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History: American History

Master

New MA-students (including those still in the admittance procedure) are required to attend the MA introduction on Tuesday 7 September, 15-16h, in the LIPSIUS building / room 002, 15-16h.

Literature Seminar [10 ECTS]

Students start their programme with a Literature Seminar, whether they start in September or February.

Research Seminar [10 ECTS]

Students follow one Research Seminar in the first semester of their programme. Students starting in September follow their Research Seminar in the Fall Semester, students starting in February in the Spring Semester.

Optional Courses [10 ECTS]

Students follow one or two optional courses. All MA courses offered at level 400 or higher can be followed as ‘Optional Course’. These may comprise MA-courses offered by Leiden University (including any Literature and Research seminars offered by the Department of History, subject to availability of space) and those offered by other universities.

You can either follow one course of 10 ECTS or two of 5 ECTS. It is advisable to take these courses in the first semester of the programme, but it is possible to take them in the second semester, provided you start already with the thesis in the first semester.

Please note that although the titles of both Literature Seminars differ, the content will be essentially the same. I.e. it is not allowed to take one of the two as an Optional Course.

Thesis and exam [30 ECTS]

The Master’s Programme will be concluded by a 30 ECTS MA-thesis. This thesis will be based on original research and will be ca. 23.000 words in size. Students are guided in writing their thesis by thesis supervisors. Students are also expected to follow a thesis seminar. This seminar consists of a number of meetings in which students are given the opportunity to present their work and to comment on the work of others. The seminar aims at providing students with some additional support in the writing process as well as achieving further uniformity where practical matters are concerned. Before graduation students sit for a final exam for which they defend their thesis and answer questions on additional literature.

First Year

Vak EC Semester 1 Semester 2

Literature Seminar
Major Issues in American History 10
Readings in American History 10

Research Seminar
Black-Jewish Relations in the United States 10
The American Civil Rights Movement 10

Other Literature and Research Seminars offered by the History Dept. (that may be taken as an Optional Course)
“ Vive la Commune!” Mythology and afterlife of the Paris Commune of 1871 10
Ancient futures. Time, change, and prediction 10
Aspects of maritime history 10
Cross-cultural Connections, 1492-1776: Trade, Marriage and Business Networks 10
Current Debates in Medieval and Early Modern European History 10
Do Archivists make History? The Role of Appraisal and Selection of Archives on Historical Research 10
Dutch intercontinental Trade and Shipping in the 19th and early 20th century 10
Economic Development of Southeast Asia 10
From Mediterraneans to Empires 10
Mapping the Indian Ocean World 1600-1800 10
Markets, institutions and economic growth 10
Mars and Mercury. The effect of violence and war on international trade, 1400-1650 10
Martyrs, myths and miracles. Religious minorities and their past in the Dutch Republic 10
Material culture and tradition of festivities 10
Migration and integration 10
Nationality in Imperial and Soviet Russia 10
Political Culture and National Identities 10
Political Debate 10
Public Debate in the Netherlands 10
Roman Athens 10
Roman Social History 10
Seminar in African History: Statelessness in African History 5
Sexuality in Medieval and Renaissance Europe 10
Social and economic history of the United States 10
The Archival Basis 10
The Dutch Jeddah-office. Information gathering activities by the Dutch colonial state 10
The European Civil War, 1914-1945 10
The Rise of Rome and the Unification of the Mediterranean 10
Thinking about the underclass, migration, urbanization and the welfare state: ideologies and policies in Europe and the U.S. since the 1840s. 10
Trade for Slave Societies: The Rise and Fall of Sint-Eustatius, 1775-1785 10
What’s the problem? Old and New Debates on Migration 10