Modern War Studies and Contemporary Military History MA (Res)

The University of Buckingham is:<br/>- Home of the two-year degree, the University of Buckingham, based in the South East of England, is ranked 6th for Student Satisfaction in the UK (National Student Survey, 2020).<br/><br/><br/>- We are proudly independent and not-for-profit, and offer courses in Allied Health, Business, Computing, Education, Humanities, Law, Medicine, Psychology and Security and Intelligence. We are one of the few universities in the UK that offer September and January start dates for almost all of our courses.<br/><br/><br/>- Based in Buckingham on a riverside campus, we are only 20 minutes’ from Milton Keynes central station and a short drive from Bicester, Aylesbury, Banbury and Northampton. There is free parking on-site and we are within easy reach of London and Oxford.<br/><br/><br/>- Our award-winning small class tutorials ensure every student is known by name and supported throughout their studies, including by dedicated personal tutors.<br/><br/><br/>- As pioneers of the two-year degree, we offer a condensed version of the traditional three-year degree, meaning you can gain a full honours degree and complete your studies a whole year earlier. Alternatively, you can complete both your undergraduate and master’s degree with us in just three years: saving you time and money.<br/><br/><br/>In a world of uncertainty and rapid change it is more important than ever to study why and how wars are fought. The University of Buckingham’s highly-regarded Master’s degree in Modern War Studies and Contemporary Military History is based in London and provides students with an opportunity to pursue in-depth research into the topic of their choice under expert supervision.<br/><br/>The one-year (two years part time) programme starts in September with an ‘Induction and Research Skills Day’ and culminates, after a period of supervised research, with the submission of a dissertation. During their time of study, candidates are expected to attend both a series of evening seminars held at the Army and Navy Club, Pall Mall, at which some of the most eminent names in the field present papers, and in-depth course Study Day at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. This series of talks examines a range of historical subjects as well as those issues affecting modern defence in all dimensions.<br/><br/>For serving members of the British Armed Forces (regardless of rank) there is a discount on fees of 20%.<br/><br/>A six-month-long variant of this course is also available to all those who have attended the Advanced Command and Staff Course (or its international equivalent).<br/><br/>Individual research topics are closely focused; but the approach of the course is to encourage students to investigate the interconnections between the country house’s multiple facets and roles, rather than to examine it in exclusively architectural-historical terms. Recent dissertations have surveyed, for example, the Baroque mural in country house decoration; the use of music in the country houses during the 1650s; and the professionalisation of the sale of country estates in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The choice of subject area is ultimately the student’s own.<br/><br/>The Master’s degree can be taken either full-time and completed in a single academic year, or taken part-time and extended over two years. Although original research it the prime focus of the programme, there is also a strongly collegial aspect to the course, as all research students meet regularly throughout the year for a series of early-evening seminars by some of the most distinguished scholars working in the history of early-modern England. The seminars are held in the Army and Navy Club in Pall Mall, London, SW1, and provide an opportunity for students to meet and debate with the visiting speaker. Each seminar is followed by a working dinner at which discussion continues. (The full seminar programme is given below.)