Renaissance and Early Modern Studies
MLitt or Diploma in Renaissance and Early Modern Studies
Further information on the programme is available in the Postgraduate Prospectus.
The MLitt will appeal to any student with an interest in European history and culture between the later fifteenth and eighteenth centuries. While particular disciplinary requirements are carefully catered for, the programme as a whole will be especially appealing to (and rewarding for) those who wish to gain a more interdisciplinary approach to the period. It will also appeal to anyone looking for a thorough grounding in the research-skills needed to experience the past at first hand.
Students can take this programme as a diploma; a stand-alone one-year or two year part-time Master's degree (though immigration regulations prevent an overseas student from studying part-time); or as a first step towards a MPhil or PhD (subject to admission to a further degree programme either at Aberdeen or elsewhere). Hence it is likely to appeal to those who wish to create a solid foundation on which to build a PhD research proposal or teach in the humanities. It will also appeal to those interested in pursuing postgraduate study in order to further their interest in culture and life-long learning.
Entrance requirements
The standard entrance requirement is a good first degree in English, normally at a 2.i level or at a level deemed equivalent by the Head of School. Foreign-language students need to have a minimum of IELTS at 6.5 or TOEFL at 580 with TWE at 4.5.
Programme Structure
Students are required to undertake one compulsory interdisciplinary course, ‘Approaching the early modern’, which introduces different kinds of research and writing currently being practised by scholars of the early modern period. Students intending to write a dissertation will also have to take ‘Dissertation in early modern studies I: sources and source criticism’, which provides the specific advice and training required for their particular research project. Students must also achieve the requisite number of credits in Part One, Two and Three courses (see below). Part One and Two courses are skills-based and range from ‘Introductions’ to research in History, Language and Literature, and History of Art, to training in Latin, palaeography, or computing. Part Three (Elective) courses are thematic and cover a range of issues and disciplines - from cities and civil societies, to language and identity, to visual and emblematic culture, to early modern Catholicism (see below). MLitt students are required to write a dissertation of 15-20,000 words in English over the summer.
Course Menu
Training courses include:
- Approaching the Early Modern
- Introduction to Historical Research
- Research Methods in Language and Literature
- Research Skills for Art Historians
Skills-based courses provide training in:
- Language: Latin, Modern Languages, Linguistics
- Methodology: Palaeography, Sources and Methods for History of Medicine,
- Computing, Statistics, Dissertation Studies I: Sources and Source Criticism
Specific elective courses fall within several broad themes:
- Religious History
- Scotland and Ireland
- Tudor & Stuart Literature/Women’s Writing
- Nation-building and colonialism
- The Baltic and Northeastern Europe, esp. Poland-Lithuania
- French Literature and Culture
- Renaissance & Baroque Art and Music
You may download a detailed programme of courses for the current year.
Cost
Up-to-date details of the costs involved in Postgraduate study at the University of Aberdeen can be found at www.abdn.ac.uk/sras/postgraduate/howmuch.shtml
Grants and Scholarships for study at Aberdeen
The College of Arts and Social Sciences offers a limited number of awards to assist postgraduate students.
Details are available via the website www.abdn.ac.uk/cass
Donald Withrington Scholarship: £3000 per annum for a student working on post-reformation Scottish history: Details at www.abdn.ac.uk/history/postgrad/scholarship.shtml
CEMS bursary: www.abdn.ac.uk/cems
The Carnegie Trust: for Scottish students with a first class honours degree: www.carnegie.org.uk
The AHRC may provide fees and maintenance for UK students and fees only for European Union students, for details, see: www.ahrc.ac.uk
ORS: The Overseas Research Student scheme makes awards competitively to outstanding non-EU nationals undertaking a research degree, usually a PhD, and lowers the fees payable to British levels. Taking the MLitt in Early Modern Studies may enhance a student’s chance of obtaining ORS funding towards a PhD at the end of their MLitt course. See ORS website: www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/ORS
What if I do not write a dissertation?
Students who attend and satisfactorily complete all compulsory and optional courses, but who do not write a dissertation, will be awarded a Diploma in Early Modern Studies.
Taught Courses
Taught courses in Early Modern Studies are listed on the CEMS web site .
Profile - Kieran German
I am Kieran German and came to Aberdeen from Galloway in Scotland's South-West as an undergraduate seven years ago. I have never looked back! I am now commencing the second year of a Ph.D. degree researching Aberdeen's contribution to Jacobitism. My Ph.D. is funded by the Aberdeen Town & County History Society, a local group that forms part of the rich environment of historicism in Aberdeen.
Further information
If you need further information concerning the course contents, please contact the Programme Co-Ordinator:
Dr. Karin Friedrich
School of Divinity, History & Philosophy, King’s College, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, SCOTLAND AB24 3UB.
e-mail: k.friedrich@abdn.ac.uk Tel. No: (01224) 272451
If you need further information concerning application forms and procedures, funding opportunities and residence issues, please contact
Postgraduate Applications Secretary
School of Divinity History & Philosophy
50/52 College Bounds,
University of Aberdeen
Aberdeen, AB24 3DS
Telephone: +44 (0)1224 272380
Fax: +44 (0)1224 273750
E-mail: dhp-pgs@abdn.ac.uk