M.SC. IN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL HISTORY

INTRODUCTION

The MSc in Economic and Social History is run jointly with the Department of Economics and the Faculty of History.

This one-year specialist course offers a unique framework for research training in economic and social history. It offers a wide range of options and allows you to specialise in economic and/or social history, or historical demography, although the boundaries between these areas are deliberately permeable.

This course is intended to introduce you to the wide variety of methods used in the study of economic and social history, as well as to the subject itself. The core qualifying papers provide an opportunity to evaluate a range of different approaches; they impart a common language, and create a close and friendly community, in which ideas are shared, and strong personal ties are forged, developing a community that provides a base from which to venture out and experience the intellectual, social, and cultural rewards of Oxford.

COURSE STRUCTURE

Through studying this programme, you will develop the techniques, skills and knowledge required to contribute to the study of history from a social science perspective, within a unique framework for research training in economic and social history.

The course extends over eleven months, spread across three terms. In the first term (Michaelmas) students complete the core courses, in the second term (Hilary) students choose two advanced options courses, and the final term (Trinity) is devoted to a dissertation.

An overview of the core structure is outlined below. Further details about the Advanced Options courses can be found at the course website:  https://www.history.ox.ac.uk/msc-mphil-economic-and-social-history

The advanced options of the History of Science and Medicine programmes are also available for Economic and Social History candidates; and candidates may choose – with the support of their supervisor – papers from other suitable MPhil programmes, such as Economics.

ECONOMICS FOR ECONOMICS HISTORIANS (ELECTIVE)

Economics can appear inaccessible to anyone not familiar with its language and method. Yet it remains a versatile and useful approach to the study of social behaviour. The aim of this course is to introduce student to the principles and basic concepts of economics, both in microeconomics and macroeconomics, and to demystify some of the jargon often used in the discipline. Over nine sessions, we will explore various elements in the economist’s ‘toolbox’, placing special emphasis on how these elements are applied to describe and understand the real world.

This course does not assume or require that any prior knowledge of economics or maths. It has also been designed to complement the Economic and Social History MSc/MPhil core courses. It is therefore particularly suited for graduate students who have not previously studied economics and who are interested in gaining a working knowledge of the main concepts in the field. Students with some knowledge of economics, however, might also find it useful for reviewing concepts or clarifying ideas.

 

 

QUANTATIVE METHODS
STANDARD COURSE

Quantitative Methods 1 is designed to help students understand basic quantitative methods with a consideration of historical sources and contexts. It is also meant to develop basic fluency with Stata. While the course does not require any previous knowledge relating to statistics or mathematics, it moves quickly starting with descriptive statistics and ending with basic multiple linear regression. Two homework assignments are due per week, and two separate essays will also be completed over the course. 

ADVANCED COURSE

The required textbook is Wooldridge, Introductory Econometrics: A Modern Approach. All editions are basically interchangeable. The recommended textbook is Angrist and Pischke, Mostly Harmless Econometrics. There are many inexpensive ways to access these books. An alternative to the recommended textbook, if you are afraid of math, is Angrist and Pischke, Mastering ’Metrics. If you would like a remedial introduction that brings you up to speed before the class begins, I recommend Schaum’s Outline of Statistics and Econometrics.

The weekly problem sets and take-home final exam will consist of a few questions from Wooldridge (or similar problems) and some replication exercises.

 

 

WHAT HAPPENED AND WHY

The course is designed (in conjunction with the quantitative methods courses) to prepare graduates for research in economic and social history. It provides an opportunity to view the subject as a whole and to consider its origins, its methodological foundations, its relations with adjacent disciplines and its current trends, achievements, and problems. It presents some of the central methodological issues of the social sciences, and some of their recent advances. It then indicates how these various methodological approaches can be applied to the study of economic and social history.

 

 

  • MERICA IN INTERNATIONAL CONTEXT, 1865-1941: GLOBALIZATION OF CRISIS
  • ANTHROPOMETRIC HISTORY
  • BRITISH FINANCIAL HISTORY SINCE THE TWELFTH CENTURY
  • CRIME AND PUNISHMENT IN BRITAIN: C. 1700-1900
  • DEATH OF A DREAM? SOCIAL DEMOCRACY AND THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF ENGLISH WORKING CLASS SINCE 1945
  • ECONOMIC HISTORY OF EUROPE BETWEEN THE WARS
  • ECONOMY AND SOCIETY IN COLONIAL AFRICA, C. 1800 TO 1960
  • FLOCKS, CROPS AND ROCKS: AUSTRALIAN ECONOMIC HISTORY SINCE 1788
  • GLOBALISATION, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND WORLD WAR II IN SOUTH-EAST ASIA
  • HISTORY FROM BELOW: WORKING-CLASS AUTOBIOGRAPHY AS A SOURCE FOR ECONOMIC HISTORIANS
  • HISTORY OF ECONOMIC THOUGHT
  • INDIAN ENTREPRENEURSHIP: PAST AND PRESENT
  • MACRO-ECONOMIC BEHAVIOUR OF THE BRITISH ECONOMY SINCE 1870
  • NAVIES AND ECONOMIES: BRITAIN AND FRANCE, 1660-1815
  • PEASANT SOCIETIES, ECONOMIES, AND POLITIES: WESTERN EUROPE, C.750 - C.1950
  • PHILOSOPHY AND METHODOLOGY OF ECONOMICS
  • SOCIAL AND CULTURAL CHANGE IN FRANCE, 1600 TO 1720
  • THE ENGLISH COUNTRY HOUSE: ARCHIVES, ARCHITECTURE AND ECONOMIC HISTORY
  • THE GROWTH OF A METROPOLIS: SOCIETY AND ECONOMY IN LONDON, 1550-1700
  • THEMES AND DEBATES IN MODERN BRITISH AGRARIAN HISTORY

A dissertation of not more than 15,000 words on a topic of the student's choice, submitted in August. Students will begin to formulate and plan their dissertation in conjunction with their supervisors from the beginning of the course.

ADMISSION CRITERIA

For full details on the Admissions Criteria for the MSc in Economic and Social History, please visit the Oxford University webpage here.

FEES AND FUNDING

You can find more information about the annual fees for the MSc in Economic and Social History on the Oxford University webpage here by selecting the ‘Funding and Costs tab’.

 

Scholarships

There are over 1,000 full graduate scholarships available across the University, and these cover your course and college fees and provide a grant for living costs. If you apply by the relevant January deadline and fulfil the eligibility criteria you will be automatically considered. Over two thirds of Oxford scholarships require nothing more than the standard course application. Use the Fees, funding and scholarship search to find out which scholarships you are eligible for and if they require an additional application, full details of which are provided.

The January deadline is the latest deadline for the vast majority of Oxford's scholarships. You should ensure that your complete application has been submitted together with all required supporting materials before this deadline.

For two-thirds of Oxford scholarships, nothing more than the standard course application, made in time for the January deadline, is usually required. If you fulfill the eligibility criteria, you will automatically be considered. There are some scholarships for which you specifically apply, and they may use different deadlines. Check the deadlines and other instructions through the Fees, Funding and Scholarship Search.

Below is a list of awards that are available for students applying:

  • Departmental Awards
  • Ertegun Graduate Scholarship
  • Aso Group Scholarship
  • Beit Trust Wadham Scholarship
  • St Cross HAPP MPhil Scholarship in the History of Science and the St Cross MPhil Scholarship in the Humanities and Social Sciences and the St Cross-SBFT Scholarship in the Humanities
  • William R Miller Postgraduate awards
  • Oxford-Rokos Postgraduate awards
  • Milsom Studentship in English Legal History 2017

Candidates will automatically be considered for their eligibility for funding from a number of sources including the AHRC, the Clarendon Fund, Oxford Colleges and benefactors.