Master's Programme in History

General Information

Here you will find basic information about the Master's Programme in History, which starts in the autumn semester of 2024. In the programme syllabus , you can see, among other things, the programme's purpose, overall learning outcomes and overall structure, but this website provides some concrete information.

The programme consists of a number of different courses: if you want to know more about what happens within each course, please refer to course syllabi, welcome letters and Mid Sweden University's learning platform Moodle, where each course has its own course area. You will have access to the courses' Moodle pages just before each course starts, provided that you are registered. (Information about registration for courses can be found here.)

Structure of the programme

The programme is entirely distance learning and it is assumed that you actively participate in the discussions at the seminars and the other learning opportunities that are included. You must therefore have a working webcam, microphone and internet connection.

The studies in the programme are full-time, i.e. you are expected to be able to spend up to 40 hours per week at work. Most of the work will be self-study, i.e. reading course literature, preparing for seminars and various writing assignments. The frequency of seminars and other scheduled occasions may vary between the different courses, but usually it will be one seminar (of two hours) per week. In some cases, it is possible to miss compulsory learning sessions if it is due to e.g. illness, but other studies or work are not valid reasons for absence. Absence from examining seminars entails a compensatory assignment – the forms of this are determined by the respective course coordinator (e.g. it may be extra seminar sessions or writing assignments).

History as a scientific discipline is not isolated from other subjects, on the contrary, there are many overlapping fields across subject boundaries and this is also something that permeates the programme. Several of the courses are taken together with other subjects, primarily literary studies but also sociology. In several courses, you who study the programme will study together with people who have applied for them as freestanding courses.

During the first academic year (2024/25), the selection looks like this (for course syllabus and reading list, click on each course – please note that reading lists for courses can be changed until the end of the previous semester; only the course syllabi for the autumn semester 2024 are to be considered final):

Program introduction Monday 2 September 2024

Monday 2/9 at 13.15–15.00: Programme introduction (joint for history, literature and sociology). A zoom link will be in the welcome letter for the program (save it so that you have, if the registration has not been completed by 2/9).

Courses autumn semester 2024 (programme semester 1):

week 36–40: Theory of science (7.5 credits, together with Comparative Literature and Sociology)

weeks 41–45: Archives and Media through the Ages (7.5 credits, together with Comparative Literature and Sociology)

week 46–50: Historiographic course (7.5 credits)

Week 51–03: Here you choose a course! You can take the course arranged by the history subject – Ethnicity and Nationality in the Mid-Nordic Region in a Historical Perspective (7.5 credits) – or another humanities or social sciences course at the same level that is offered at the same time within the university or – with the approval of the programme director – outside the university. At Mid Sweden University there is currently a choice: History of Subjectivity (7.5 credits, arranged by Comparative Literature). You make the choice between the courses yourself, preliminarily from 2 Dec 2024 in Ladok.

Courses spring semester 2025 (semester 2) – for those who intend to study the entire master's programme in two years:

(you make the choice to continue on the two-year master's degree by choosing weeks 12–13 in Ladok to take the course Empirical Research Field)

week 04–08: Humanities and Education (7.5 credits, together with Comparative Literature)

week 09–13: Methodology and Scientific Writing (7.5 credits, partly together with literary studies) [link to be added during the summer]

week 14–18: Empirical Research Field (7.5 credits)

week 19–23: Perspectives on Contemporary Theory (7.5 credits, together with Comparative Literature) [link to be added during the summer]

Courses spring semester 2025 (semester 2) – for those who want to study for a year and take out a master's degree:

(you make the choice to finish with a master's degree by choosing in weeks 12–13 in Ladok to take the course Degree Project, 15 credits)

week 04–08: Humanities and Education (7.5 credits, together with Comparative Literature)

week 09–13: Methodology and Scientific Writing (7.5 credits, partly together with literary studies) [link to be added during the summer]

week 14–23: Degree project (15 credits) [master's thesis, syllabus completed autumn 2024]

Master's programme year two (2025/26 for those starting autumn 2024):

In the autumn semester (semester 3 of the programme), you take four 7.5 credits courses:

• Matter, Text and Historical Context (a theoretical/methodological in-depth course)
• Introduction to medieval studies – or another course given at the same time (elective course)
• Power, Art and Knowledge (thematic in-depth course on a particular historical context)
• Individual reading course (in consultation with the course coordinator, you choose your own in-depth literature within a specific theme)

The entire spring semester (semester 4) is set aside for the work on your master's thesis of 30 credits. However, you are strongly encouraged to start the work already in the autumn before. For example, the first course – Matter, Text and Historical Context – will aim to kick-start your work on the thesis, and you can also use the Individual Reading Course for reading in the research mode of the thesis work and/or theoretical context.

Things to think about in advance

Don't forget to be out in good time to acquire the course literature! See the welcome letter for the first course, Philosophy of Science, where there will be information about what will be taken in the first week.

Contact

Programme director: Samuel Edquist

Education Officer: Maria Hedlund

Questions that specifically concern the individual courses are primarily directed to the respective course coordinators. For the courses autumn 2024, the following course coordinators have been decided:

• Philosophy of science: Magnus Perlestam
• Archives and media through the ages: Samuel Edquist
• Historiographical course: Biörn Tjällén
• Ethnicity and nationality in the Mid-Nordic region in a historical perspective: Samuel Edquist

A programme council is being formed, with representatives from the master's programmes in history, literature and sociology.