Application deadline
Thursday 7 August 2025
Applicants should apply as early as possible to be eligible for certain scholarships.
Entry requirements
- A 2.1 Honours undergraduate degree in History or a related discipline. If you studied your first degree outside the UK, see the international entry requirements.
- English language proficiency. See English language tests and qualifications.
The qualifications listed are indicative minimum requirements for entry. Some academic Schools will ask applicants to achieve significantly higher marks than the minimum. Obtaining the listed entry requirements will not guarantee you a place, as the University considers all aspects of every application including, where applicable, the writing sample, personal statement, and supporting documents.
Application requirements
- CV or résumé. This should include your personal details with a history of your education and employment to date.
- a personal statement
- a sample of your own, single-authored academic written work (2,000 words)
- two original signed academic references
- academic transcripts and degree certificates.
For more guidance, see supporting documents and references for postgraduate taught programmes.
English language proficiency
If English is not your first language, you may need to provide an English language test score to evidence your English language ability. See approved English language tests and scores for this course.
Course details
The MLitt in Environmental History is a postgraduate programme run jointly by the Institute for Environmental History and the Department of Modern History.
Environmental History examines human interaction with the natural world through time, and students will have the opportunity to engage with this intellectually urgent field.
Highlights
- The programme benefits from the expertise of members of the Institute for Environmental History and the Department of Modern History.
- Students explore multiple dimensions of this intellectually significant field of study, while firmly rooting this knowledge in a progressively better understanding of core issues within historiography and methodology.
- Some modules are interdisciplinary and interdepartmental, involving the School of Geography and Sustainable Development.
Modules
The modules published below are examples of what has been taught in previous academic years and may be subject to change before you start your course. For more details of each module, including weekly contact hours, teaching methods and assessment, please see the module catalogue.
Students choose one of:
- History in the Making: Theories, Approaches and Practice (1 and 2): examines the development of history-writing and historical research since the Enlightenment, and the emergence of fields, trends and new approaches in current historiography.
- Global Times – Plural Spaces (1 and 2): offers a strong foundation in the major approaches to comparative and transnational history as well as the emerging field of spatial history.
You will also choose one of:
- Disease and Environment (c.1500-c.2000): examines the manner in which sickness and death have shaped human history, both biologically and culturally, over the past 500 years.
- Environmental Disasters: Crisis, Catastrophe, and Risk in the Modern World (1755 to Present): explores the nature of 'natural' disasters and the social and cultural factors that shaped and framed them.
- Environmental History: Nature and the Western World (1800-2000): studies environmental history over the past two centuries in an international context.
Depending on credit weighting, students choose one or two optional modules. These can also be from one of the compulsory choices not taken.
Optional modules are subject to change each year and require a minimum number of participants to be offered; some may only allow limited numbers of students (see the University’s position on curriculum development).
Students may also choose a Directed Reading topic which and is designed to encourage the development of skills of historical analysis through concentrated study. Depending upon other module choices this may be taken across one or both semesters. The Directed Reading topics offered will vary slightly each year depending on staff.
Here is an example of an optional module that may be offered:
- Skills in Digital History: Maps and Text: leads to the acquisition and development of skills in the digital humanities and skills required for using specific historical sources.
Student dissertations will be supervised by members of the teaching staff who will advise on the choice of subject and provide guidance throughout the research process. The completed dissertation of not more than 15,000 words must be submitted by a date specified in August.
If students choose not to complete the dissertation requirement for the MLitt, there is an exit award available that allows suitably qualified candidates to receive a Postgraduate Diploma. By choosing an exit award, you will finish your degree at the end of the second semester of study and receive a PGDip instead of an MLitt.
Teaching
Over two semesters, students complete two compulsory modules and one or two optional modules.
Teaching methods include seminars and fortnightly tutorials. Class sizes range from individual supervision up to 12 students.
The modules are assessed principally by coursework.
Students will spend the final three months of the course focusing on researching and writing the final assessment piece for the MLitt, a dissertation of not more than 15,000 words.
Events
The School of History hosts the Modern History research seminar programme, which presents numerous talks and lectures each month.
Visit the Institute for Environmental History page to learn more about the work and research being done by environmental historians at St Andrews.
Fees
Home
£12,030
Overseas
£25,900
Application fee
Before we can begin processing your application, a payment of an application fee of £50 is required. In some instances, you may be eligible for an application fee waiver. Details of this, along with information on our tuition fees, can be found on the postgraduate fees and funding page.
Funding and scholarships
The University of St Andrews is committed to attracting the very best students, regardless of financial circumstances.
The School of History is pleased to be able to offer a number of competitive scholarships which contribute to the fees and maintenance for postgraduate study.
School of History MLitt Awards: offer the cash equivalent of one year's home fees and cannot be held in conjunction with other awards offering full fees and maintenance.
Whenever it is relevant to your programme and possible, the School makes available competitive language bursaries for training prior to the start of an MLitt programme. To find out more, please contact pghist@st-andrews.ac.uk as early as possible. Note that, when available, the application deadline is normally in the early Spring.
15% Recent Graduate Discount
If you have graduated from the University within the last three academic years, you may be eligible for a 15% discount on postgraduate taught tuition fees. Terms and conditions apply.
After your degree
Careers
Past graduates of this programme have undertaken careers in research and in environmental management in the university sector. Others have attained positions within journalism, environmental non-governmental organisations or as sustainable development officers for particular business corporations.
More generally, history postgraduates go on to pursue careers in a range of sectors including journalism, publishing, think tanks, government, law and teaching.
The Careers Centre offers one-to-one advice to all students as well as a programme of events to assist students in building their employability skills.
Further study
Many graduates continue their education by enrolling in PhD programmes at St Andrews.
Postgraduate researchContact us
- Phone
- +44 (0)1334 46 2900
- pghist@st-andrews.ac.uk
- Address
- School of History
St Katharine's Lodge
The Scores
St Andrews
KY16 9BA