History of Medicine and Science
Why study the History of Medicine and Science at Birkbeck?
Birkbeck is a major centre for teaching and research in the history of science and medicine, and academic staff in the Department of History, Classics and Archaeology are internationally recognised as experts in this field.
Medicine, Science and Society
- The focus of teaching in these subjects is the MA/MSc Medicine, Science and Society: Historical and Theoretical Perspectives, which offers an overview of the history of science and medicine and considers key issues arising from medical and scientific practice from the 16th to the 21st centuries.
- Students on this degree study a compulsory core course 'Themes in the History of Modern Science and Medicine' and complete a 15,000 word dissertation on a subject of their choice; they also choose three from a wide range of optional subjects which are taught by scholars who are acknowledged experts in the field and who share their latest research findings with students as part of the course.
Undergraduate study
- At an undergraduate level, we offer course units and modules on the history of medicine and science; for example:
- The Age of Plague: Disease, Medicine and Society in Western Europe, 1348-1665
- The Age of Science: The Transformation of European Life, 1850-1939
- Between Heaven and Earth: Forms of Knowledge in the Ancient Mediterranean
Postgraduate research
- We offer supervision to those who wish to undertake doctoral research. View staff by area of research interest.
