Home › Study › Postgraduate Programmes › MA Global History

MA Global History

By expanding the scale at which historians would normally operate, the Global History programme from University of Birmingham will present you with an opportunity to think with growing confidence and imagination about your world, its origins, its complexities and continuous transformations across a uniquely broad geographical and chronological scope.

Quick Facts

  
Duration: 1 year (Full-Time)
2 years (Part-Time)
Starting in: September
Tuition Fee: £21,150 per year
Location: Birmingham, United Kingdom

By taking the Global History programme from University of Birmingham, you will be taught the latest skills, concepts and approaches to the subject, and you will share in the imaginative challenges and intellectual vistas that this exciting new field of history is opening up. It is from this largest of historical perspectives that you will be invited to choose your own specialist research topic, culminating in a supervised 15,000-word dissertation.

Birmingham’s Department of History is ranked the best in the country*, with 87% of its research rated as world leading or internationally excellent in terms of its quality. Research in the department spans the medieval to the modern, including topics such as China’s Middle Period, the material culture of the early modern household, and non-governmental organisations in modern Britain.

This research expertise is evident within our teaching within our programmes drawing on the diverse regional and chronological expertise available in the Department of History.

Courses included:

  • Of Great Powers and Failed States. Conceptions of the State in the Modern World
  • Britain’s Wars of Colonisation and Decolonisation
  • Conflict in the Modern Middle East
  • Indigenous and Settler Histories
  • Genocide: An Interdisciplinary Perspective
  • Insurgencies in Global History
  • Sex and Sexualities in the Modern British World
  • Bread, Wine and Barricades: Freedom, Ecology and the Nature of Modern France
  • Before and After the Mongols: Political Authority in Islamic Lands, 1000-1600
  • Gender and Sexuality in the 20th Century United States
  • China in Revolution: China under Mao (1949-1976)
  • Before Globalization?: Afro-Eurasian World History 500-1800
  • Piracy, Plunder, Peoples and Exploitation: English Exploration in the Tudor Period

“The transition from undergrad to postgrad can be a big step up in terms of workload and what is expected of you, but there is so much support available to you as a postgrad student, from academic writing support (if you’ve been out of education for a few years or just want a bit of extra help) to mental health and wellbeing services. The careers support is fantastic – the uni puts on employer fairs throughout the year and you have access to one on one support from the Careers Network team, who can help you develop your skills ready for your next step!”

Emma Sutton // PhD Psychology

Careers

Your degree will provide excellent preparation for your future career, but this can also be enhanced by a range of employability support services offered by the University and the College of Arts and Law.

The University’s Careers Network provides expert guidance and activities especially for postgraduates, which will help you achieve your career goals. The College of Arts and Law also has a dedicated careers and employability team who offer tailored advice and a programme of College-specific careers events.

You will be encouraged to make the most of your postgraduate experience and will have the opportunity to:

  • Receive one-to-one careers advice, including guidance on your job applications, writing your CV and improving your interview technique, whether you are looking for a career inside or outside of academia
  • Meet employers face-to-face at on-campus recruitment fairs and employer presentations
  • Attend an annual programme of careers fairs, skills workshops and conferences, including bespoke events for postgraduates in the College of Arts and Law
  • Take part in a range of activities to demonstrate your knowledge and skills to potential employers and enhance your CV

Requirements

  • You will make your application to our MA History programme. If you would like to specialise in Global History, you will indicate this at the module choice process upon entry onto the programme.

Learn more