Keele UniversityFaculty of HumsSocSci
History
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About Us
Welcome from the Director of Programmes
Professor Karen Hunt
Our undergraduate history programme is broad and innovative, ranging from English and European medieval history to the recent history of Africa and India. The Principal History course, which is taken with another rincipal subject as part of Keele's dual honours programme, gives students an opportunity to study modules in both modern and pre-modern history. In the first year, students take a compulsory outline course as well as the Historical Research & Writing module, designed specially to develo their research, communications and analytic skills; they may also elect to take further modules in medieval, early modern and modern history. In their second year students choose from a variety of option modules (see a list of those on offer in the present year), allowing them to develop their own personal interests. They also have the opportunity to spend a semester abroad at a partner institution in Europe (including the Netherlands, Sweden and France), Turkey, Hong Kong, Australia and the USA, and, in one core module, to undertake a work placement. In their final year all students become true historians, taking a single, in-depth special subject (see the current options), in the course of which they will produce a dissertation based on their own, independent research.
We also have a continuing presence in the region offering a certificate and master's programme in local history, supporting local societies and hosting a programme of local historical research and writing.
For postgraduates the Master of Research in History is part of a programme in the School of Humanities offering students the opportunity to produce a substantial piece of independent research and writing while developing wide-ranging research skills. There are current pathways in the History of Medicine, African Christianity, Genocide, Early Modern England, British Cathedrals, Warfare, and The Politics of Revolutionary France.
Our Latin and Palaeography Summer School, now in its 35th year, attracts students from the UK, Europe and America.
We have a flourishing community of around 20 postgraduate research students working on early modern English history, international organised crime, and medieval and reformation spirituality. We welcome postgraduate applications in all fields where we can offer effective supervision (see here for further details). Office and computer facilities are provided, and research training is given through the School of Humanities. There is an annual postgraduate symposium, and regular seminars in modern History, early modern England, science in the humanities, and reading and writing lives as well as a general History seminar. All welcome visitors to the university.
We are a productive and successful research community. We have an active Centre for Local History, flourishing inter-disciplinary studies of early modern England and a group of eminent scholars of contemporary international history. Successes in attracting external funding in recent years include extensive local authority support for the Victoria County History of Staffordshire, the award of Leverhulme Major Research Fellowships to Professor Peter Jackson (2000-2003), for a study of the interactions between the Mongols and the Latin West, and to Professor Charles Townshend (2002-2005), for a study of the Irish Rising of 1916, and awards from the Nuffield Foundation and the ESRC for research on Christian mission in the Belgian Congo. More information on our research interests is given on individual staff pages.
If you have questions, we are always happy to respond by email or to meet prospective students outside the normal pattern of visit days.
