History (Modern) MA: What our students say

"I've had a life-long interest in local history - I started when I was 14 by writing some articles on my home town Braintree in Essex for the local paper. My book on the town was published a few years later when I was in my late teens and even had an official launch.

"I went on to study English at university. I always regretted this choice and wished I'd done history. So the chance to take this MA and develop my interest has been wonderful. The course has been very enjoyable and the teaching is excellent.

"My interest in local history and researching original sources inspired me to be a journalist. I joined the BBC as a graduate trainee and served as a political correspondent in the '80s - a very interesting time - and as foreign correspondent. Since moving into education, I've written several books on the subject. But my dream is to write some books on history when I have more time in retirement or semi-retirement.

"The MA has not only improved my research skills, but has also given me a lot of pleasure. I've been able to study areas I didn't expect to. For example, I've just completed an essay on the Irish famine, which has taught me how to use different lcal sources of information. My computing skills have also improved. A great deal of local history research involves exploiting statistics in databases and this has been a steep learning curve for me.

"Students can choose any area of the country for their dissertation. I am writing about the development of north Kingston in the nineteenth century, looking at whether it was a slum or suburb. As I live in Kingston it's been great to find out more about the area - I now walk around my local streets feeling as if I'm in nineteenth century Kingston.

"As I've enjoyed the MA so much I'm tempted to go on to do a PhD. But I do need to give my family a break before embarking on further study as I've had to work a lot at the weekends over the last two years. In the meantime, I can delve into archives with a purpose."