Contemporary History and Politics (MA) - 2013/2014 entry

This programme aims to give you a deeper understanding of the recent past and the contemporary world. Using a combination of historical and theoretical approaches, it lays a strong emphasis on the historical analysis of the recent past, with the overall aim of giving you specialist knowledge of particular regions or themes.

Find out more about studying in the Department of History, Classics and Archaeology.

• Interdisciplinary programme providing a unique perspective on the modern world, offering you the opportunity to study a wide range of subjects in depth.
• Conveniently located for the British Museum, the British Library and a range of specialist research centres.

The introductory core module aims to equip you with the conceptual background necessary for historical study at postgraduate level. It includes 10 broad lectures and 10 weekly seminars dedicated to exploring specific topics and questions in contemporary history and politics.

A second core module covers research skills in preparation for the dissertation. The dissertation involves intensive research and may provide a springboard for more advanced study.

You will also choose three option modules from a list which may include:

• After the Ottoman Empire
• American Foreign Policy
• Arab–Israeli Question
• China and the West, 1600–2000 
• Colonisation and Decolonisation in France
• Disease and Society in Africa in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries
• Empires in Modern East Asia
• Ethnicity and Migration in Modern Europe 
• European Union: Integration, Politics and Policy
• Gandhi and Non-Violence in Historical Perspective
• Gender in Britain
• Globalisation in History
• Internationalism and International Organisations
• Jews and Antisemitism in Modern Europe: Histories and Approaches
• Nationalism and Ethnoreligious Conflict
• Politics and Islam
• Reconstruction of Europe 
• Religion in Society and Politics: Britain and Ireland, 1801–2001  
• The Holocaust
• The Nazi State
• The Soviet Experience
• War, Politics and Society
• Weimar Germany.

You will find the British Museum and the British Library just a few minutes' walk from Birkbeck. Among other nearby specialist centres of research is the Institute of Historical Research, which offers regular seminars on research areas covered by the department.

Birkbeck also has active history and archaeology societies.

If you are interested in further research, we offer a PhD/MPhil in History.

Graduates go on to careers in education, journalism, government, NGOs, research, and in museums and archives.

Option modules

Some option modules are taught specifically for this MA and some are taught as part of other MA courses. You must take three option modules offered either by the Department of History, Classics and Archaeology, or the Department of Politics.

Teaching staff

Course directors: Dr Fred Anscombe and Dr Nik Wachsmann

• Professor Joanna Bourke
• Professor Orlando Figes
• Professor Daniel Pick
• Professor Lucy Riall
• Professor Frank Trentmann
• Dr Hilary Sapire
• Professor Naoko Shimazu
• Professor Chandak Sengoopta
• Dr Jan Rueger  

• We recommend you apply as early as possible.
• Interviews from January.