Mediaeval History
M.Litt./Graduate Diploma in Mediaeval History
The School of History offers a broad-ranging taught postgraduate programme, designed to cater for students of differing career ambitions, areas of specialisation and previous training. The wide-ranging interests of staff in the School allows students to study in depth a variety of topics from across the mediaeval worlds, both East and West, from Late Antiquity through to the Later Middle Ages.
- The Graduate Diploma is a nine-month programme of study (September - May) consisting of the taught element listed below.
- The M.Litt. is 12-month programme, comprising the same taught element as the Diploma, plus a 15,000-word dissertation. This is a piece of original research, based on historical sources and written under the supervision of a member of the School. It is commenced after completion of the taught modules, for submission by 31st August.
- The M.Phil. is a 2-year programme consisting of the same taught element as the Diploma, plus a 40,000-word dissertation.
The Graduate Diploma, M.Litt. and M.Phil. courses share the following taught elements:
In the course of two semesters students complete two 40-credit modules and two 20-credit modules.
I. Sources and Source Criticism(40 credits) - Core module addressing the nature of different kinds of sources and the problems of interpreting them, to be taught in 2012-13 by Professor Robert Bartlett. This course is designed to foster basic research skills, including bibliography, source criticism, Latin, and seminar skills. Examined by a portfolio of assessed papers.
II. EITHER:
a) Special Topic in Mediaeval History (40 credits) - on a major subject of the student's own choice, comprising class-work or individual tutorials, as appropriate. Examined by a portfolio of assessed papers. Topics covered in Special Topics in recent years include:
- The Vikings in Britain
- Sassanid Persia
- William of Malmesbury
- The Carolingian Aristocracy
- Hagiography and the Cult of Saints
- Fourteenth-Century Scotland
- The Mendicants
- Law and Order after the Fall of Rome
- Byzantium in the Tenth Century
OR:
Living with the Lion: Themes in Scottish Mediaeval History. (40 credits) This module explores key themes and texts in the study of mediaeval Scotland, particularly concerning elite culture and the power structures of the kingdom. This course will enable postgraduate students to develop conceptually advanced ideas about the medieval kingdom, as well as gain essential skills in comprehension, source criticism and methodology. In addition to this, the module will expose students to major and pivotal debates in Scottish historiography by directing students to consider issues that have preoccupied scholars in this field.
Students whose interests do not fall within any of these fields will work via individual tutorials on a subject selected in consultation with the postgraduate co-ordinator and the appropriate tutor within the School.
III. Paleography (20 credits) - an introduction to the study and transcription of mediaeval manuscripts.
IV. Historical Skills and Sources (20 credits) This will normally involve a one semester introduction to reading Latin for historians. Training in other languages can also be arranged.
Having successfully completed the taught part of the programme, students will be admitted to the dissertation stage. With the help of a personal supervisor, they will research and write a 15,000-word dissertation on a topic of their choice. The dissertation will be submitted on 31 August.
For additional information, please contact the Postgraduate Secretary on pghist@st-and.ac.uk
Supervisors Available for 2013-14
Prof Frances Andrews
Professor Rob Bartlett
Dr Michael Brown
Dr Rory Cox
Dr Justine Firnhaber-Baker
Dr Tim Greenwood
Dr Bridget Heal
Prof John Hudson
Dr Dimitris Kastritsis
Dr Simon MacLean
Professor Roger Mason
Dr James Palmer
Dr Katie Stevenson
Dr Angus Stewart
Dr Alex Woolf
