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Contemporary History at The University of Edinburgh - UCAS

Course options

2026 - 2027
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There are other course options available which may have a different vacancy status or entry requirements – view the full list of options

Course summary

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. Breadth of expertise 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 every imaginable disciplinary approach to history, but also almost every geographical region 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, including:
  • the wars of the 20th and 21st centuries
  • civil rights
  • decolonisation
  • human rights and social memory
  • cinema
  • crime
  • gender
  • ethnicity
  • class
  • the digital world

Modules

See the University of Edinburgh website for detailed programme information.

Entry requirements

Entry requirements for individual programmes vary, so please check the details for the specific programme you wish to apply for on the University of Edinburgh website. You will also need to meet the University’s language requirements.

Fees and funding

Tuition fees

No fee information has been provided for this course

Tuition fee status depends on a number of criteria and varies according to where in the UK you will study. For further guidance on the criteria for home or overseas tuition fees, please refer to the UKCISA website .

Additional fee information

Tuition fees vary between degree programmes. Find the specific fees for your chosen programme on our website.
Contemporary History at The University of Edinburgh - UCAS