You will take several courses across two semesters of teaching, including two compulsory courses and a range of optional courses. Core coursesThere are two required core courses for this programme: two history skills training courses (20 credits each), one in each semester, which are taken by all MSc students in History in the school.The compulsory courses for this programme are:Course name CreditsDeveloping Historical Research20Historical Methodology20Optional courses You will choose a further 80 credits from a wide selection of optional courses, subject to availability. Option Courses 2025-2026* * Please note that the list of courses below is provisional and subject to change. Further details and course information can be found on our Degree Programme Table.Select between 40 and 80 credits of the following Contemporary History courses.Course name Credits A Modern History of Demographic Angst and Population Control20An uncertain world: the West since the 1970s20Cinema and Society in England and Scotland20Ethnographies of the United States20Genocide in Contemporary History20Islamic Africa20Muslims in Europe20The Arab-Israeli Conflict: Nations in Collision20The Civil Rights Movement20The Cold War in Latin America20The 'Dark Side': Dark Tourism and Difficult Heritages20The Holocaust in History and Culture20The Politics of History in the Arabic-Speaking World (c.1750-Present)20War and Identities in Twentieth Century Britain and Ireland20Select between 0 and 40 credits of the following History coursesCourse nameCreditsA Modern History of Demographic Angst and Population Control20An uncertain world: the West since the 1970s20Beyond Feudalism: Economy and Society in the Global Middle Ages20Capitalism and Slavery20Cinema and Society in England and Scotland20Creeds, Councils and Controversies: Patristic and Medieval20Creeds, Councils and Controversies: Reformation and Modern20Data Science for the Past: Statistical Thinking & Visualization20Economic and Social Theory for Historical Analysis20Genocide in Contemporary History20Intellectual History of the American Revolution20Islamic Africa20Jewish Texts through the Ages20Making Histories: Theories and Practices in Writing History20Muslim Societies in Southeast Asia20Muslims in Europe20Nepotism and Venality: Corruption and Accountability in the Middle Ages20Queens, Heiresses and Lords: Women Making Medieval Scotland20Religion and the Enlightenment: The Birth of the Modern20Scottish Palaeography 12th-16th centuries20Scottish Reformation Culture, c. 1540-c. 164020Studying Women in Late Medieval England: Sources and Approaches20The Arab-Israeli Conflict: Nations in Collision20The Civil Rights Movement20The Cold War in Latin America20The 'Dark Side': Dark Tourism and Difficult Heritages20The Global Renaissance20The History and Culture of Iran20The Holocaust in History and Culture20The Medieval Indian Ocean: Climates, Communities and Commodities20The Nine Lives of the Medieval Church20The Politics of History in the Arabic-Speaking World (c.1750-Present)20Theology in the Long Reformation 1400-160020Unfolding Afghanistan in a Globalised Context20War and Identities in Twentieth Century Britain and Ireland20Select between 0 and 20 credits of the following online coursesCourse nameCreditsBefore Scotland: The Transformation of Northern Britain in the First Millennium CE (Online)20British Empires, 1601-1948 (online)20Charlemagne and the End of Antiquity (Online)20Islamic Africa (Online)20Malfeasance and Misbehaviour in Finance - Perceptions and Realities, c. 1500 to the Present (online)20Medicine and Society in Modern Britain (Online)20Seeking 'Japan' in a Westernizing World: Revolution, Romance, and Imperialism, 1868 - 1945 (online)20The Material Culture of Gender in Eighteenth-Century Britain (online)20The Rise of Modern U.S. Conservatism (online)20The School of Statecraft: History, Leadership, and Policymaking (online)20The Shadow of Versailles: Europe Between the Wars, 1918-1939 (online)20Option courses 2024/25Select between 40 and 80 credits of the following Contemporary History courses:An uncertain world: the West since the 1970sBlack Activism in Britain since 1800Cinema and Society in England and ScotlandCinema and Society in South Asia, 1947-PresentConservatism in the United States, c.1930-c.1990Contemporary ScotlandGender, Crime and Deviancy: Scotland and England c. 1860-1960Genocide in Contemporary HistoryGlobal Environmental HistoryThe Civil Rights MovementThe Cold War in Latin AmericaThe Politics of History in the Arabic-Speaking World (c.1750-Present)The United States and the Cold War Select between 0 and 40 credits of the following History courses:An uncertain world: the West since the 1970sBlack Activism in Britain since 1800Cinema and Society in England and ScotlandCinema and Society in South Asia, 1947-PresentConservatism in the United States, c.1930-c.1990Constantinople: The History of a Medieval Megalopolis from Constantine the Great to Suleyman the MagnificentContemporary ScotlandEconomic and Social Theory for Historical AnalysisGender, Crime and Deviancy: Scotland and England c. 1860-1960Genocide in Contemporary HistoryGlobal Environmental HistoryIntellectual History of the American RevolutionNepotism and Venality: Corruption and Accountability in the Middle AgesQueens, Heiresses and Lords: Women Making Medieval ScotlandRace, Religion, and Ridicule: The American South from Reconstruction to World War ISaints Cults, Pilgrimage and Piety in ScotlandScottish Reformation Culture, c. 1540-c. 1640The Civil Rights MovementThe Cold War in Latin AmericaThe European Enlightenments, 1670 - 1820The Future of the Past? Doing History in the Digital EraThe Global RenaissanceThe Medieval Indian Ocean: Climates, Communities and CommoditiesThe Politics of History in the Arabic-Speaking World (c.1750-Present)The United States and the Cold WarThinking with Things: History and Material Culture Studies Select between 0 and 20 credits of the following online courses:British Empires, 1601-1948 (online)Debating Marriage Between Antiquity and the Middle Ages (online)Gender, Empire, and Labour in the Nineteenth Century: Perspectives from the Wider World (online)Myth and the History of Scholarship in Early Modern Europe (online)Race, Religion, and Ridicule: The American South from Reconstruction to World War I (online)The Closest of Enemies: Cuban-American Relations 1898-2014 (online)The Contemporary Theory of War (online)The Holocaust (online)The Lords of the Isles: Clan Donald, c.1336 - c.1545 (online)Theories of Empire in the Early Modern Period (online) Option courses 2023/24Select between 40 and 80 credits of the following Contemporary History courses:An uncertain world: the West since the 1970sBlack Activism in Britain since 1800Conservatism in the United States, c.1930-c.1990Contemporary ScotlandGenocide in Contemporary HistoryThe Civil Rights MovementThe Cold War in Latin AmericaThe 'Dark Side': Dark Tourism and Difficult HeritagesThe Politics of History in the Arabic-Speaking World (c.1750-Present)The Sixties in the United StatesThe United States and the Cold War Select between 0 and 40 credits of the following courses:An uncertain world: the West since the 1970sBlack Activism in Britain since 1800Body and soul in early medieval thoughtConservatism in the United States, c.1930-c.1990Contemporary ScotlandDebating Marriage between Antiquity and the Middle AgesEconomic and Social Theory for Historical AnalysisGenocide in Contemporary HistoryNepotism and Venality: Corruption and Accountability in the Middle AgesQueens, Heiresses and Lords: Women Making Medieval ScotlandRace, Religion, and Ridicule: The American South from Reconstruction to World War IISaints Cults, Pilgrimage and Piety in ScotlandScottish Palaeography 12th-16th centuriesStudying Women in Late Medieval England: Sources and ApproachesThe Civil Rights MovementThe Cold War in Latin AmericaThe 'Dark Side': Dark Tourism and Difficult HeritagesThe Demise of the Slave-Holding American South, 1846-1877The European Enlightenments, 1670 - 1820The Material Culture of Gender in Eighteenth Century BritainThe Politics of History in the Arabic-Speaking World (c.1750-Present)The Sixties in the United StatesThe United States and the Cold War'The wisest fool in Christendom': the Ideas and Writings of James VI & IThinking with Things: History and Material Culture Studies Select between 0 and 20 credits of the following online courses:An Age of Great Dreams: The 1960s in the United States (online)An Imperial Game? Cricket, Culture & Society (online)Charles Martel in the Digital Age (Online)Consensus to Thatcherism: Government and Politics in Post-War Britain (online)Crisis and Conflict in Late-Victorian Britain (online)Empire or Continent?: British Foreign Policy in the Era of the Great War (online)Freedom and Coercion in the Making of the Atlantic World (online)Islamic Africa (Online)Medicine and Society in Modern Britain (Online)Seeking 'Japan' in a Westernizing World: Revolution, Romance, and Imperialism, 1868 - 1945 (online)The Crusades and the Euro-Mediterranean world of the Central Middle Ages (online)The School of Statecraft: History, Leadership, and Policymaking (online) Courses for those studying from September 2026 will be available from April 2026.Teaching and assessmentYou will take a variety of seminar-style courses in small groups.Most courses are assessed by means of an extended piece of written work, while some courses assess non-written skills. Further informationYou can see more details about the 2025/26 programme structure on the Degree Programme Table for the MSc in Contemporary History. We expect the 2026/27 programme structure to be available from May 2026. This article was published on 2024-08-01