You will take several courses across two semesters of teaching, including two compulsory courses and a range of optional courses. Core coursesYou will take two compulsory courses, which will provide a general introduction to graduate study in history and give you the opportunity to develop your research skills. 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. You will be able to choose from two sets of optional courses, subject to availability, and must choose at least one course from each set. One set will allow you to study a language relevant to the degree (Latin, Arabic or Persian). The other set contains courses that reflect the research specialism of our medieval historians. There is also an opportunity to select up to two courses from all available postgraduate history courses Option Courses for those students who started in September 2024 were:* * Please note that the list of courses below is provisional and subject to change. Medieval History MSc - Skills coursesSelect between 20 and 60 credits of the following skills coursesCourse name Credits Elementary Latin (PG) 120Elementary Latin (PG) 220Intermediate Latin (PG) 120Intermediate Latin (PG) 220Arabic 1a for PG Credit20Arabic 1b for PG Credit20Arabic 2a for PG Credit20Arabic 2b for PG Credit20Persian 1A for PG Credit20Persian 1B for PG Credit20Persian 2A for PG Credit20Persian 2B for PG Credit20Turkish 1A for PG Credit20Turkish 1B for PG Credit20Turkish 2A for PG Credit20Turkish 2B for PG Credit20Medieval History MSc - option coursesSelect between 20 and 60 credits of the following Medieval History coursesCourse nameCreditsConstantinople: The History of a Medieval Megalopolis from Constantine the Great to Suleyman the Magnificent20Creeds, Councils and Controversies: Patristic and Medieval20Mariners, Monks and Mobility: the archaeology of the early medieval Atlantic Archipelago20Nepotism and Venality: Corruption and Accountability in the Middle Ages20Queens, Heiresses and Lords: Women Making Medieval Scotland20Saints Cults, Pilgrimage and Piety in Scotland20The Future of the Past? Doing History in the Digital Era20The Global Renaissance20The Medieval Indian Ocean: Climates, Communities and Commodities20Viking Studies (Level 11)20Students could choose up to two courses from the courses on offer to all students studying postgraduate history.Course 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 Studies20British 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) *20*A maximum of one online course can be chosen.Option courses 2023/24Select between 20 and 60 credits of the following skills courses:Elementary Latin (PG) 1Elementary Latin (PG) 2Intermediate Latin (PG) 1Intermediate Latin (PG) 2Select between 20 and 60 credits of the following medieval history courses:Body and soul in early medieval thoughtDebating Marriage between Antiquity and the Middle AgesNepotism and Venality: Corruption and Accountability in the Middle AgesQueens, Heiresses and Lords: Women Making Medieval ScotlandSaints Cults, Pilgrimage and Piety in ScotlandScottish Palaeography 12th-16th centuriesStudying Women in Late Medieval England: Sources and ApproachesSelect 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 2022/23Compulsory course - The Sources of Medieval HistorySelect between 40 and 60 credits of the following skills courses:Historical MethodologyHistorical Research: Skills and SourcesElementary Latin (PG) 1Elementary Latin (PG) 2Intermediate Latin (PG) 1Intermediate Latin (PG) 2Select between 40 and 60 credits of the following medieval history courses:Creeds, Councils and Controversies: Patristic and MedievalDebating Marriage between Antiquity and the Middle AgesMariners, Monks and Mobility: the archaeology of the early medieval Atlantic ArchipelagoMedieval Men and MasculinitiesSaints Cults, Pilgrimage and Piety in ScotlandStudying Women in Late Medieval England: Sources and ApproachesThe Nine Lives of the Medieval ChurchViking Studies (Level 11)Select between 0 and 20 credits of the following online medieval history courses:The Lords of the Isles: Clan Donald, c. 1336 - c.1545 (online)The Trial of the TemplarsCourses for those studying from September 2025 will be available from April 2025.Teaching and assessment HTML You 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 may also 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 Medieval History. We expect the 2025/26 programme structure to be available from May 2025. This article was published on 2024-08-01