MA in Public History

This is a one-year full time, or two-year part-time postgraduate course.

It is aimed at students with a passion for history but does not necessarily require an undergraduate degree in the subject.

The course covers the role of history in the public arena: museums, documentaries, monuments, lectures, guided tours and community events are just some of the things that constitute Public History. It also examines the relationship between history and politics, and the powerful influence of history on contemporary society.

WHAT WILL I STUDY ON THE COURSE?

Emphasis is placed upon students using course concepts to develop their own interests. Students write a portfolio of nine pieces of work (including pieces of public history) and a dissertation or produce a larger piece of public history as an alternative. Throughout students are encouraged to pursue their own interests and to prepare their work for publication and presentation.

Dissertation/Dissertation Alternate

The final module provides students with the opportunity to bring together everything they have learnt so far in either a 12,000-word dissertation on a topic of their choice made in consultation with their tutor or to produce a substantial piece of public history, again on a topic of their choice made in consultation with their tutor.

This course is intended to:

• Develop students’ systematic understanding of the theory and practice of Public History at post-graduate level
• Foster students’ critical awareness of the latest developments in public history including critical evaluation of different approaches
• Provide students with extensive opportunities to practice the techniques and concepts of public history
• Encourage students’ originality in the acquisition and application of historical research and enquiry
• Develop students’ skills in the critical evaluation of current research and debate in public history
• Enable students to think imaginatively and creatively about the nature of history
• Build on students’ existing enthusiasms and historical knowledge to develop new approaches to historical inquiry

Outcomes for students

Knowledge and understanding

After successfully completing the course, students will be able to:

• Systematically and critically deal with complex historiographical and methodological ideas
• Critically engage with the debates within and surrounding public history
• Apply their knowledge and critical understanding of (public) history at a high level

Cognitive skills

After successfully completing the course, students will be able to:

• Demonstrate self-direction, knowledge, and originality in tackling and solving problems
• Think imaginatively and creatively about the nature of (public) history
• Critically evaluate current research, practice, and debate in (public) history

Practical and professional skills

After successfully completing the course, students will be able to:

• Present historical research to specialist audiences
• Present historical research to non-specialist audiences
• Act autonomously in planning and executing research and writing
• Continue to advance their knowledge through independent work and practice
• Act as part of a team in planning and executing research and writing

Transferable skills

After successfully completing the course, students will be able to:

• Demonstrate initiative, personal responsibility, and decisionmaking in complex and unpredictable situations
• Demonstrate originality in the acquisition and application of ideas to specific content/practice
• Confidently share ideas verbally or in writing
• Develop content appropriate for an online forum

HOW WILL I LEARN AND BE TAUGHT ON THE COURSE?

The programme modules are underpinned by a learning and teaching strategy adopting a range of approaches including presentations, seminars, and one-to-one tutorials. Within classes, emphasis is placed on interactive teaching and learning. Students will be expected to engage personally, in small groups and larger classes, with a range of material and ideas. Students will engage critically and analytically with a written, visual, oral and audio-visual material, including IT material and their own material.

One-to-one tutorials provide students with the opportunity for an individual or small group discussions on work submitted both at the conceptual and the drafting stages. Coupled with the College’s Learning Development team, teaching via tutorials allows for strong relationships to develop between staff and students and among students themselves, thus further creating a supportive learning environment.

Attention is paid throughout the modules to both researching a range of materials and reflecting on historiographical processes. Particular focus will also be given to current debates in public history.

Assessment is varied, including some more traditional academic history essays and reviews, alongside more creative projects that enable students to produce pieces of public history or engage with the sector in other ways. In requiring students to complete nine

pieces of work before they start the dissertation module we are encouraging them to develop a variety of skills.

Students are encouraged, and required in two modules, to produce practical work in different formats. This may include new materials for a course they teach; a guided walk and critique; a critique of an exhibition; a new guide for a museum; a video with critical analysis; oral history interviews; or a detailed analysis of an object or visual image. The dissertation or dissertation alternate are viewed as an opportunity for students to bring together everything they have learnt in both an academic form and one more accessible to nonspecialists.

The placement is designed to allow students to gain experience and reflect on the public history sector while also producing academic work. The placement constitutes part of the Consuming and Producing Public History module and as such offers another opportunity for in-depth engagement with public history. Students and staff will work together to find a suitable placement—students who are already working or volunteering in the public history sector may use that as their placement.

ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS

This is a postgraduate course. We expect most, though not necessarily all, candidates to have first degrees in a relevant subject. Applicants do not need to have a first degree in History but do need to be able to demonstrate their ability to study at postgraduate level. Recent students have had backgrounds in Art, Engineering, Media Studies, Design, Science, Literature, Languages, Classics as well as History. They have included teachers, lecturers, artists, stately home guides, archivists, local tourist guides, archaeologists, museum workers, oral historians, trade union activists, journalists, family historians and adult educators. Dr Ruth Percy is very happy to discuss the course and admission requirements with potential applicants prior to formal application and interview

COURSE AND APPLICATION DATES

This course starts in September and applications close on 15th August. For enquiries, please contact Hannah Jones, the Academic Registrar on 01865 759604 or Programme Co-ordinator, Dr Ruth Percy on 01865 759631.

CAREERS

A Public History Masters is not only useful preparation for work in heritage, museums, and archives but, because it combines attention to detail with broad analysis, it is also highly valued in a range of careers including policy development, civil service.

Tuition Fees 2015/16

Access to HE Programmes, Level 3, Full Time: £3,358

Certificate of Higher Education Level Full Time Part Time Business and Social Enterprise Level 4 £6,000 £3,000 English Studies: Creative Writing and Critical Practice Level 4 £9,000 £4,500 History Level 4 £9,000 £4,500 International Labour and Trade Union Studies Level 4 £9,000 £6,750 Law Level 4 £9,000 £4,500 Social and Political Studies Level 4 £9,000 £4,500 Writing for Performance Level 4 £9,000 £4,500 B.A. Degree Level Full Time Part Time Social Work Level 4 £9,000 £6,750 Youth and Community Level 4 £9,000 £6,750 MA Programmes Level Full Time Part Time Public History Level 7 £5,100 £2,550 Resident Study Bedroom Rates 2014/15 40wks per wk Study Bedroom standard Y£4,000 £100 Study Bedroom en-suite £4,840 £121

Why study at Ruskin?

Individuals like you who want to make positive changes to their lives and have the determination to secure the education, qualifications and opportunities that we offer.

As a Further Education College based in Oxford, Ruskin offers educational opportunities, to adults with few or no formal qualifications in an informal setting. Our curriculum starts with the students, their enthusiasm, needs, ambitions and skills and we offer our applicants potential progression routes from foundation courses, through to Access to Higher Education, Degree Programmes up to Masters level.

Whether you are about achieving qualifications, pursuing a forgotten enthusiasm or simply learning to enjoy education. Our friendly residential college attracts students from our local communities, across the UK and the world to help each other learn.

We’ll help you find a level of study that suits your skills and experience.

Ruskin College has a proud history of supporting individuals to realise their potential. We’re a small college, with big ideas – and the programmes we offer mean your learning can also make positive changes to the lives of others. Ruskin welcomes students who not only want to develop themselves but want also to put something back into society.

All of our courses feature the same high-quality teaching and support and there is a range of options for you to explore, from short courses through degrees to masters programmes.

What’s special about Ruskin?

• Academic excellence - Ruskin offers highly qualified staff who provide a supportive and enriching learning experience
• A supportive environment - with our help you can realise your potential and overcome your own personal barriers to learning. Your tutor will help you to find the skills you need and handle the challenges you face
• A like-minded community - you’ll be joining a community of like-minded people, and studying alongside other adults like you who have chosen to make a positive change in their lives
• Clear progression - your learning journey is tailored to your ability and aspirations and that can mean direct access to a degree programme (subject to interview)
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Our story began 115 years ago, rooted in educating working-class adults. Today, we continue to offer opportunities and support to students who often face challenging circumstances. Students come to us from all walks of life, of all ages, some with family or caring commitments, many who are familiar with unemployment or part-time, low paid jobs, and many who have been denied education, qualifications and chances earlier on in their lives.

Why not make Ruskin College the next chapter in your story?

Accommodation at Ruskin

Ruskin College is located in Old Headington, an area just three miles from the centre of Oxford and rich in history. Ex-residents of Headington include CS Lewis, JRR Tolkien, Sir Isaiah Berlin and Elizabeth Bowen amongst others.

From Headington, there are regular and frequent bus services to the city centre and a regular coach service to London.

Once offered a place, full-time students can apply for a single study bedroom for the entire academic year (40 weeks). Accommodation for students on site is of a high standard, recently-refurbished and offering study/bedrooms in small blocks on the peaceful, semi-rural campus.

There is a choice of standard rooms with shared bathrooms or shower and toilet facilities or en-suite rooms at a higher cost, and subject to availability. All have shared kitchens, and there are three common rooms for use in the evenings.

The College occupies a beautiful site with lawned areas to the front, featuring specimen trees and an avenue of elms, a walled garden behind with opportunities to become involved, an orchard, a small wood and meadowland beyond. Above all, this provides a calm and tranquil environment in which to study.

Life on Campus

The College attracts students from all over Britain and many parts of the world. Within its residential community, students socialise, study and help each other learn in a friendly, supportive environment.

Up-to-date computer facilities are available throughout the week, including weekends, and the modern, purpose-built Callaghan library is well-stocked with over 40,000 volumes.

There is an active Students Union, called the Ruskin College Student Union (RCSU), which promotes and supports the interests of Ruskin students, co-ordinates activities and sponsors groups and societies within the College.

Students are also eligible to join the Oxford Union, and University of Oxford clubs and societies, which offer a wealth of sporting, theatrical, musical and political activities.

Ruskin College is one of the liveliest venues for literary and political meetings in Oxford. We have visiting speakers, music evenings and creative writing and poetry readings, in addition to hosting a variety of Platform events in theatre, law, gender and history.

Life in Oxford

The City of Oxford offers a wide range of cultural and leisure opportunities.

The Ashmolean was the world’s first public museum and houses collections from classical sculpture to impressionist paintings. The Museum of Modern Art offers the best of contemporary work. Within Oxford colleges, many fine collections of art are available for public viewing.

The Bodleian Library, the main research library of the University of Oxford, counts among the most prestigious in the world, and Oxford’s Blackwell's bookshop is the flagship for one of the UK’s largest academic booksellers.

The Oxford Playhouse and the New Theatre showcase the best in touring performance – from classic drama, through opera and dance, to stand up and big name bands and singers. A variety of other smaller scale performance spaces cater for all tastes, many offering opportunities to participate.

A vibrant music scene also exists in Oxford’s pubs and clubs right across the city, from folk to funk, rock to reggae.

There are great sports and leisure facilities within Oxford. The University Sports Centre has squash courts and a gymnasium, and there are opportunities galore for individual and team participation. The city itself also offers an ice rink and a variety of sports centres and facilities.

University Access

Many of the facilities of the University of Oxford, its libraries, social life, and events, are open to Ruskin students through the College’s links. Students studying for the Foundation Degree in Business and Social Enterprise are able to access facilities offered by Oxford Brookes University, including the library, careers service and sports facilities.

Ruskin College also has established links with Universities to provide progression into higher education for those completing one of the Access to Higher Education Diploma courses or the first (CertHE) or second (Foundation degree) courses.