External summary

This programme will give you a comprehensive understanding of the increasingly global experience of humankind in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

The second half of the twentieth century was witness to many of the developments that have shaped our contemporary world, from the crystallisation of the Cold War to the decolonisations that swept across Asia, Africa and the Caribbean. At the same time, new forms of communication and transportation infrastructure transformed daily life, if in highly uneven ways.

Drawing on archival documents, artefacts of material culture and audio-visual content, historians of the contemporary period enjoy access to a widened pool of primary sources to explore these themes critically and analytically. With staff expertise across a broad thematic and geographic coverage, you have a unique opportunity to understand the present through the recent past.

Students benefit from the experience and methodologically different approaches to contemporary history of over 40 internationally recognised experts. To name just a few, our staff specialise in:

• political history
• cultural history
• social history
• economic history
• military history
• colonialism and post-colonialism
• gender history
• intellectual history

In addition, students will have the opportunity to take appropriate courses in other Schools, e.g. those of Social and Political Science and of Literatures, Languages and Cultures.

Our staff specialising in contemporary history jointly cover not only many disciplinary approaches to history, but also most geographical regions on the globe, including Europe, North America, Latin America, Africa,
and Asia.

We are therefore in a position to deliver a programme that emphasises the increasingly inter- and transnational, and indeed global experience of humankind in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Students will be able to study this unique period of history within a range of diverse topics.

Previous courses have covered:

• the wars of the 20th and 21st centuries
• civil rights
• decolonisation
• human rights and social memory
• cinema
• crime
• gender
• ethnicity
• class

Educational aims of programme

This MSc allows you to explore such questions critically and analytically while discovering how the recent past shaped the modern world. You will gain a comprehensive understanding of the increasingly global experience of humankind in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

NO specialised course, just a pathway. A specialised methodological and historiographical course will help you appreciate the distinctiveness of contemporary history; its use of radio, television, film, and internet-based sources such as Wikileaks; and its methodology.

This rigorous skills training will be supplemented by a variety of topical, specialised options, covering virtually every distinctive approach to history (for example, political, social and economic) and every region on the globe, underlining the increasing globalisation of our recent past.

Programme outcomes: Knowledge and understanding

• understanding of contemporary societies and cultures and ways of critically engaging with and examining them
• awareness of the wide range of scholarly methodologies and academic disciplines applicable to Contemporary History advanced knowledge of historiography of major themes and problems of contemporary history;

Programme outcomes: Graduate attributes - Skills and abilities in research and enquiry

• effective retrieval of scattered and highly technical information
• ability to evaluate critically a range of relevant scholarly methodologies and to choose and apply successfully the most effective one(s) necessary to answer specific research questions
• ability to evaluate ‘primary’ sources of evidence of the past in order to draw valid conclusions about it
• advanced appreciation of historiographical/epistemological methodology and ability to assess existing understanding and the limitations of knowledge in connection with this field
• ability to produce a sustained and effective analysis of a difficult research problem

Programme outcomes: Graduate attributes - Skills and abilities in personal and intellectual autonomy

• critical thinking and reading as applied to fragmentary evidence and/or scholarly argument
• ability to develop a strong grasp of complex subjects through directed reading
• ability to test, modify and strengthen one’s own views through collaboration and debate
• ability to identify and carry out a viable research project with occasional supervision, but with readiness to take responsibility for one’s own learning

Programme outcomes: Graduate attributes - Skills and abilities in communication

• language skills
• development of existing reading/writing skills as applied to increasingly technical problems
• delivering effective oral presentations of complex ideas to seminar groups
• ability to marshal argument lucidly and coherently under pressure
• ability to collaborate with and/or relate to others in the search for answers

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

• ability to approach problems with academic rigour, imagination and mental agility
• possession of an informed respect for the principles, methods, standards, values and boundaries of study in this area of enquiry, as well as the capacity to question these
• preparing balanced and accessible discussions of complex issues and detailed material
• giving and receiving constructive criticism in a professional manner, and ability to identify one’s own academic strengths, weaknesses and limitations
• composing concise but effective arguments to firm deadlines
• ability to work effectively and professionally in a seminar/group discussion atmosphere

Programme outcomes: Technical/practical skills

• IT skills connected with Internet use, word processing and visual presentations
• command of bibliographical and library and/or archival research skills
• analytical reading skills

Programme structure and features

Structure and SCQF credit values

The MSc in Contemporary History is available on a full-time basis taken over the course of one academic year, or a part-time over the course of two.

Structure and Credit Values

Along with all other students taking taught degrees in the History subject area, you will take two core training courses: Historical Methodology in semester 1 and Developing Historical Research in Semester 2. Students will undertake a specialist Contemporary History pathway within the Developing Historical Research course. These courses provide a general introduction to graduate study in history and give you the opportunity to develop your research skills.

You will also choose two specialised options from a selection of courses in Contemporary History, and a further two courses from the full list of History courses on offer. These courses are small, seminar-style courses taught by staff members who are national and international experts in their fields. You will read and discuss the latest scholarship and in most cases will be assessed by means of an essay. The range of specialist option modules available may vary according to staffing arrangements

The capstone of the programme is a 15,000 word dissertation (60 credits) which students complete during the summer months. This is an independent, primary source-based research project supervised by one or more members of the academic staff. Students have considerable freedom to define their own dissertation project, so long as it is a feasible project which one or more staff members have the expertise to supervise.

Students have considerable freedom to define their own dissertation project, as long as it is a feasible project which one or more staff members have the expertise to supervise.

Progression requirements

Following the coursework stage (based on semester one and two courses), the Board of Examiners meets in May and is responsible for deciding whether students have satisfied the requirements of the Diploma stage of the programme and whether candidates can progress to the dissertation stage of candidature for the Masters programme.

In order to progress to the masters dissertation candidates

• attain at least 80 credits with a pass at masters level or more in each of the separate elements and

• be awarded an aggregate pass at masters level for the 120 credits of study in semesters one and two

Learning Outcomes and Assessment Practices

The programme's outcomes, detailed below, are assessed based on the assignments set within each course. Additionally, outcomes are measured by a 15,000 word dissertation.

Modes of Study

The programme may be taken full time over twelve months or part-time over twenty four months.

Exit Awards

Requirements for the Award of the Diploma

In order to be awarded the diploma candidates must:

• attain at least 80 credits with a pass at diploma level or more in each of the separate elements and

• be awarded an aggregate pass at diploma level for the 120 credits of study examined for the diploma

Requirements for the Award of the MSc

In order to be awarded a masters degree candidates must:

• have satisfied the requirements for progression, as laid out above, and

• attain 60 credits, by achieving a pass at masters level 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 and must also have been awarded a mark of at least 69% for the coursework element.

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 course options taken, but 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 course options taken, but may include:

• Essays

• Dissertation

• Online discussion forums

• Power point presentation

• Poster presentation

Career opportunities

Many students are attracted to the MSc in Contemporary History as an advanced qualification that is 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.

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.

Visit our Careers Service website for more information on your career options, job search, marketing yourself and making the most of your time as a student.

Other items

The Programme Director is responsible for monitoring and reporting on students’ overall academic progress. Our dedicated Student Support & Experience Team offer pastoral advice and support where required.

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.