MA History of Science, Technology and Medicine / Course details
Year of entry: 2024
- View tabs
- View full page
Course description
Before coming to The University of Manchester I read History at Cambridge, where I developed a particular interest in histories of the nuclear/space ages and environmental history.
This made CHSTM the natural choice for my master's as the UK’s largest centre devoted to the integrated study of the History of Science, Technology and Medicine. I've greatly enjoyed my time as a postgrad at Manchester. The master's programme not only provides a strong grounding in core concepts but the opportunity for individual specialisation too. The option to undertake a placement also offers valuable work experience and industry skills. The department, more generally, fosters a friendly atmosphere and a real sense of community, regularly organising events and outings for students. It's both the academic expertise and supportive nature of the department that has helped me secure a fully-funded PhD fellowship in the US; I'm off to DC next year to study at George Washington University, home to the National Security Archives and the ‘Nuclear Vault’. I'm in no doubt that the master’s has equipped me well for PhD study, but also for life and work beyond academia as well. I would encourage anyone with a broad or specific interest in HSTM to apply. It doesn't matter if you've studied humanities or sciences – it's this diversity in training and backgrounds that makes CHSTM such a rich department to be a part of.
Henry Lloyd-Hughes / History of Science, Technology and Medicine student 2022-23
Our taught MA 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.
PhD with integrated master's
If you're planning to undertake a PhD after your master's, our Integrated PhD programme will enable you to combine your postgraduate taught course with a related PhD project in biology, medicine or health.
You can also visit this page for examples of projects related to integrated master's courses.
Aims
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.
Special features
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 and learning
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.
Coursework and assessment
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 MA students undertake a research dissertation accounting for 60 of the 180 credits.
Course unit details
You are required to complete 180 credits in the following course units to be awarded this MA:
Semester 1 course units (credits):
- Major themes in the history of science, technology and medicine (30 credits)
- Historiography of science, technology and medicine (
- 15) Communicating ideas in science, technology and medicine (15)
Semester 2: optional course units (accounting for 60 credits) from the below list, or students can choose to incorporate a maximum of 30 credits of course units from an affiliated programme:
- Placement in the History of Science, Technology and Medicine (30 credi
- ts) Decolonising History of Science, Technology and Medicine (15 credits)
- Madness and Society (15 credits)
- Making Life: Biological Sciences since 1800 (15 credits)
- Technology, identity and society (15 credits)
- Nature and Artifice: Environmental Sciences since 1800 (15 credits)
- Politics of Public Health (15 credits)
- Risk: Science, Society and Culture (15 credi
- ts) The Nuclear Age (15 credits)
Plus:
- Dissertation in the history of science, technology and/or medicine (60)
Course structure (part-time)
Part-time students study alongside full-timers, taking half the same content each semester over two years.
You are required to complete 180 credits in the following course units to be awarded this MA.
Semester 1: Major themes in the history of science, technology and medicine (30 credits).
Semester 2: 30 credits of optional course units from:
- Placement in the History of Science, Technology and Medicine (30 credits)
- Decolonising History of Science (15 credits)
- Madness and Society (15 credits)
- Making Life: Biological Sciences since 1800 (15 credits)
- Technology, identity and society (15 credits)
- Nature and Artifice: Environmental Sciences since 1800 (15 credits)
- Politics of Public Health (15 credi
- ts) Risk: Science, Society and Culture (15 credits)
- The Nuclear Age (15 credits)
Semester 3:
- Historiography of science, technology and medicine (15)
- Communicating ideas in science, technology and medicine (15)
Semester 4: 30 credits of optional course units from:
- Placement in the History of Science, Technology and Medicine (30 credits)
- Decolonising History of Science (15 credits)
- Madness and Society (15 credits)
- Making Life: Biological Sciences since 1800 (15 credits)
- Technology, identity and society (15 credits)
- Nature and Artifice Environmental Sciences since 1800 (15 credits)
- Politics of Public Health (15 credits)
- Risk: Science, Society and Culture (15 credits)
- The Nuclear Age (15 credits)
Plus:
- Dissertation in HSTM (60 credits) across second year and during the summer
Course unit list
The course unit details given below are subject to change, and are the latest example of the curriculum available on this course of study.
| Title | Code | Credit rating | Mandatory/optional |
|---|---|---|---|
| Major Themes in HSTM | HSTM60511 | 30 | Mandatory |
| Communicating ideas in STM | HSTM60571 | 15 | Mandatory |
| Dissertation in HSTM | HSTM60632 | 60 | Mandatory |
| Historiography of STM | HSTM60651 | 15 | Mandatory |
| Decolonizing History of Science | HSTM60652 | 15 | Optional |
| The Nuclear Age: Global Nuclear Threats from Hiroshima to Today | HSTM60662 | 15 | Optional |
| Risk: Science, Society and Culture | HSTM60672 | 15 | Optional |
| Technology, identity and society | HSTM60682 | 15 | Optional |
| Madness and Society in the Modern Age | HSTM60692 | 15 | Optional |
| Making Life: Biological Science and Society since 1800 | HSTM60702 | 15 | Optional |
| Displaying 10 of 13 course units | |||
| Display all course units | |||
Scholarships and bursaries
Facilities
All MA 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.
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.