Historical Studies
Everybody and everything has a history – not just people. Language, culture, traditions, religions, buildings, even technologies have a historical context. History shaped the world we live in today and is an ongoing active process.
Historians interpret how people, societies and cultures perceive themselves and how these perceptions have changed over time. This narrative, interpretative process is an essential part of how we as humans make sense of our place in the world.
Interested in Historical Studies?
We provide interdisciplinary, online programmes, such as Medieval Studies, Heritage, and Conflict and War, all of which embrace different subjects such as English, Theology, and Archaeology.
Our programmes will enable you to develop skills in close-reading and interpretation of archival, material, iconographic and visual sources related to your period of interest.
Our own interest in different periods underlies our programme offer: from individual modules to degree schemes, you are assured of a tutor as passionate about the subject as you are.
Module snapshot:
Dr Alexander Scott (Lecturer in Modern History, UWTSD, Lampeter) talks about one of the modules he teaches, ‘Screening the Past: Film and History.’
Explore our archives – a wealth of historical sources at your fingertips
We’ll encourage you to explore history through a variety of lenses, incorporating different approaches and discovering those best suited to your material. When studying at a distance, staff will guide you in your work with online digital archives both at UWTSD and around the world.
Roderic Bowen Library and Archives
Prof. Janet Burton (UWTSD, Lampeter) and Dr Harriett Webster (UWTSD, Lampeter) in the Roderic Bowen Library and Archives talking about one of its items: a monastic Bible
Fostering research skills
For our postgraduate programmes, you’ll take a module on research methods designed to introduce you to the nuts and bolts of research, as well as bibliographical and archival sources. A key aim of this module is to develop your awareness of the information technology relevant to your specific historical period: you’ll be trained in the use of traditional bibliographical and archival search facilities and how to use online databases and research methods. Students will also explore how technological advances in the field of digital humanities are impacting knowledge and understandings of the past.
From the old to the new – studying History in the modern era
You’ll also be able to choose from a range of modules which fit the changing landscape of society at large, giving you an opportunity to explore historical themes, topics and eras, all the while building on the skills developed in the research module.
Some of the modules for the MA Historical Studies include, for example, ‘Fact or Fiction? Literature and History,’ ‘Women in the Middle Ages,’ ‘Welsh History and Heritage,’ ‘Screening the Past: Film and History,’ ‘Introduction to Digital Humanities’ and ‘Celtic Arthur and the Mabinogion Tales.’
Heritage as Agent:
Dr Alexander Scott here talks about his research in urban regeneration in Liverpool.
Exploring the past, understanding the present
The modules you’ll take will depend on your programme of study.
Modern History
For the BA in Conflict and War, you’ll study modules covering a diverse range of topics, including, for example, power and inequality, Britain and the Great War, ideas concerning peace, warfare, and genocide.
As with all our programmes, the Historical Studies MA covers topics rooted in our lecturers’ research interests and expertise in history. You’ll usually begin this programme by studying the research module. This introduces you to key skills such as palaeography and dating systems, and how to use archives and manuscripts. You will also study modules on, for example, digital humanities, literature and history (exploring the relation between historical ‘fact’ and the fictions of the past), and film and history (exploring the history of cinema and the representation of history in film).
Saints, sinners and Cistercians
The MA in Medieval Studies also includes a research module, and you’ll take further modules including, for example, ‘The Cistercian World’ which questions the realities of the foundation of arguably the most successful monastic order
of the Middle Ages. Other modules explore topics such as women in the Middle Ages, the life of Thomas Becket and other saints, and medieval practices of hagiography and history-writing.
Hear about what one of our students has to say about the MA Medieval Studies…[insert video]
All our MA programmes include a dissertation project (of 15,000 words), supervised by an expert in the field.
For our MRes programmes, this dissertation is more lengthy, at 30,000 words, and you would take fewer modules.
Want to find out more?
For further information, why not contact us today and speak to our friendly staff.
Email: fhpadmissions@uwtsd.ac.uk