History of Medicine - 2012 entry

Course content

The MA in History of Medicine consists of four modules: a compulsory core module, two elective modules and a dissertation. Postgraduate diploma students take Modules 1, 2 and 3; postgraduate certificate students take Module 1 and one elective module. Modules may change from time to time; an indicative list is shown below.

Module 1: Key Concepts and Methods in Research in History of Medicine Every student takes this compulsory core module which is designed to help make the transition from undergraduate- to graduate-level work. You will develop your understanding of the historiography of medical history and acquire the necessary skills in research methods and interpretation of historical sources, which will enable you to engage in independent research. This module is taken in Semester 1 and is assessed by two written assignments.

Modules 2 and 3: elective modules You will take two specialist modules enabling you to conduct close study of topics in two different areas of medical history. The topics for these modules reflect the specific research expertise of the staff in the centre and the programme offered varies from year to year.  Each module lasts for one semester and is assessed by two or three written assignments. Full-time MA students take one elective module in each semester. Part-time MA students take their first elective in Semester 2 of the first year and their second elective in Semester 1 of the second year. Modules include:

• Patients and Practitioners, 1700-1850 breaks neatly into two parts. In part one we will be dealing with the general theoretical and source issues that underpin an understanding of the doctor-patient relationship. We will also understand the early history of doctoring and doctor-patient relationships. In part two, we will move on to consider various aspects of the doctor-patient relationship, including the supply of doctors, patient networks, the role of institutions, doctoring as an art and regional differences in the strength and character of doctor-patient relationships.
• Body Politics: Health and Modernity in Britain, 1830-1914 examines the political and cultural dynamics of British public health during the period 1830 to 1914. Students will be given the opportunity to engage with the very latest historiography and explore how an ostensibly discrete and humanitarian field of governance raised broader questions about the meaning of urban civilisation, the limits of the state, the scope and organisation of expert authority, and the politics of gender, class and sexuality. It will encourage students to think about these issues in terms of the bigger picture of modernity and the practice and regulation of modern freedom.
• Medical Experience in the Countryside, 1500-1789 examines various comparative themes in the social history of medicine as it pertains to rural Europe during the Early Modern Period (1500 to 1789). Students will be given the opportunity to study the fundamental issues that have been explored by historians of rural society and the social history of medicine.
• Engineering Society: Eugenics and Biopolitics in Europe, 1800-1945 examines various comparative themes in the history of eugenics, genetics, biopolitics, anthropology and modernity from 1800 to 1945. Students will be given the opportunity to study the fundamental issues that have pre-occupied historians of biology, science and modernity since the 1800s and combine these with specific case studies from a wide range of European countries.
• Science, Magic and Religion introduces students to history of science based theories on the social construction of knowledge systems and alert them to the boundary issues involved in the construction of science, magic and religion. All three will also be looked at as cultural systems and implicated in the establishment of cultural and political hegemony. A further focus will be the historical specificity of the definitions of the boundaries between science, magic and religion. The second part of the course focuses on methodological issues, in particular primary source selection and interpretation.
• From Pills and Potions, To Penicillin and Prozac. Barely a week goes by without news of a medical breakthrough, and this often refers to a drug promising either a treatment for a disease previously unresponsive to medical intervention, or else a significant improvement over existing treatments. On the other hand, some times one also hears about disasters or abuses involving the testing, administering, or taking of drugs. On these occasions, the clinical researchers who test the drugs, the doctors who prescribe them, but more often the pharmaceutical companies who make them, are transformed in the public eye from heroes into villains, and become the subject of controversy, some times even legal prosecution. The objective of this module is therefore double: 1) to help students to make sense of this complex picture by placing it in a wider historical context; 2) to explain how drugs have come to occupy such an important place in our society, by examining their evolution not only in terms of scientific and medical progress, but also in terms of a complex, changing inter-relationship between consumers, producers, the medical profession, and the state.
• Ethics and Ideas: From the Hippocratic Oath to Informed Consent. Students will be given the opportunity to study the fundamental issues that have pre-occupied historians of medical malpractice and clinical research. This module will examine various comparative themes in the history of medical ethics from Hippocrates to the present.
• The History of Death and Dying in Britain, 1750-1900 introduces students to the social and medical history of death and dying in England, 1750-1900. It explores a variety of historiographical debates about culture meaning of death through a diverse range of funerary artefacts, as well as printed primary medical texts. In this way, it examines the social meaning of death, as well as efforts by the medical profession to alleviate the sufferings of dying patients appropriately.

Module 4: Dissertation This is the capstone of the master's course. You will have the opportunity to conduct a major in-depth investigation into a historical topic of your choice, leading to the production of a 15,000-word thesis. The topic may be related to one of your elective modules or may be chosen from another area of your interest. You will be supported in your research by individual supervision from a specialist tutor and by group workshops on advanced research design that take place during Semester 2 (part-time students take this in Year 2). The dissertation is completed over the summer and submitted by 1 September.

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

Department

Department of History, Philosophy and Religion

Course length

Full-time: PGCert: 4 months, PGDip: 9 months; MA: 12 months
Part-time: PGCert: 2 semesters; PGDip: 3 semesters; MA: 24 months

Teaching location

Headington Campus, Gipsy Lane

Start date

September 2012

UKPASS code

P016246

Entry requirements

You should normally hold an upper second class honours degree, or its equivalent, in an appropriate subject. If it is some time since you completed your undergraduate education and you do not meet the standard requirement, it may be possible to consider your application based on evidence of other relevant personal and professional experience, the support of your referees and examples of written work.

Applicants may be asked to send a sample of recent academic writing in English together with the application form. If this is not possible, you may substitute a 1,500-word essay reviewing a recent academic book on a historical topic. If English is not your first language, you will need to provide certification of your English language proficiency. For this course you will need an IELTS score of at least 7, or TOEFL 100 (internet-based).

Applications should be received no later than 1 August, though it is advisable to apply much earlier than this. If you are intending to apply to the AHRC for a studentship award we must receive your application before 1 March.

Applicants for research degrees should normally hold a master's degree in a subject appropriate to the proposed research topic and the same level of English language proficiency as required for the master's courses. Before submitting an application you are advised to contact the senior postgraduate administrator to arrange an informal discussion of your research plans with the tutor for research students.

Scholarships and funding

The Centre for Health Medicine and Society may offer up to two awards of £4,000 each year for full-time students applying for the MA in History of Medicine. Funding comes from the centre's Wellcome Trust Strategic Award.

For general sources of financial support, see:

• funding for students from the UK and EU
• funding for students from outside the EU

Why Oxford is a great place to study History of Medicine

Oxford is an ideal city in which to study history at postgraduate level, with an exceptional wealth of libraries, archives and historical buildings as well as a thriving arts scene, including theatres, cinemas and museums.

Support for students studying History of Medicine

With over half a million books, DVDs and CDs, a vast range of databases, e-journals and reference materials, the library provides all the resources you need for your study of history. We have a dedicated History librarian who is on hand to answer your enquiries, teach you information skills and guide you around the electronic resources on offer. The library also offers regular training sessions on accessing and making the best use of key resources in your specific subject area.

How Brookes supports postgraduate students

Supporting your learning

From academic advisers and support co-ordinators to specialist subject librarians and other learning support staff, we want to ensure that you get the best out of your studies.

Personal support services

We want your time at Brookes to be as enjoyable and successful as possible. That's why we provide all the facilities you need to be relaxed, happy and healthy throughout your studies.

Departmental research highlights

The department boasts a wealth of research expertise and is home to two important research centres:

Centre for Health, Medicine and Society

The centre seeks to promote the study of the social and cultural history of medicine. It has an established reputation as one of the leading research groups of its kind in the UK and has research links with a wide network of associates, both national and international. The centre also provides associate status opportunities to researchers from outside the university who wish to advance their studies and gain experience in the field.

Centre for the History of Welfare

Providing a base for collaboration between all those with an interest in the history of welfare both within Oxford Brookes and across the wider academic and professional communities, the centre acts as a focus for research in this field. It aims to support and disseminate research which makes connections between historical research and current welfare policy, and thereby fosters links between historians of welfare and policy makers.

Current research highlights include:

• Dr. Marius Turda has been awarded a Cantimir Senior Fellowship (Berendel Foundation)of £115,779 to research the scientific careers of leading Central European eugenicists and the scientific rationalisation of their particular eugenic theories. The project aims to reveal the extent to which eugenic philosophies of identity based on the modern biological knowledge of heredity and evolution were influential in selected countries. 
• Professor Roger Griffin is carrying out a pilot study to evaluate the feasibility and practical implications for launching, realising, and maintaining an internet resource for the international promotion of Transcultural Humanism. The aim is to use the power of the World Wide Web to help generate an empirically and historically based counter-narrative to extremism. This project is funded by the Berendel Foundation with a £38,239 grant.
• With a Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship of £79,084, Dr Jane Stevens Crawshaw is leading a ground breaking research project into the underexplored relationship between people and place in early modern Europe. This research melds social, urban and environmental history to create a new framework for understanding early modern social policies, urban design and environmental cleansing.

Research excellence

Oxford Brookes historians were rated among the top 14 departments in the country in the latest research assessment exercise (RAE 2008), with 65% of the department’s research judged either world leading or internationally excellent.

Research areas and clusters

Our thriving research and postgraduate culture will provide you with the ideal environment in which to undertake a research degree on a broad range of topics from 16th century to the present day, and to engage in interdisciplinary research. Research skills are developed in preparation for your dissertation and provide a potential pathway to PhD study.

You will have the opportunity to work alongside scholars of international standing as well as receiving comprehensive training in research methods. Principal research areas in which our teaching staff specialise include:

• history of medicine

• history of fascism

• social history

• history of crime, deviance and the law

• history of religion from the Reformation onwards.

As well as meeting to discuss and analyse central texts in the field, each group undertakes a number of activities including organising work-in-progress seminars, and offering support and feedback for external grant applications.