Modern European History University of Cambridge

Overview

The Modern European History course from the University of Cambridge offers an introduction to key themes and selected topics in modern European history, as well as intensive methodological and historiographical training in the social, cultural, political and economic history of modern Europe. Taught options vary from year to year but have recently included courses on 19th-century France, Imperial Russia, the Eastern Bloc, the Cold War, Fascism, and the politics and culture of the 18th century.

It is expected that this will be the normal means by which those without an appropriate master’s degree from elsewhere will prepare for the PhD degree in modern European history at Cambridge.Cambridge graduates in modern European history go on to enjoy successful careers in many fields within and beyond academic life, including law, journalism, and the administration of NGOs and international organisations.

Students on the MPhil in Modern European History will be provided with an in-depth study of some of the key areas of research in modern European history and all students will have a supervisor who will guide them through the requirements of the course and, most crucially, the dissertation.In this manner, all students are provided with the historiographical knowledge and analytical skills necessary to understand and evaluate existing research and to pursue research in their own fields of intellectual interest. Through individual supervisions and group classes students are introduced to the more specialised and intensive nature of research required at a postgraduate level.

By the end of the programme, students will have acquired:

• a deeper understanding of their chosen area of modern European history and the critical debates within it;
• a conceptual and technical understanding that enables the evaluation of current research and methodologies;
• the technical skills necessary to pursue primary research in their chosen area; and
• the ability to situate their own research within current and past methodological and interpretative developments in the field.