Books in the Taylorian
Books in the Taylorian Library
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MSt in History (History of War)

About the course

The MSt in History (History of War) will provide you with the structural and intellectual framework to study all aspects of war from the fall of the Roman Empire to the present day. 

The MSt is designed to improve your practical and intellectual grasp of research processes, ability to conceptualise and engage with historical problems, and enlarge your understanding of the historical and historiographical context in which your own research is set. The course can serve as either a free-standing graduate qualification, or as a springboard to doctoral study. Students wishing to proceed to doctoral study will be encouraged to develop their doctoral proposals during the first few months of the MSt. Skills training and option-choice are flexible and open-ended, to allow you to gain the knowledge and training needed to complete your research project.

By replacing the narrow approach of traditional military history with a broader agenda, you will be able to study conflict as part of the wider human past. With attention shifted away from the previous preoccupation with conventional wars between states, you will look at how armed struggles have been waged by a variety of different actors with hugely varying impacts on society, economy, culture and environment, as well as differing political implications.

The study of the history of war at Oxford is diverse geographically and spatially, as well as using multiple approaches to understand past conflicts. Further information about history of war research and activities can be found through the faculty website.

You are encouraged to engage with the faculty’s lively research culture of seminars, workshops, and discussions groups, which are programmed throughout each week, and sessions often involve leading international scholars. The faculty also runs the Oxford History Graduate Network, which fosters conversations and collaborations between graduate students. Interdisciplinary activities are available through The Oxford Centre for Research in the Humanities (TORCH).

Course structure

You will take two compulsory core courses and an optional subject course, as well as undertake an original research project. These courses are supported by a skills programme for general historical or field-specific training. This structure gives access to a wide range of both general and specialised training within the field of history.

Core courses

1. Sources and Historiography

This is a weekly 1.5 hour seminar in Michaelmas term. This course will embed core graduate skills and subject-specific historiography and methodology within an exploration of the organisation, conduct, impact and broader context of warfare from the ancient world to the present day. A key goal will be to encourage you to recognise how war in human history can only be fully understood when a study of the more ‘technical’ aspects are combined with a fuller appreciation of the broader historical context of past conflicts. The course will explore the relationship between war’s changing character and wider historical change. Other key topics will include aspects such as warfare in contemporary memory, cultural perceptions of war, warfare and gender, ethics and genocide, war and empire, supply and logistics, war and ideology, combat, mobilisation etc. Part-time students will take this course in year one.

2. Theory and Methods

The format is a 1.5 hour weekly seminar in Michaelmas term. It will cover current methodological and theoretical approaches. Students and course tutors will choose six of these from a syllabus of nine. Part-time students will take this course in year two.

Optional subject course

Options are taught in a tutor-led, group setting in Hilary term. You will choose one option course from a list and this will be taught in six weekly two-hour classes during Hilary term. Part-time students will take an option course in year one. Options particularly relevant to the history of war include:

  • State and Society in Early Modern Europe
  • Europe in the Twentieth Century
  • War in the Modern World
  • Warfare and the Military in African History
  • Manpower and State Power
  • Medicine and Modern Warfare

More information on options is available through the faculty website. Not every optional subject listed may be on offer every year.

Research Project

You will work on original research project throughout the course, under the guidance of your supervisor. Students are expected to commit the Easter vacation and Trinity term to archival research and writing. You will be invited to present and receive feedback on your work-in-progress at a workshop specific to this course at the start of Trinity term. If studying part-time, you will be expected to complete the dissertation at the end of Trinity term in year two.

Recent topics for MSt and MPhil research have included:

  • War and technological innovation
  • Operational history in broader context
  • Military-civil relations
  • Social and cultural history of armed forces
  • Counter-insurgency and other forms of ‘small war’
  • Resource-mobilisation, logistics and the socio-economic impact of war
  • War and medicine

More details of core and optional papers are available on the course webpage of the faculty's website (see the Further information and enquiries section for further details). 

Skills Provision

Additional lectures, classes, and tutorials take place in Michaelmas and Hilary terms to provide general and specific training. You will discuss what training you need to undertake your research project with your supervisor. Training available includes document and object handling, palaeography, oral history, text analysis software, GIS software, and statistical analysis. 

Language training is also available, with the Faculty organising special courses for historians in French, German, Spanish, and Italian. Other modern language courses are available through the University’s Language Centre. Courses in Latin and other medieval languages are also available. Further details on language learning can be found on the faculty website.

Attendance

The course can be studied full-time or part-time with both modes requiring attendance in Oxford. Full-time students are subject to the University's Residence requirements. Part-time students are required to attend course-related activities in Oxford for a minimum of 30 days each year.

Full-time students will complete the course in nine months. 

Part-time students will complete the course in eighteen months and are not subject to residence requirements, but are required to attend the faculty in person for classes, skills training, research activities, and supervision. You should expect to be in Oxford for up to two days a week in term time. Distance learning is not available.

Resources to support your study

As a graduate student, you will have access to the University's wide range of world-class resources including libraries, museums, galleries, digital resources and IT services.

The Bodleian Libraries is the largest library system in the UK. It includes the main Bodleian Library and libraries across Oxford, including major research libraries and faculty, department and institute libraries. Together, the Libraries hold more than 13 million printed items, provide access to e-journals, and contain outstanding special collections including rare books and manuscripts, classical papyri, maps, music, art and printed ephemera.

The University's IT Services is available to all students to support with core university IT systems and tools, as well as many other services and facilities. IT Services also offers a range of IT learning courses for students, to support with learning and research.

You will be able to draw on the specialist resources offered by the Bodleian History Faculty Library which provides dedicated support and training courses for all graduates. You can also access the many college libraries and college archives which house significant collections of personal papers as well as institutional records dating back to the middle ages.

Supervision

The allocation of graduate supervision for this course is the responsibility of the Faculty of History and it is not always possible to accommodate the preferences of incoming graduate students to work with a particular member of staff. Offers will only be made if appropriate supervision is available.

It is usual practice that MSt students have one supervisor, but a co-supervisor will be appointed if additional specialist knowledge is required. One supervisor must be a member of the Faculty of History, but a co-supervisor can be appointed from a different department.

Your supervisor(s) is there to provide advice, guidance, and support throughout. You should arrange to meet your supervisor(s) early in your first term to establish a clear framework for your research and writing, and identify any skills training needed to undertake your research. There is no set timetable for the frequency of future meetings, but it is recommended that you arrange to meet your supervisor several times each term, to discuss progress of your research and writing. You should also agree a timetable for the submission and return of drafts of your dissertation.

If you contact a potential supervisor prior to submitting your application, any indication made by an academic that they may be willing to supervise a potential project, is not a guarantee that you will be offered a place, or that the supervisor in question has capacity to supervise you in that particular year.

Assessment

The core courses are assessed by a Methodology Essay and you must also submit an annotated bibliography and dissertation proposal, all to be submitted in January. 

The optional subject course is assessed according to the regulations for that course, usually an assessed essay or exam, at the end of Hilary term.

The research project is examined by a 15,000-word dissertation that is submitted at the end of Trinity term.

Graduate destinations

About a quarter of master’s students proceed to doctoral work at Oxford; others continue academic study at other institutions. Other career destinations are as diverse as, but broadly in line with, undergraduate history career destinations: law, finance, management consultancy, civil service etc.

Changes to this course and your supervision

The University will seek to deliver this course in accordance with the description set out in this course page. However, there may be situations in which it is desirable or necessary for the University to make changes in course provision, either before or after registration. The safety of students, staff and visitors is paramount and major changes to delivery or services may have to be made if a pandemic, epidemic or local health emergency occurs. In addition, in certain circumstances, for example due to visa difficulties or because the health needs of students cannot be met, it may be necessary to make adjustments to course requirements for international study.

Where possible your academic supervisor will not change for the duration of your course. However, it may be necessary to assign a new academic supervisor during the course of study or before registration for reasons which might include illness, sabbatical leave, parental leave or change in employment.

For further information please see our page on changes to courses and the provisions of the student contract regarding changes to courses.

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