Contemporary History and Politics

This MA Contemporary History and Politics combines a rich and varied study of the recent past and politics allowing you to explore how the two disciplines intersect and integrate. We cover a wide geographic range of content so you can choose to focus on Europe, Britain, China, Africa, South Asia or the Middle East.

Why choose this course?

• You will be taught by internationally acclaimed scholars, so you have the opportunity to critically reflect with them on key historical events, methodologies and ideas. You will also develop a rigorous understanding of political theory, concepts and research methods, applying this knowledge to understand complex political questions.
• Drawing on the expertise of our historians and social scientists, you can enjoy the choice of an impressive range of option modules covering a wide sweep of political ideas and systems, historical periods and regions of the world.
• As our campus is based in the heart of academic London, you will have unrivalled access to archives and libraries, ideal for the study of contemporary history and politics.

What you will learn

You will gain a thorough grounding in research methodologies, approaches and techniques for both disciplines and learn how to apply them critically and creatively to your own research and writing. You will also develop a sophisticated appreciation of the complex interplay between national, international, political, social and historical forces that have produced the contemporary world.

You will focus on topics ranging from histories of decolonisation, international organisations, global feminism and Mediterranean cities to the politics of environment, and American foreign policy. These will equip you for further research or careers in education, or in the public, private or third sector.

How you will learn

This MA in Contemporary History and Politics is available to study in the evening, either full- or part-time, so you can fit your studies around other commitments. Classes consist of a combination of short lectures, seminars and small-group discussions. Some option modules may also include visits to museums, archives and heritage sites.

We foster vibrant intellectual debate on this course, which is enlivened by the diverse perspectives and experience of our students, some of whom already work in the public or education sector. In your final year, you will apply the skills and knowledge you have developed in devising your own research project, supervised by one of our specialists.

This course is part of our new Birkbeck Flexible Master’s UK, which gives you the choice of how you want to study - on campus, online or via flexible learning, which combines both.

• Birkbeck’s School of Historical Studies is one of the few schools in the UK to include historians working on every period from prehistoric humans, Ancient Greece and Rome, to medieval, early modern and modern societies. Our expertise encompasses much of the globe, with specialists in, for example, medieval Armenia, early modern England, colonial India, modern China and Nazi Germany.
• Birkbeck was ranked in the top eight universities in the UK for its History, Classics and Archaeology research in the most recent Research Excellence Framework.
• Our academic staff in the School of Social Sciences are international authorities, publishing and delivering stimulating teaching on a wide range of political topics including public policy, foreign policy, international security and terrorism, gender and the welfare state, British politics, and the politics of Asia and the Middle East. Birkbeck was also host to the Jean Monnet Chair in Parliamentary Democracy and European Integration (2020-23).
• All MA students are eligible to apply for our prestigious Eric Hobsbawm Postgraduate Scholarships, subject to availability. If you are taking the course part time, you may be eligible for a Bonnart Trust Masters Studentship which will cover the cost of your tuition fees.
• We are at the heart of academic London with access to unparalleled research resources. Situated very close by are: the Institute of Classical Studies, with its library, training facilities and seminars; the British Museum, with its extensive collection of classical antiquities; and the British Library, the largest national library in the world.