Early Modern History (MLitt) 2020 entry

Students choose one optional module.

Here is a sample of optional modules that may be offered.

• The Creation of an Atlantic World: introduces students to the concept of the Atlantic World, a unit of analysis used by historians to understand the changes wrought in the western hemisphere by the British, French, and Iberian discovery and settlement of the Americas, and by Europe’s slave trade with Africa.  
• Directed Reading in History (20): offers a specialised directed reading course based on the student's individual interests, and is designed to encourage the development of skills of historical analysis through concentrated study.
• The European Renaissance: compares and contrasts the Italian and Northern Renaissances, examining their medieval origins and exploring themes such as religion, humanism, court and urban life, in order to test this traditional interpretation. 
• Political Thought and Intellectual History: offers a rich and varied graduate-level introduction to the political theory and intellectual history of the early modern period.
• Religion and Identity in Early Modern Britain: explores the significance of the Reformation in reshaping the ways in which Scots and Englishmen perceived themselves as members of distinct Protestant churches and communities in the 16th and 17th centuries.
• Society and Religious Change in Sixteenth-Century France: examines how France faced the two major challenges of the age: the trend towards more centralised state-building, stimulated in part by the changing nature of warfare in the 16th century and the urge on the part of European monarchies to create a new monarchy; and the challenge posed by the divisions of European Christendom resulting from the Protestant Reformation.
• War, State and Society in Early Modern Europe and New Worlds: explores the transformations in the size, scale and scope of European warfare between the late 15th and late 18th centuries.

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 (see the University’s position on curriculum development).

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.