
• Programme title
• UCAS code
• Relevant QAA subject benchmarking group
• Postholder with overall responsibility for QA
• Date of production/revision
• External summary
• Education aims of programme

• Programme Outcomes
• Knowledge and understanding
• Graduate attributes - Skills and abilities in research and enquiry
• Graduate attributes - Skills and abilities in personal and intellectual autonomy
• Graduate attributes - Skills and abilities in communication
• Graduate attributes - Skills and abilities in personal effectiveness
• Technical/practical skills

• Programme structure and features
• Teaching and learning methods and strategies
• Assessment methods and strategies
• Career opportunities
• Other items

External summary

The University of Edinburgh is home to one of the largest groups of historians in the United Kingdom. Our research interests, and the MSc courses we offer, cover just about every major area of historical inquiry. Students on the MSc by Research in History can take full advantage of this breadth, studying medieval Scotland, revolutionary America, World War Two Britain, and much else besides. Students on this programme develop their own research projects with individual supervision from nationally- and internationally-respected historians.

This degree programme is aimed at applicants who already have a carefully thought-out research topic in mind. The programme provides opportunities to acquire training in the research skills necessary to prosper at the graduate level, as well as the resources and supervision that any successful MSc dissertation requires. The programme enhances students’ skills in independent research, critical analysis, and both oral and written presentation. It is designed as either a foundation for further postgraduate training at doctoral level, or a standalone course for those with an intellectual interest in history looking for a well-respected postgraduate qualification.

As core members of our scholarly community, students can also take advantage of an exciting range of lectures, seminars, and other special events that involve not only our own staff but also leading historians from the rest of the United Kingdom and the wider world.

Educational aims of programme

The MSc/Postgraduate Diploma by research in History (Arts) provides candidates with the:

• opportunity to choose a historical subject relating to one of the very many areas of expertise which are available in the School of History, Classics and Archaeology at the University of Edinburgh;

• opportunity to focus in depth on the subject of their choosing in partnership with academic supervisors who have expertise in the relevant field of study and with whom they can engage on an individual basis;

• experience of engaging in genuine historical research, using primary as well as secondary sources, on the self-contained scale of a one-year degree;

• opportunity to assess, through their studies and in consultation with their supervisors, whether they have the ability and motivation for further historical research, at PhD level.

The programme therefore provides a full and satisfying academic experience, both for those who wish to undertake a limited historical project at postgraduate level and for those who require the training and confidence which the MSc degree provides as the basis for further postgraduate study, through the following attributes:

• it provides students with the intellectual environment, background, training and support    which are essential for the conduct of critical historical inquiry;

• it provides students with a specific body of advanced knowledge;

• it trains students in advanced historical methodology and in the evaluation of evidence of varying and sometimes conflicting kinds through the close study of relevant primary and  secondary sources;

• it familiarises students with historiographical debates and modes of historical explanation;

• it trains students in the discipline of rigorous historical argument;

• it trains students to conceive and execute a coherent project in historical research and writing;

• it further instils in students a range of more generic transferable skills, such as precise oral and written communication, independent study, problem-solving and time management.

The programme's outcomes, detailed below, are assessed EITHER by means of either a combination of coursework and a dissertation, or a thesis of not more than 30,000 words.

Programme outcomes: Knowledge and understanding

The programme is designed to develop by means of a menu of research training and individual study:

• a specialised knowledge and understanding of the candidate's chosen area of historical study;

• a detailed knowledge and understanding of the central historiographical issues of that area;

• an understanding of the interaction between historical sources and explanation;

• an appreciation of the historical and historiographical context of the student's individual area of research.

Graduate attributes - Skills and abilities in research and enquiry

The programme is designed to develop an ability to:

• process and critically assess information derived from historical research, utilising historiographical, theoretical and methodological knowledge and skills specific to the specific area of the student's research;

• provide clear written and oral analyses based on historical information;

• utilize central theoretical and cultural concepts;

• identify historical continuities and contrasts;

• construct and pursue a coherent historical argument based on the hypotheses which have been formulated and tested by reference to primary and secondary source material;

• Understanding the role of causality in historical evolution;

• formulate and test hypotheses;

• locate an argument - whether verbal or written - within a broader intellectual context and to evaluate its implications from that more general perspective;

• undertake textual analysis incorporating social and cultural evidence;

• formulate and implement a plan of research;

• conceive and pursue to its conclusion a coherent argument founded on evidence provided by the sources at the student's disposal;

• undertake a sustained independent research project, and to complete it within a strict time limit;

• write clear, accurate, precise and concise prose;

• Understand and undertake study and research conforming to the highest ethical standards.

Graduate attributes - Skills and abilities in personal and intellectual autonomy

The programme is designed to develop an ability to:

• analyse, assimilate and deploy critically a range of secondary literature relevant and essential to the student's individual research subject;

• identify and deploy critically relevant primary historical sources;

• locate a specific thesis within its broader historiography;

• formulate hypotheses relating to the student's research subject and to test them by marshalling a range of primary and secondary evidence;

• reflect critically on the processes and methods which the student utilises in both their research and their writing;

• Reflect critically on and deploy the highest ethical standards when undertaking research and communication of that research;

• Reflect critically on the role of the individual in achieving their own personal and intellectual ambitions and goals.

Programme outcomes: Graduate attributes - Skills and abilities in communication

The programme is designed to develop the ability to:

• assimilate, process and communicate a wide range of information from a variety of sources;

• formulate and test hypotheses in written and verbal forms;

• locate an argument - whether verbal or written - within a broader intellectual context and to evaluate its implications from that more general perspective;

• undertake written and verbal textual analysis incorporating historical evidence;

• formulate and implement a plan of verbal communication through tutorial participation;

• undertake a sustained independent research project, and to complete it within a strict time limit to the highest textual standards;

• write clear, accurate, precise and concise prose in different formats;

• understand different audiences for historical research.

Programme outcomes: Graduate attributes - Skills and abilities in personal effectiveness

The programme will expose students to an awareness of and opportunities to develop technical and practical skills in the following areas.

• digital technology in the practice of historical research and writing;

• online digital technology in the representation of historical sources, with the ethical and intellectual challenges that such technology represents;

• practical skills in navigating and using book and journal-based library resources;

• practical skills in accessing and handling original and archive historical sources, including material and visual sources;

• practical skills in making effective contributions to group-based learning.

Programme outcomes: Technical/practical skills

The programme will expose students to an awareness of and opportunities to develop technical and practical skills in the following areas.

• digital technology in the practice of historical research and writing;

• online digital technology in the representation of historical sources, with the ethical and intellectual challenges that such technology represents;

• practical skills in navigating and using book and journal-based library resources;

• practical skills in accessing and handling original and archive historical sources, including material and visual sources;

• practical skills in making effective contributions to group-based learning.

Programme structure and features

Structure and Credit Values

Students conduct research independently but benefit from regular supervision meetings with their supervisors

Learning Outcomes and Assessment Practices

On completion of this course, the student will be able to:

1. research a project at an advanced level, through relevant study, consultation of sources and original research;

2. produce a substantial written work on a set theme within prescribed parameters (within set time, and limits of length).

The programme's outcomes are assessed by means of the dissertation. Dissertation of 30,000 words, to be submitted by the date specified in the programme handbook.

Modes of Study

The programme is taken full time over twelve months.

Exit Awards

Requirements for the Award of the MSc

In order to be awarded a Masters degree candidates must achieve a pass at Masters level for the dissertation.

Requirements of the Award of the MSc with Merit

The Masters degree may be awarded with merit. To achieve a merit, a student must have been awarded between 60-69% on the University’s Postgraduate Common Marking Scheme for the dissertation.

Requirements of the Award of the MSc with Distinction

The Masters degree may be awarded with distinction. To achieve a distinction, a student must have been awarded at least 70% on the University’s Postgraduate Common Marking Scheme for the dissertation.

Teaching and learning methods and strategies

Teaching and Learning strategies employed at the University of Edinburgh consist of a variety of different methods appropriate to the programme aims. The graduate attributes listed above are met through a teaching and learning framework (detailed below) which is appropriate to the level and content of the course.

Teaching and Learning Activities

Specific activities will vary with path taken, if the coursework path is taken, course options will include lectures, seminars and workshops

Assessment methods and strategies

Assessment

Courses can be assessed by a diverse range of methods and often takes the form of formative work which provides the student with on-going feedback as well as summative assessment which is submitted for credit. 

Various assessment methods are used dependent on path taken, but may include:

• Essays;

• Dissertation;

• Online discussion forums;

• Power point presentation;

• Poster presentation.

Career opportunities

Many students are attracted to the MSc in History as an advanced qualification that may be valued by a range of employers; a more specialised supplement to their undergraduate degrees that could set them apart in a crowded job market. Others are interested in pursuing long-term academic careers and see the MSc as preparation for a PhD, while some are considering an academic career as a possibility, and use the MSc to establish whether it is the right career choice.

Career options

While some of our students go on to study for their PhDs, either at Edinburgh or at other universities, the majority go on to pursue careers in different fields. The MSc could lead into careers in the cultural sector, but a graduate degree from Edinburgh will be respected by employers in many fields. The combination of skills training courses, specialised seminars, and independent research provides students with transferable skills that will be beneficial whatever they end up doing.

Other items

The Programme Director is responsible for monitoring and reporting on students’ overall academic progress, as well as offering pastoral support. Graduate Officers in the relevant subject area will offer additional academic and pastoral advice and support to each student. The Graduate School Director will ensure that two supervisors are appointed to guide students through the process of completing the dissertation.

Access is provided to a networked wireless graduate study room with 38 desktop PCs, as well as two further graduate study rooms containing book collections, wireless networking and study space. These are maintained by Information Services via an e-Learning and Web Development Officer. Information Services also offer students access to training courses in a range of computing applications. 

MSc students are also encouraged to engage with and attend the various research seminar programmes organised by the School so as to familiarise themselves with current research issues and to develop their discursive skills.