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 2024-2025* * Please note that the list of courses below is provisional and subject to change. Select between 40 and 80 credits of the following Contemporary History courses.Course name Credits An uncertain world: the West since the 1970s20Black Activism in Britain since 180020Cinema and Society in England and Scotland20Cinema and Society in South Asia, 1947-Present20Conservatism in the United States, c.1930-c.199020Contemporary Scotland20Gender, Crime and Deviancy: Scotland and England c. 1860-196020Genocide in Contemporary History20Global Environmental History20The Civil Rights Movement20The Cold War in Latin America20The Politics of History in the Arabic-Speaking World (c.1750-Present)20The United States and the Cold War20Select between 0 and 40 credits of the following History coursesCourse nameCreditsAn uncertain world: the West since the 1970s20Black Activism in Britain since 180020Cinema and Society in England and Scotland20Cinema and Society in South Asia, 1947-Present20Conservatism in the United States, c.1930-c.199020Constantinople: The History of a Medieval Megalopolis from Constantine the Great to Suleyman the Magnificent20Contemporary Scotland20Economic and Social Theory for Historical Analysis20Gender, Crime and Deviancy: Scotland and England c. 1860-196020Genocide in Contemporary History20Global Environmental History20Intellectual History of the American Revolution20Making Histories: Theories and Practices in Writing History20Nepotism and Venality: Corruption and Accountability in the Middle Ages20Queens, Heiresses and Lords: Women Making Medieval Scotland20Race, Religion, and Ridicule: The American South from Reconstruction to World War I20Saints Cults, Pilgrimage and Piety in Scotland20Scottish Reformation Culture, c. 1540-c. 164020The Civil Rights Movement20The Cold War in Latin America20The European Enlightenments, 1670 - 182020The Future of the Past? Doing History in the Digital Era20The Global Renaissance20The Medieval Indian Ocean: Climates, Communities and Commodities20The Politics of History in the Arabic-Speaking World (c.1750-Present)20The United States and the Cold War20Thinking with Things: History and Material Culture Studies20Select between 0 and 20 credits of the following online coursesCourse nameCreditsBritish Empires, 1601-1948 (online)20Debating Marriage Between Antiquity and the Middle Ages (online)20Gender, Empire, and Labour in the Nineteenth Century: Perspectives from the Wider World (online)20Myth and the History of Scholarship in Early Modern Europe (online)20Race, Religion, and Ridicule: The American South from Reconstruction to World War I (online)20The Closest of Enemies: Cuban-American Relations 1898-2014 (online)20The Contemporary Theory of War (online)20The Holocaust (online)20The Lords of the Isles: Clan Donald, c.1336 - c.1545 (online)20Theories of Empire in the Early Modern Period (online)20Option 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 WarSelect between 0 and 40 credits of the following History 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 StudiesSelect 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)Option courses 2022/23Additional compulsory course - Introduction to Contemporary HistorySelect between 0 and 60 credits of the following courses:African Print Cultures: Newspapers and their Publics in Modern African History, c. 1880 to 1975Cinema and Society in BritainConflict and Peace in AfricaConflict, Security, and DevelopmentGender, Crime and Deviancy: Britain c. 1860-1960Islamic AfricaRethinking Africa: Race, Space, and PowerThe Civil Rights MovementThe 'Dark Side': Dark Tourism and Difficult HeritagesThe Politics of Historiography in Post-Colonial South AsiaThe United States and the Vietnam War: Origins and RepercussionsThinking the 20th Century - Hannah Arendt and the breakdown of European CivilizationWar and Identities in Twentieth Century Britain and IrelandSelect between 0 and 20 credits of the following online courses:British Politics and Policy in the Second World War (online)Genocide in Contemporary History (online)Modern Latin American History (online)Courses for those studying from September 2025 will be available from April 2025.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 2024/25 programme structure on the Degree Programme Table for the MSc in Contemporary History. We expect the 2025/26 programme structure to be available from May 2025. This article was published on 2024-08-01