In some ways, the task of the researcher in the humanities, often now exploiting collections of digitised texts, images and sounds, and connected to wider communities through discussion groups, blogs, and mailing lists, has been made easier: but the MA training is about developing your discrimination and confidence in handling what may be a bewildering mass of primary sources, navigating the specialist historiography, and helping to develop your own academic voice.
And there’s a real privilege for us as the academic staff, in the seminars or leading the lectures, to participate in the conversations you’ll have about the nature of history, and in guiding your research projects. If this is the stepping stone to further historical work by you, in a PhD, then you are the future of the subject! But studying the MA will give you training useful for a range of careers, and the public history module is especially geared to give you practical insights into the ‘uses of history’ outside academia. When you study at Plymouth, you are a valued part of the research-active community, and will be encouraged to join in the ‘making of history’ with your own research projects and involvement in research seminars.
