The Department of History, Classics and Archaeology offers the following Master Programs:
Program Name
Archaeological Practice (Economic and Social Research) (MSC)
Our MSc Archaeological Practice (Economic and Social Research) is designed specifically as training for the 1+3 funded PhD studentships in the ESRC Doctoral Training Programme. This specialist Master’s degree provides you with the advanced conceptual, theoretical and practical skills to undertake archaeological research, from prehistory to the Middle Ages, and over considerable geographical breadth. The inclusion of the compulsory module in Quantitative Social Research provides you with the statistical skills needed for doctoral research.
Archaeological Practice (MA)
Birkbeck’s MA Archaeological Practice offers hands-on postgraduate training that is grounded in the latest theories and techniques. The course meets the need for work-based professional training in archaeology and it will help you understand how contemporary archaeologists think, draw and write about archaeology. You can take advantage of the expertise of world-leading academics across the Department of History, Classics and Archaeology.
History (MRES)
The MRes History is a taught postgraduate research course which sits in between our MA provision and PhD research degrees. It equips you with the advanced historical research skills and conceptual framework needed to complete an individual, large-scale research project. The program centers on the research and writing of a 30,000-word dissertation which allows you to demonstrate the advanced historical research skills learned in the two core modules.
Gender, Sexuality and Society (MSC)
Birkbeck’s MSc Gender, Sexuality and Society is built around the interdisciplinary study of gender and sexuality, an exciting and growing area of study. This course is ideal if you are interested in how gender and sexuality are constructed, understood and represented in different historical, cultural, geographic and social contexts. We bridge the divide between the social sciences and the arts and humanities and, if you are interested in focusing on political and social issues, this course allows you to explore the diverse and changing nature of personal relationships, economics and the workforce, and development and legal studies.
Early Modern History (MA)
Our MA Early Modern History explores early modern European societies in the period from the Renaissance to the Reformation and on to the Enlightenment and the outbreak of the French Revolution. One of its most exciting and distinguishing features is that it considers developments in Britain, continental Europe (notably Italy, Germany and France) and the wider world in comparative perspective, which brings into question the idea of the distinctive nature of national histories.
Gender, Sexuality and Society (MA)
Birkbeck’s MA Gender, Sexuality and Culture is built around the interdisciplinary study of gender and sexuality, an exciting and growing area of study. This course is ideal if you are interested in how gender and sexuality are constructed, understood and represented in different historical, cultural, geographic and social contexts. We bridge the divide between the social sciences and the arts and humanities and, if you are interested in focusing on the humanities, this course allows you to explore aspects of gender and sexuality in literature, history, media and film, visual art, philosophy and cultural theory.
Historical Research (Economic and Social History) (MSC)
Our MSc Historical Research (Economic and Social History) is designed specifically as training for the 1+3 funded PhD studentships in the ESRC Doctoral Training Program. This specialist Master’s degree will give you the advanced conceptual, theoretical and practical skills you need to undertake historical research, particularly statistical analysis, at an advanced level, professionally or for doctoral research.
Classical Civilization (MA)
Our MA Classical Civilization is ideal for graduates with no prior knowledge or study of Greek and Latin who want to undertake advanced study of the classical world at postgraduate level. We offer you the chance to explore multiple aspects of ancient Greek and Roman archaeology, history and culture, from the archaic period through the classical era to late antiquity, including Greek and Latin literature and the archaeology and material culture of the ancient Mediterranean. You will learn in a culture of active research, with teaching and supervision from world-leading academics working at the cutting edge in their fields.
Classical Archaeology (MA)
Our MA Classical Archaeology allows you to undertake advanced study of the archaeology, history and cultural legacies of Ancient Greece and Rome. You will explore classical culture within the broader context of the ancient Mediterranean world and you will learn how to use material culture to better understand ancient societies. The course will also give you the key archaeological skills you need to retrieve and evaluate material evidence. You will learn in a culture of active research, with teaching and supervision from world-leading academics working at the cutting-edge in their fields.
Public Histories (MA)
Public history is concerned with the practice of history outside of academia in all its myriad forms and public historians come in all shapes and sizes: they are consultants, museum professionals, archivists, preservationists and curators, cultural resource managers, policy specialists and community activists, among many other roles. What they share is a commitment to making history relevant, beneficial, informative and instructive within the public sphere. The practice and significance of ‘public history’ has grown significantly in recent years, as historians become more aware of audiences beyond the academy, of the role of history in politics, of the need for their research and analysis to have an impact in the real world, and of the growing public and media interest in popular history and heritage.
Gender, Sexuality and Society (Postgraduate Diploma)
This course is ideal if you are interested in how gender and sexuality are constructed, understood and represented in different historical, cultural, geographic and social contexts. We bridge the divide between the social sciences and the arts and humanities and, if you are interested in focusing on political and social issues, this course allows you to explore the diverse and changing nature of personal relationships, economics and the workforce, and development and legal studies.
Classics (MA)
Our MA Classics is ideal for graduates with prior knowledge or study of Greek and Latin who want to undertake advanced study of the classical world at postgraduate level. We offer you the chance to explore multiple aspects of ancient Greek and Roman archaeology, history and culture, from the archaic period through the classical era to late antiquity, including Greek and Latin literature and the archaeology and material culture of the ancient Mediterranean.
Medical Humanities: Bodies, Cultures and Ideas (MA)
Scientific and technological advances are constantly pushing the bounds of medical possibility. But what role is played by the humanities? How is the practice of medicine represented in art, literature, film and other media, and how do those representations, in turn, determine how we understand and experience our own bodies and the realities of sickness and health?
Contemporary History and Politics (MA)
Our MA Contemporary History and Politics lays a strong emphasis on the critical analysis of the recent past, giving you specialist knowledge of particular regions and themes. You will study the complex interplay between national, international and global political, social and historical forces that have produced the contemporary world, and develop the approaches, techniques and skills of the professional historian.
Medieval History (MA)
The MA Medieval History at Birkbeck is led by world-class academics, bringing their cutting-edge research into the classroom through a variety of groundbreaking subjects. The MA is distinguished in the UK by its global reach, and local depth: our expertise ranges from the Indian Ocean in the early middle ages, the archaeology of the high medieval Silk Road, and late medieval Italy, Germany, the Low Countries, France and the UK.
History of Ideas (MA)
Our MA History of Ideas is concerned with excavating and understanding the lived reality of ideas. We consider how the study of the history of ideas can help us to interpret individual thinkers and their ideas and how these have shaped past societies.
Global History: Empires, States and Cultures (MA)
The course will introduce you to a wide range of themes in global history, including empires, nations, decolonization, migration and diaspora, economies and commerce, environmental history and the transnational history of ideas. You will be encouraged to think expansively about connections between different approaches to global history and to undertake specialized research into particular regions of the world, such as South and East Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and the USA.
European History (MA)
Our MA European History offers you the chance to study at a department with world-renowned expertise in European history, including British, German, French, Italian, Balkan, Russian and Eastern European history, as well as international, transnational, global and comparative historical perspectives.
About Birkbeck University of London
Birkbeck offers a unique combination of evening study and a matchless central London location, right in the geographic and academic center of the city, giving you exceptional opportunities.
At Birkbeck, you can build your own university experience, with as little or as much support as you need. Birkbeck offers a famously friendly, welcoming environment and we will be with you every step of the way, offering academic support and pastoral guidance, whenever you need it.
Birkbeck is different: our classes are held in the evening, so your days are free – to study, work, volunteer or just do your own thing.
We know the conventional university model isn’t right for everyone. Our evening teaching gives people who care about their future something special: the opportunity to study at a world-class, research-intensive university and progress their life goals at the same time.
With a global reputation for high-quality research and teaching, Birkbeck is part of the prestigious University of London, alongside University College London (UCL), King’s College London (KCL), the School of African and Oriental Studies (SOAS) and the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), among others.
At Birkbeck, you can choose as much or as little of the standard university experience as you like. You might work during the day, study in one of Bloomsbury’s world-famous libraries, undertake an internship via Birkbeck Talent, our in-house professional recruitment service – or do something completely different. Many people are drawn to Birkbeck because we support and enable diverse life choices.
The combination of evening study and a city-centre location offer you exceptional opportunities. Our main campus is next to other universities, surrounded by world-famous museums and galleries and in the heart of corporate and governmental London.
With the West End, Soho, Covent Garden and King’s Cross on our doorstep you can take full advantage of London’s world-famous shops, restaurants, bars, theatres and clubs before and after your evening classes. Everything that London has to offer is here for you to enjoy.
In addition, you will have access to the affordable sports facilities, societies, music venues, bars and cafes of Student Central, right next door to our main campus in Bloomsbury, central London.
