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Why Lancaster?
Study in a department with expertise that spans a wide range of subjects including medieval, medical and military history
Take a work placement at one of our prestigious heritage partners
Develop your skills at a foremost UK university that is one of the world leaders in corpus linguistics, spatial humanities, and military and international history
Broaden your career opportunities with our digital pathway in historical research and applied technologies
Collaborate with other Master’s students in our Digital Scholarship Lab, a state-of-the-art research space with specialist software and equipment
From the history of dictatorships and their impact on society, to how indigenous medicines were transported to Europe from the New World, this flexible degree will allow you to delve deep into the areas of history that interest you most.
A bespoke programme
At Lancaster University, you’ll be able to tailor your study by choosing from a wide range of historical subjects. This will allow you to specialise in the topics most important to you and to develop a unique combination of expertise.
With access to our world-leading researchers, you’ll gain insights from experts in the field in diverse areas ranging from Roman religion and medieval politics to digital humanities and histories of healthcare.
Perhaps you’re interested in researching the military history of North America? Or maybe how the bodies of women were affected under certain regimes? You’ll find the support needed to explore these and other topics from a teaching team active in research projects all over the world.
If you wish you can pursue a particular historical period or research specialism through one of two pathways (described in detail further down the page):
Medieval and Early Modern
Heritage
Alternatively, a bespoke History MA allows you to tailor your degree with a very wide range of modules.
A digital dynamic As you study our MA History, you’ll have the chance to untangle how digital applications can be used to analyse and manage your historical research more effectively. From visualisation and data design, to geographic information retrieval - the technological skills and knowledge you gain from this course will prepare you for rewarding roles in a wide range of sectors.
Careers This MA equips you with a valuable set of transferable skills in research and analysis. Whether you choose to take your academic career further by pursuing new research projects or to apply your expertise in the private and public sectors, you'll be prepared to succeed.
Graduates of this course go on to build rewarding careers in areas such as:
Cultural heritage management
Galleries, museums and archives
Research analysis
Project management
Geographic information systems
Digital librarianship
This Master's degree also puts graduates in a strong position to continue their studies at doctorate level and has helped many students progress to funded PhDs. Postgraduate study is a great opportunity to further your research and deepen your history expertise in a specific area.
Studying a Master's in History at Lancaster University
Discover the key features of studying a Master's in History at Lancaster University. Lancaster is the perfect place to study history; with the city itself boasting an intriguing past. Hear from staff and students, and see the fantastic facilities and equipment, and superb campus setting.
Advance your career with a Master's at Lancaster University - Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences
Hear from alumni in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at Lancaster University. What did they study and how did their course propel their career?
Entry requirements
Academic Requirements
2:1 Hons degree (UK or equivalent) in History, a related combined major or a degree in other related humanities disciplines.
We may also consider non-standard applicants, please contact us for information.
If you have studied outside of the UK, we would advise you to check our list of international qualifications before submitting your application.
English Language Requirements
We may ask you to provide a recognised English language qualification, dependent upon your nationality and where you have studied previously.
We normally require an IELTS (Academic) Test with an overall score of at least 6.5, and a minimum of 5.5 in each element of the test. We also consider other English language qualifications.
Delivered in partnership with INTO Lancaster University, our one-year tailored pre-master’s pathways are designed to improve your subject knowledge and English language skills to the level required by a range of Lancaster University master’s degrees. Visit the INTO Lancaster University website for more details and a list of eligible degrees you can progress onto.
Course structure
You will study a range of modules as part of your course, some examples of which are listed below.
Information contained on the website with respect to modules is correct at the time of publication, but changes may be necessary, for example as a result of student feedback, Professional Statutory and Regulatory Bodies' (PSRB) requirements, staff changes, and new research. Not all optional modules are available every year.
Core
core modules accordion
This 18,000-20,000 word dissertation provides the opportunity for you to demonstrate the knowledge, understanding, research skills and techniques of presentation developed in the taught modules of the MA degree scheme. The specialist field of enquiry is chosen by the student in consultation with a supervisor and other members of the department before arrival and in the first half of Michaelmas Term. Individual one-to-one supervisions will be provided throughout the year to support taught modules, define and formulate a research hypothesis, identify relevant qualitative and quantitative sources, offer guidance on presentation and comment on the structure of the dissertation.
Alongside having a passion for the past, researching and writing a quality piece of history requires close engagement with the historian’s craft. What does good history look like? How can we be sure we are at the cutting edge of our discipline? What does it meant to write well?
In this core module, you will be guided through the process of conducting advanced historical research, reflecting upon the skills that you have and how they can be applied to extended pieces of research. Spanning both Michaelmas and Lent term, this module will take you from an introduction to postgraduate study through to laying the foundations for your dissertation, developing your understanding of the discipline of history, and your identity as an historian. The module culminates with a conference, where you will present your work to peers and members of academic staff, receiving feedback to develop your own and the opportunity to help your peers develop their projects.
This module will be assessed by a portfolio of work developed throughout the course, including a feasibility study.
Optional
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Two of the most important developments of twentieth century international history were the decline of Britain's global influence and the simultaneous rise of the United States as a world power. Somewhat remarkably, these processes occurred without a major conflict arising between the US and Britain. Instead, relations between the two countries in the decades following the Second World War became increasingly intertwined, resulting in what is commonly referred to as the Anglo-American 'special relationship'. This module explores relations between Britain and the United States from World War II through to the War on Terror, and the role the US-UK relationship has played in international politics during this era. Has there in fact been a 'special relationship' between the US and Britain during this period? If so, what are the motivating factors for the two states in pursuing this relationship and the broader forces binding them together? You will address these questions and others exploring how US-UK relations have developed in the realms of diplomacy, defence, economics and intelligence.
This module offers you the opportunity to think about the objects and spaces through which history is presented to the public. You will have the chance to engage with scholarly perspectives about heritage practises and to gain insight into the workings of public institutions.
Its aim is to give you the opportunity to engage with scholarly criticisms of heritage practices and to gain insight into the workings of public institutions. Questions we will explore include: What are the processes through which history becomes heritage? By what means are objects gathered together and arranged in order to present, and preserve, ‘the past’? How are the meanings of these objects controlled and communicated to the public? In thinking through these, and other similar, questions, you will have the chance to consider the means through which ‘the historical temper’ is cultivated in both institutions and public spaces and, in particular, how and why the presentation of the past has changed over time. The module combines seminars with site visits, tours and sessions with heritage professionals.
Despite huge advances in digital technologies, many of the approaches historian use remain rooted in the analogue age. Perhaps the only major change that computers have led to among historians to date is the use of major digitised archives, such as Early English Books Online, Old Bailey Online or the British Newspaper Archive. Even with these, many historians simply use these to search and browse, never making use of their full potential or able to critique the digitised sources effectively.
In the first part of this course you will look at how paper sources are digitised and encoded to create digital historical resources. This will enable you to understand how digital sources are created, and encourage you to think critically about their benefits and limitations. The second part of the course explores how digitised historical sources can be explored and analysed in more sophisticated ways. Corpus linguistics enables us identify and summarise themes of interest from millions or billions of words of text in ways that go far beyond simply keyword searches. It also helps the historian decide which parts of a large body of text require further research and which do not.
You do not need any prior knowledge of computing beyond the basics all history students will have. We will draw on examples from a wide range of topics from the early modern to modern British. You will also have the opportunity to use the techniques and approaches learnt with their own sources.
This module will offer an introduction to the range of theories and methods most commonly used today in Digital Humanities. As primary and secondary sources of information become increasingly available, Humanities scholars have the capacity to study these in ways not traditionally envisioned before, being now able to answer questions such as: What patterns emerge in the discourses from 1,000 volumes of parliamentary data? What changes can we identify at a landscape scale during the formation of the Aztec Empire? Can the Romantic Novel be visualised? Covering the most cutting-edge research at the intersection of computing and the humanities, the module will offer an overarching view of the latest research in the fields of history, archaeology, literature, sociology, linguistics, politics, and religious studies.
Each session will introduce a topic through specific case studies covering a variety of theories from Data Justice, and Digital Inclusion, to Decolonial technology; as well as techniques and methods ranging from Geographic Information Retrieval, Text Mining, Network Analysis, Data Mining, Computational Linguistics, Visualisation and Data Design, to Human Computer Interaction.
The student will learn a wide variety of approaches and will acquire a broad overview of the field as is practiced today.
This module explores the intricate relationship between war and the environment in East Asia, spanning from the ancient period to the modern era. Throughout history, conflicts in East Asia have led to widespread environmental degradation, ranging from deforestation and habitat destruction to pollution and climate change. From the strategic military campaigns of ancient empires to the devastating wars of the 20th century, each conflict has left its mark on the natural world, altering ecosystems and landscapes in profound ways.
From the ancient battles of dynastic China to the modern conflicts of Korea, Japan, and Vietnam, this course will trace the evolution of war and its environmental impact across East Asia. More specifically, some of the major themes include climate, forests, landscape, animals, diseases and atomic bombs, while the wars include Mongol invasions, Ming-Qing transition, the East Asian War of 1592–1598, Japanese colonization, the Korean War, and the Cold War.
By exploring the historical context, environmental consequences, and contemporary implications of warfare in the region, you will develop critical insights into the intersection of military history, environmental studies, and East Asian geopolitics.
Ultimately, this module seeks to illuminate the often-overlooked environmental dimensions of East Asian warfare and foster a nuanced understanding of its enduring legacy. More importantly, the methodology you will learn in this module can be applied to other war studies you may be interested in.
This bespoke module is shaped by you and your allocated module supervisor. It enables you to develop a particular research interest if this cannot be accommodated within the dissertation or in other taught modules; alternatively, it can be used to undertake a guided reading programme under supervision. You should only consider this option if you have a clear idea of a particular project you wish to propose that is distinct from your dissertation project. You will be asked to consult the appropriate Director of Graduate Studies to discuss your choice, and the form of assessment will vary depending on the project, it will however be of equivalent weighting to 5,000 words of text.
This is a special intensive course for students who have little or no previous knowledge of Latin. The course concentrates on the basics of Latin Grammar and vocabulary as used in the Medieval period, though it will also be very useful for students of the Roman and Renaissance periods. By the end of the course students should be able to read sources such as title deeds, court rolls, government records, wills, and inscriptions. Help will be given to individual students on Latin texts relevant to their dissertation or thesis.
Preliminary/Core Reading:
J. Thorley, Documents in Medieval Latin.
E. A. Gooder, Latin for Local Historians.
R. Latham (ed.), Medieval Latin Word-List.
Any standard Latin-English dictionary.
Assessment: Two course work exercises (40%) and a final examination (60%).
Designed for students taking the medieval pathway, this module examines both manuscript studies and the decoding of medieval sources in their original and printed forms. Using relatively straightforward examples, the palaeographical strand provides an introduction to the principles involved in deciphering scripts while the ‘genre-focused’ strand considers a range of types of source—some that you will almost inevitably encounter in your research (e.g. charters, letters and chronicles) and some that you might not have considered, but which offer much for the medieval historian (e.g. poems and miscellanies). Indeed, one of the main aims of the course is to alert students to the significance of book history and manuscript studies—to the importance of attending to manuscript evidence and what it can tell us about the production, transmission and reception of a medieval source.
The course is taught by means of a weekly two-hour seminar, which will include both substantive discussion of a topic or genre of source and a workshop element, for which some preparation, partly in the form of a weekly ‘palaeography exercise’, is expected.
This module offers you the chance to benefit from the Department’s established and expanding network of heritage partners by completing a professional placement. Our previous placement partners have included a number of notable organisations, such as the Duchy of Lancaster, Hoghton Tower, the Museum of Lancashire, the National Trust, the North Craven Trust, and the Senhouse Museum Trust.
The placement is centred on a specific project, which is agreed between the Department and the partner organisation, and completed under the supervision of that organisation. The work undertaken as part of the placement project can take a variety of different forms, ranging from cataloguing objects to assisting in arrangement for exhibitions to undertaking research work on a corpus of visual, audio or textual sources. You will need to take part in an application process with each heritage partner deciding on the best match of student for their placement.
The assessment for the module comprises a portfolio of work relating the placement and a reflective essay.
This module will lead you on a comprehensive exploration of a critical period in American history. It begins with an ending: the Cold War's close and the challenges and opportunities this seminal event posed for the United States.
As you traverse the timeline, you will have the chance to analyse the economic highs and lows (from the 1990s prosperity to the 2008 crisis) and navigate the political landscape punctuated by Clinton's impeachment, the controversial 2000 election, the emergence of Barack Obama, before ending with the election of Donald Trump in 2016.
We will focus closely on foreign policy in post-Cold War years, most notably 9/11, the Iraq War, and the broader War on Terror. The course will also trace the evolving socio-cultural battles on issues such as gay rights, racial conflict and the rise of Black Lives Matter, third-wave feminism, and gun control.
All the while, the module will consider broader forces shaping these events, such as the shifting media environment – including the rise of internet and social media – and the growth of globalisation. Students will be exposed to a wide variety of source material, running the gamut from standard historical texts to social media posts.
Place names, latitude/longitude coordinates, qualitative relations (“next to”), spatial forms (lake, county, road): these are all different examples of spatial information that humanities researchers regularly encounter in sources from the past.
In this module, you will learn to use such information to think spatially with a critical mindset. Doing so will allow you to answer “where?” questions that can shed light on intellectual, cultural, political, social, economic, environmental, literary histories, the history of science and technology, as well as other historical humanities fields (archaeology, historical geography, classics, media studies).
The module provides a grounding in the foundational and current literature in the spatial humanities and opportunities to practice working with digital methods for spatial data creation, exploration, and analysis, including traditional Geographic Information System software (ArcGIS), pythonic geographic data science, network analysis, and browser-based tools for data annotation/visualisation/mapping.
Hands-on tutorials will focus on case studies from eighteenth-century and nineteenth-century French and British history and will highlight how Enlightenment and Victorian ideas and technologies are at the root of many basic spatial concepts and tools still in use today.
You will develop your own spatial analysis of a set of historical sources chosen from your previous research experience.
Here is what our students have said about the module
“The sessions... feel more inclusive and collaborative than I had imagined. It feels like a shared space, with the openness to express ideas or queries.”
"The large amount of theory in the class is really surprising - in a good way. Initially I thought this class would be mostly practical-based and workshop style, but the inclusion of readings has made it far more engaging.”
The diplomatic relationship between Britain and France in the first half of the twentieth century, often termed the Entente Cordiale, has been interpreted in a variety of ways, most of which do not portray a flattering view of either country as international actors or indicates that their relationship was particularly cordial, i.e. friendly.
Indeed, since the Norman Conquest in the eleventh century, the two countries had spent most of the time at war with each other. So what was special about the twentieth century? The British and French governments were forced increasingly to work together to combat the tensions in Europe that led to the outbreak of the First and Second World Wars.
This module explores the love-hate relationship between the two countries by addressing some of the major historiographical debates in twentieth century international history.
Themes explored will include, imperialism, political reform and its impact on foreign policy formation, democratisation, the rise of nationalism, peace-making at the end of the two world wars; the Ruhr Crisis, the Treaty of Locarno, the League of Nations; the Kellogg Briand Pact; the Briand Plan; the Geneva disarmament conferences of the late 1920s/early 1930s; Eastern Europe and Russia; different strategies to deal with the rise of Hitler; the fall of France; the liberation of France; the outbreak of the Cold War.’
This module is designed to provide PGT level students interested in any aspect of historical research which appertains to the period c.1450 to c.1750 with the essential 'tool-kit' of skills, particularisms and themes which will underpin their study. Its syllabus will be varied across each student year-cohort, given the availability of teaching staff and their areas of expertise, but perhaps, more importantly, will be tailored to support and foster the research interests of individual students within any year. The notion of periodisation remains controversial within itself, and so part of the module will involve identifying what it is that distinguishes 1450-1750 from the eras earlier and later in time, to question the terminology of 'early-modern' and 'pre-modern' (and thus 'modern' and 'modernism'), and the Renaissance. We will also discuss the themes and issues which characterise early-modern history and through these, explore the types of evidence produced and how historians can access, use, interpret and analyse them.
Indicative topics may include:
Mobility and settlement;Adventurism, exploration and global links;Demographic change;The crisis of faith;The Scientific Revolution;The climatic crisis and its implications;Gender and power;Material Culture;Personal testimony, archives and manuscript;The dissemination of print.
This module examines, reflects on, and critiques the historical contexts of a range of colonial legacies and institutionalized inequalities in contemporary British society. These will be examined through a critical engagement with the ‘Atlantic’ in its myriad forms: as geographic space and living organism, as periodization, as diasporic identity, as the birth of modernity, as the site of millions of deaths of captive Africans, and as Anthropocene.
It then introduces the ‘Global South’ in geographic, economic, epistemological, and theoretical terms and engages you to consider what Global South paradigms and perspectives can expose when applied to critical examination of contemporary colonial legacies and how they can subvert the power of the (North) Atlantic.
The module invites you to ‘apply’ the theories, concepts, and perspectives you have engaged with in the course to contemporary social issues with a vision to create a fairer and equal society for the future.
What are the legacies of colonialism and empire that continue to pervade British society? In what ways does ‘the Atlantic’ perpetuate dominant readings of the past and simultaneously obscure others? How are Eurocentric and Global North epistemologies and framings of ‘the past’ shaping the narratives of our present? How can we incorporate Global South paradigms and perspectives to create change?
You will address these questions and others exploring how ‘the Atlantic’ has powerfully shaped contemporary colonial legacies, and also how it can be the site for disruption, subversion, and social change when considered from Global South perspectives.
Indicative topics will typically include:
Colonial Legacies I: Beyond Race, Class, and Gender
Colonial Legacies II: The Role of the Atlantic and the Birth of the Global South
The Atlantic as Space and Place
The Atlantic as Time and Method
Diasporic Atlantics I: The Black Atlantic
Diasporic Atlantics II: The Brown Atlantic
Geographic Atlantics I: South/North Atlantic
Geographic Atlantics II: Waste, Modernity, and the Anthropocene
Reconfiguring a Global South Atlantic
This module will examine the Eastern Front during the Second World War. The brutality of the fighting in the Soviet Union was unparalleled, and more men and women fought and died there than on all other fronts of the war combined.
The module does not merely offer military history; rather it is a social history of the Eastern Front. Some key campaigns are discussed, such as Operation Barbarossa, the Siege of Leningrad, the Battle of Stalingrad, and Operation Bagration, but this module is primarily concerned with the sociological aspects of the conflict, such as the of effects of brutalising law, coercion and collaboration, genocide, and forced migration.
The war on the Eastern Front is approached from different angles, such as gender, ethnicity, and identity, and sustained attention is paid to different aspects of genocide.
In this module you will explore a crucial period in the history of warfare, from the twelfth to the fifteenth century, when episodic conflicts gave way to near continual war. In Europe, ‘chivalric’ ideals were first established, in order to limit noble bloodshed and protect non-combatants, and then overturned, as the killing of nobles on the battlefield and the systematic terrorizing of civilian populations became standard strategy. Western crusaders conquered swathes of the Holy Land and led expeditions to North Africa, before the revanche of the Abode of Islam under the Ayyubids and then the Mamluks, while the Mongol Empire emerged to confront the powers of Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. Military technology was transformed, with the invention of the trebuchet and then the gun, and new and potent battle tactics were developed, most famously the arrowstorm of the Hundred Years War. In this module, you will encounter a range of topics, perspectives and approaches to warfare across the medieval world, and be able to develop skills in identifying and assessing both new interpretations and primary sources, such as participant accounts, government records, and battlefield archaeology.
There may be extra costs related to your course for items such as books, stationery, printing, photocopying, binding and general subsistence on trips and visits. Following graduation, you may need to pay a subscription to a professional body for some chosen careers.
Specific additional costs for studying at Lancaster are listed below.
College fees
Lancaster is proud to be one of only a handful of UK universities to have a collegiate system. Every student belongs to a college, and all students pay a small College Membership Fee which supports the running of college events and activities. Students on some distance-learning courses are not liable to pay a college fee.
For students starting in 2025, the fee is £40 for undergraduates and research students and £15 for students on one-year courses.
Computer equipment and internet access
To support your studies, you will also require access to a computer, along with reliable internet access. You will be able to access a range of software and services from a Windows, Mac, Chromebook or Linux device. For certain degree programmes, you may need a specific device, or we may provide you with a laptop and appropriate software - details of which will be available on relevant programme pages. A dedicated IT support helpdesk is available in the event of any problems.
The University provides limited financial support to assist students who do not have the required IT equipment or broadband support in place.
For most taught postgraduate applications there is a non-refundable application fee of £40. We cannot consider applications until this fee has been paid, as advised on our online secure payment system. There is no application fee for postgraduate research applications.
For some of our courses you will need to pay a deposit to accept your offer and secure your place. We will let you know in your offer letter if a deposit is required and you will be given a deadline date when this is due to be paid.
The fee that you pay will depend on whether you are considered to be a home or international student. Read more about how we assign your fee status.
If you are studying on a programme of more than one year’s duration, tuition fees are reviewed annually and are not fixed for the duration of your studies. Read more about fees in subsequent years.
Scholarships and bursaries
You may be eligible for the following funding opportunities, depending on your fee status and course. You will be automatically considered for our main scholarships and bursaries when you apply, so there's nothing extra that you need to do.
Unfortunately no scholarships and bursaries match your selection, but there are more listed on scholarships and bursaries page.
Estella Shaw, Communications and Visitor Engagement Assistant, The Foundling Museum
I completed my History BA (with First Class honours) in 2020 and my History MA (Heritage Pathway) in 2021. I loved studying at Lancaster, and my MA year was my favourite by far! Leaving university with a qualification associated with heritage really helped me get my foot in the door when I started to search for jobs in the extremely competitive museum sector. After I graduated, I managed to find a part time Visitor Engagement position at The Foundling Museum, in London, in which my main focus was accessibility and inclusion. After that, I was offered a full-time position that combined Visitor Engagement with Museum Communications. I’m putting the writing and research skills I learned in my MA to use daily, uncovering historical content for social media and communicating with the public and press to promote the museum’s work.
Elisha Foster, Curatorial Coordinator, National Football Museum
I completed my BA in History in 2020 and my MA in History in 2021. I chose to stay at Lancaster for my MA because of the bespoke nature of the course. The ability to tailor my course to focus on heritage and early modern elements was particularly appealing. Studying at Lancaster afforded me a number of opportunities that have been invaluable to me in pursuing a career in museums. I now work at The National Football Museum within the Collections team as a Curatorial Coordinator. My role is split between the museum in Manchester and its archive in Preston, and it’s great to be able to use skills and experience from both of my degrees every day. My role is a varied one, ranging from dealing with loans to and from other institutions, new acquisitions, and supporting exhibitions, to general collections management duties like environmental monitoring and object movement control. I also get to work with lots of volunteers and placement students, as well as researchers who use our archive on a weekly basis. A personal highlight so far has been going out to the FIFA museum in Switzerland to courier a pair of football boots for an exhibition last summer. Studying at Lancaster really developed my intellectual curiosity, which is a must have when working with collections.
Take a Master's in History at Lancaster University
Enhance your career or academic credentials with a Lancaster University Master's degree in History, Digital Humanities or Military and International History.
Our bespoke MA in History provides an exciting opportunity to work with experts who are leading research in their field, and to tailor your studies to suit your research interests and the skills you wish to develop.
Access Lancaster's expertise in the medieval and early modern eras across Europe, the Middle East, and the Americas, and from political, to cultural, military, and social history
Our Heritage pathway builds on the presence of the Regional Heritage Centre within the department and our relationships with regional and national heritage organisations
Find out more about available funding for History postgraduate degrees including information on scholarship and bursary applications.
Important Information
The information on this site relates primarily to 2025/2026 entry to the University and every effort has been taken to ensure the information is correct at the time of publication.
The University will use all reasonable effort to deliver the courses as described, but the University reserves the right to make changes to advertised courses. In exceptional circumstances that are beyond the University’s reasonable control (Force Majeure Events), we may need to amend the programmes and provision advertised. In this event, the University will take reasonable steps to minimise the disruption to your studies. If a course is withdrawn or if there are any fundamental changes to your course, we will give you reasonable notice and you will be entitled to request that you are considered for an alternative course or withdraw your application. You are advised to revisit our website for up-to-date course information before you submit your application.
More information on limits to the University’s liability can be found in our legal information.
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