Course summary

The Cultural History pathway encourages you to investigate artefacts and ideas, material objects and mentalities, medical documents and museums, photographs and films and explore key themes that have shaped the past, including national identity, gender, race, sexuality and modernity. On this absorbing MA programme you’ll study one of the most exciting fields of historical inquiry; cultural history examines the culture of the time in order to understand how people made sense of the world they inhabited. It will introduce you to the specialist research methods used by cultural historians, to ongoing historiographical and theoretical debates and to related disciplines such as cultural studies, literary studies, history of art and sociology. You will also get the opportunity to explore the area of cultural history that interests you most in your dissertation. The MA draws together case studies from across Britain and continental Europe, the European Empires and North America from the eighteenth century to the present day. Taking the Cultural History MA will:

• Deepen your understanding of the cultural history of Britain and its Empire, continental Europe and North America since the eighteenth century

• Encourage you to think about a broad range of questions and debates in cultural history

• Allow you to engage with current debates on such themes as gender, modernity, national identity, sexuality and the politics of culture

• Give you the chance to work closely with a dynamic group of young historians and established scholars who themselves research and write about the cultural history of Britain, continental Europe and North America.