Postgraduate Taught Degrees

Why Study Early Modern History at UEA?

The School of History has one of the strongest concentrations of early modern historians in the UK outside London and Oxbridge. Staff have published books and articles, and have supervised postdoctoral research, in a wide variety of areas, including: witchcraft and magic; popular culture and religion; the Protestant Reformation; the English revolution and civil wars; crime and the law; ideology and imagery; office-holding and state formation; popular politics and government; women and gender; demography and social change; urbanization and industrialization; migration and colonization, environmental history; riot and rebellion; custom and popular memory; oral culture, print culture, literacy and education; the history of emotions and history of mentalities.

By studying for the MA in Early Modern History, you will be joining an established community of historians, including other postgraduate and post-doctoral researchers. In most years there is a thriving postgraduate seminar at which both MA and PhD students present their work. In addition, postgraduates and teaching staff from the School frequently collaborate in putting on day-schools, workshops and conferences. 

The UEA Library holds an extensive collection of work dealing with early modern Britain, Europe and the world. It also provides electronic access to Early English Books Online and Eighteenth Century Collections Online. The Norfolk Record Office, housed in a state-of-the-art building in Norwich, holds one of the richest manuscript collections of any county record office in England. Other major record offices at Ipswich, Bury St Edmunds and Chelmsford are located within easy travelling distance, as is Cambridge University Library. Norwich is a two-hour train journey from London, where students use the British Library, National Archives and other major archives.

To be awarded the Early Modern MA, students need to acquire 180 credits, gathered from three compulsory modules: a core module (60 credits), a subsidiary module (30 credits) and a dissertation (90 credits).

Content and Structure of the Course

Society, Politics and Culture in Early Modern England

60-Credit Core Module

This year-long module uses early modern English history to explore and develop skills central to the discipline of history. Weekly two-hour classes, spread over the year, examine religious, political, social, cultural, intellectual and gender historiography; oral and print culture; social relations and rural custom and memory; and authenticity and fakery in primary sources. We also cover various research methods and methodologies, and look in detail at how historians – including the course tutors – work. The module is also geared towards the preparation of a topic for the dissertation. Assessment is by four pieces of written work, each 2,000-2,500 words long: in the Autumn Semester, a detailed research proposal, and essay based on a question tailored to each student’s specific interests; and in Spring a bibliographical survey and another essay.

The Controversies and the Classics

30-Credit Subsidiary Module

This bi-weekly reading group runs over the course of the year, and focuses on key texts in the development of historical writing about the early modern period. These texts are fully located in wider debates in the field. In each class, a student is required to make a short introductory presentation on a text as a basis for discussion. In the Spring semester students may suggest their own readings. The module aims to develop skills of close reading, critical discussion, presentation, and the application of different theoretical perspectives. It engages with a broad range of historiographical approaches to early modern history. Assessment is by a 4,000-word essay at the end of the Spring semester, which may take several forms: a detailed analysis of a core text; a discussion of a core text in a wide historiographical context; or a comparative discussion of approaches.

Dissertation Module

90 Credits

The taught component provides students with the historiographical background, methodology, acquaintance with source material, and intellectual inspiration necessary to write a 14-16,000-word dissertation. This is based on original research, usually a combination of archival and contemporary printed collections. Some students work on the archival sources in local record offices; others work on nationally-focussed topics, concentrating on contemporary printed works available via Early English Books Online and Eighteenth Century Collections Online. Each student has a dissertation supervisor responsible for guiding primary research, structuring and organizing written work, and reading drafts. Many MA students subsequently progress onto PhD programmes either at UEA or at other institutions. One purpose of the MA is to prepare students for doctoral studies, should they decide to take such a route.

Course Tutors and Research Interests

Dr Silvia Evangelisti – gender, culture and religion; female monastic communities; material culture; history of childhood; early modern Italy and Spain

Prof. Malcolm Gaskill – witchcraft and witch-trials; crime and the law; popular culture and mentalities; colonization of early modern America; social and cultural history of England

Dr Polly Ha – sixteenth- and seventeenth-century religion; the Reformation and puritanism; transatlantic culture

Dr Jessica Sharkey – court culture; Anglo-European diplomacy; the spread of Renaissance ideas

Dr Paul Warde - energy and economic development; climatic, environmental and social change; institutional regulation of resources and welfare support

Prof. Andy Wood – popular politics and political culture; mental worlds of the poor; riot and rebellion; social memory and custom

Course Organiser:Dr. Silvia Evangelisti

There are many reasons to choose us. An MA in the School of History combines breadth of choice with depth of study. Students can choose from five excellent courses: Medieval, Early Modern, Modern British, Modern European and Landscape History, all carefully constructed and taught by specialists with relevant research interests and reputations. Unlike some MA courses, which ‘mix-and-match’ large numbers of small modules, within each course option students take a year-long 60-credit module, which allows them really to explore the subject in detail. Research skills are taught in a packed training programme, which provides everything our students need to further their historical ambitions. In the Spring Semester, they also make short presentations on their dissertation subjects, which, because the audience is mostly made up of their peers, makes for an event more like an informal symposium than a viva voce examination (which it isn’t anyway). Everyone finds this event helpful and enjoyable. UEA is extremely proud of its lively research community, which includes not just MA students but PhD students and teaching staff. We all benefit greatly from this intellectually stimulating environment and would like you to as well!

Disclaimer

Whilst the University will make every effort to offer the modules listed, changes may sometimes be made arising from the annual monitoring, review and update of modules and regular (five-yearly) review of course programmes. Where this activity leads to significant (but not minor) changes to programmes and their constituent modules, there will normally be prior consultation of students and others. It is also possible that the University may not be able to offer a module for reasons outside of its control, such as the illness of a member of staff or sabbatical leave. Where this is the case, the University will endeavour to inform students.

Entry Requirements

Degree Subject:

History or a related subject

Degree Classification:

UK BA (Hons) 2.1 or equivalent

Special Entry Requirements:

Applicants must submit a sample of written work (in English). This should be a typed essay on a historical subject, 2-3,000 words long, preferably a photocopy of an assessment marked by a tutor, complete with critical comments and a percentage or grade. The essay should address a specific question, and must demonstrate an ability to construct a historical argument, familiarity with the conventions of academic writing, and competence in English. This should be uploaded to your online application.

Students for whom English is a Foreign language

e welcome applications from students whose first language is not English. To ensure such students benefit from postgraduate study, we require evidence of proficiency in English. Our usual entry requirements are as follows:

• IELTS: 6.5 (minimum 6.0 in all components)
• TOEFL: Internet-based score of 92 (minimum 19 listening, 21 speaking, 19 writing and 20 in reading)
• PTE (Pearson): 62 (minimum 55 in all components)

Test dates should be within two years of the course start date.

Other tests such as TOEIC and the Cambridge Certificate of Advanced English are also accepted by the university. Please check with the Admissions Office for further details including the scores or grades required.

INTO UEA and INTO UEA London run pre-sessional courses which can be taken prior to the start of your course. For further information and to see if you qualify please contact intopre-sessional@uea.ac.uk (INTO UEA Norwich) or pseuealondon@into.uk.com (INTO UEA London).

Special Entry Requirements

Applicants must submit a sample of written work (in English). This should be a typed essay on a historical subject, 2-3,000 words long, preferably a photocopy of an assessment marked by a tutor, complete with critical comments and a percentage or grade. The essay should address a specific question, and must demonstrate an ability to construct a historical argument, familiarity with the conventions of academic writing, and competence in English.

Intakes

The School's annual intake is in September of each year.

Alternative Qualifications

If you have alternative qualifications that have not been mentioned above then please contact university directly for further information.

Fees and Funding

Tuition fees

Tuition fees for Postgraduate students for the academic year 2013/14 are £5,000 for Home/EU students and £12,500 for International Students.

If you choose to study part-time, the fee per annum will be half the annual fee for that year, or a pro-rata fee for the module credit you are taking (only available for Home/EU students).

Please note that all the above fees are expected to rise for the year 2013/14. We estimate living expenses at £600/650 per month.

Scholarships and Awards:

The Faculty of Arts and Humanities has a number of Scholarships and Awards. For further information relevant to the School of History, please click here.

Applications for Postgraduate Taught programmes at the University of East Anglia should be made directly to the University.

You can apply online.

Further Information

To request further information & to be kept up to date with news & events please use our online enquiry form.

If you would like to discuss your individual circumstances prior to applying please do contact us:

Postgraduate Admissions Office
Tel: +44 (0)1603 591515
Email: admissions@uea.ac.uk

International candidates are also encouraged to access the International Students section of our website.