MSc History of Science, Technology and Medicine / Course details

Our taught MSc in the History of Science, Technology and Medicine (HSTM) focuses on key topics from the 19th century to the present, and gives students a critical perspective on global challenges such as:

• The history of climate change
• Questions about trust and expertise
• The relationship between information technology and society
• Science, race and empire
• The politics of public health and access to medical care

The degree focuses on humanities skills, but can be taken successfully by students from any disciplinary background.

Our flexible curriculum provides breadth and choice across the history of science, technology and medicine, allowing you to tailor your studies to suit your interests. 

The placement option allows you to gain transferable skills for employment by working with museums, charities, policy organisations and heritage bodies.

You will become an integrated member of a research community with dedicated facilities and a vibrant seminar programme.

You will learn from and work with world-leading staff, whose expertise encompasses political, social, and cultural approaches to the history of science, technology and medicine, from both national and global perspectives. 

This course aims to:

• explore how science, technology and medicine have become integral to the ways in which we order, imagine and experience modern societies
• provide opportunities to study significant historical and contemporary topics in depth, by working with experts across a number of fields and specialisms
• prepare you for further academic study or employment by supporting the development of writing and presentation skills, and providing opportunities to gain professional experience outside universities
• enable you to produce a major piece of original research and writing in the form of a dissertation.

Placement option 

The optional placement unit enables you to gain direct professional experience and enhance your CV by working with an organisation from the heritage, charitable or policymaking sectors. This allows you to gain practical skills that can be invaluable both in your studies and when applying for jobs after graduating.

Explore Manchester's history

Manchester is the classic 'shock city' of the Industrial Revolution and its environmental and social outcomes, and a global city whose identity is closely tied up with scientific discovery. You'll be able to relive the development of industrial society through visits to local museums and sites of historic interest.

Research support

We have 15 members of staff with expertise across the history of science, technology and medicine. All of our staff offer dissertation supervision in a range of specialist areas.

Opportunities for further study and experience

Take up optional classes and volunteering opportunities shared with the parallel MSc Science and Health Communication course at Manchester, including science policy, science media, museums and public events activities.

Convenient study options

Benefit from flexible options for full or part-time study.

Teaching includes a mixture of lectures and small-group seminar discussions built around readings and other materials. We emphasise the use both of primary sources and current research in the field.

Most students will also visit local museums and other sites of interest to work on objects or archives.

All students meet regularly with a designated personal tutor from among the staff, and, from Semester 2, a dissertation supervisor. 

Assessment is mostly based on traditional essay-format coursework submission, although in Semester 2 you will have the option to undertake alternative assessments such as creative writing.

All MSc students undertake a research dissertation accounting for 60 of the 180 credits.

All MSc students have use of a shared office in the Centre for the History of Science, Technology and Medicine, including networked computer terminals and storage space, and use of the dedicated subject library housed in the PhD office nearby.

The Centre is located within a few minutes' walk of the University of Manchester Library , the largest non-deposit library in the UK.

Resources for student research projects within the University include the object collections of the Manchester Museum , also nearby on campus, and the John Rylands Library special collections facility in the city centre.

CHSTM also has a close working relationship with other institutions offering research facilities to students, notably the Museum of Science and Industry .