History (Intellectual History) MPhil

<strong>The information provided on this page was correct at the time of publication (November 2025). For complete and up-to-date information about this course, please visit the relevant University of Oxford course page via www.graduate.ox.ac.uk/ucas.</strong> <br/><br/>The Intellectual History strand of the MPhil in History takes an interdisciplinary approach, with a chronological and global reach. <br/><br/>The MPhil in History has a sustained period devoted to archival research and writing, and is designed to give you a thorough training in historical research, improve your 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. All strands of the MPhil can serve as either free-standing graduate qualifications, 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 second year. 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. <br/><br/>You will have the opportunity to study thinkers and ideas from the fourth to the twenty-first centuries, in diverse transnational geographical contexts. The course is designed to encourage you to work in and between areas such as Global Intellectual History, the History of Scholarship, the History of Science, the History of Art, Historiography and the History of Political Ideas.<br/><br/>Oxford is home to one of the largest communities of intellectual historians in the world, with expertise in every major area of Intellectual History, supported by world-class resources. Further information about Intellectual History research and activities can be found through the faculty website.<br/><br/>All graduate students are encouraged to engage with the faculty’s lively research culture of seminars, workshops, and discussions groups. There’s something happening nearly every day of the week and sessions often involve leading international scholars. The faculty also runs the Oxford History Graduate Network, which fosters conversation and collaboration between graduate students. Interdisciplinary activities are available through The Oxford Centre for Research in the Humanities (TORCH).<br/><br/>Course structure<br/>You will take two compulsory core courses, a research masterclass, two optional subject courses, and undertake an original research project. Courses and research 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.