Postgraduate MA

Modern and Contemporary History

Immerse yourself in modern and contemporary history on this thought-provoking MA. You'll traverse the globe, exploring events from the 18th century to today.

Modern and Contemporary History

Course overview

  • Institution code


    L27
  • Main location


    City Campus
  • Attendance


    Full-Time
  • Duration


    12 Months
  • Start date


    21 Sep 2026

Why study a master's degree in history?

Are you looking to work in the heritage or museum industries? Develop strong transferable skills to advance your career? Or perhaps you want to explore your personal passion for the past?

Regardless of your incentive, a master's degree in history equips you with an exclusive toolkit of skills to support you to excel in numerous careers, whether history-related or not. Our varied, global-facing MA in Modern and Contemporary History enables you to study unique and diverse topics, flexibly (full-time or part-time).

As part of this history degree, you'll:

  • Explore modern and contemporary history - from the 18th century to more recent notable events
  • Study an exciting range of topics taught by staff with specialist expertise, such as masculinity over time, food, life writing, wars, and public policy
  • Take a global perspective to your studies, covering a rich variety of countries and cultures
  • Gain strong transferable skills in communication, data analysis, research, writing for a range of audiences and formats, and utilising your natural curiosity
  • Learn in an embodied way, bringing the topics you study to life, thinking differently about the past, and reinforcing your learning with varied, practical assessments

Gain a solid skill set

An undisputed benefit of studying a master's degree in a humanities subject is the variety of transferable skills you'll gain while studying something you enjoy. Notably, you'll become a proficient communicator, clearly being able to share ideas and knowledge with various audiences. Additionally, you'll hone your skills in research, data analysis, connecting ideas, independence, and impartiality.

Benefit from our links with industry

We have strong links with local industry partners, including Thackray Museum of Medicine, Leeds Libraries, the Leeds Library, and more. These links provide opportunities for you to take part in visits and networking events, as well as work experience.

Diverse assessments

An enticing aspect of studying MA Modern and Contemporary History at Leeds Beckett is the vast range of assessments we offer. Depending on the modules on offer each year, you could be doing anything from writing traditional essays to creating video content, a cooking project, or writing policy documents.

How you'll learn

You'll learn via a combination of in-classroom sessions - seminars, debates, and sharing ideas - and practical assignments, trips to museums and libraries, and guest lectures.

Be taught by experts

As subject experts, your teaching team aim to enhance your learning with their knowledge and passion, helping to bring topics to life. Across the team, we have significant interest in social, cultural, and political history, providing a real variety of topics for you to dive into that rotate each year.

Why study the MA Modern & Contemporary History course at Leeds Beckett University?

  1. Benefit from our close links with industry partners, including Thackray Museum of Medicine, Leeds Libraries, and many more museums and heritage organisations
  2. Gain strong transferable skills via a diverse mix of assessments, from essays to video content creation, and cooking projects to policy writing
  3. Choose from modules that reflect our teaching team's specialist research expertise
  4. Explore modern and contemporary history on a truly global scale
  5. Learn about history in an embodied way, fully immersing yourself in the topics you're studying

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