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Are you new to higher education study or returning after a break? This Access module – which presents several times a year and is designed to develop the key skills required for successful university study – is an ideal starting point. You may even be able to study for free. This module includes case studies from the field of art history, including one centred on the Turner prize, alongside a range of other subjects, including English literature, English language studies, history and modern languages. The theme of popular protest runs throughout the module and is used to link the various subject areas. This module will also gently introduce you to computing and online learning; the perfect way to gain the study skills you’ll need for the next step in your studies.

This degree will equip you with the knowledge and critical skills to investigate works of art, images, objects and architecture, from the local to the global and from prehistory to the present. This will be a rich and rounded experience as you discover the power of images and works of art to influence debates and shape everyday life. Through your studies, you’ll explore the place of art history and visual cultures in the wider humanities and as a component in the creative and cultural industries, and develop transferable skills in visual literacy, critical thinking, and communication.

To explore the art history modules that make up this qualification select ‘modules’ in the menu to the right.

You can choose to specialise in art history as part of our degree in the arts and humanities, the BA (Honours) Arts and Humanities. You’ll begin with a broad introduction to the arts and humanities at Stage one, then choose two art history modules (one at Stage 2, the other at Stage 3). This will enable you to develop your knowledge and understanding of the art-historical debates while also gaining excellent visual literacy, critical and communication skills. Alongside your study of art history, you can choose to study a second specialism from classical studies, creative writing, English language, English literature, history, modern languages, music, philosophy and religious studies, which will entitle you to include both subjects in the name of your degree, or to complete your degree with modules chosen from a wider range of subjects.

This is one of several specialist routes available in our BA (Honours) Arts and Humanities (R14). The degree starts by developing your understanding of the world we live in through a variety of perspectives, periods and subjects – including creative writing. You’ll then take two specialist creative writing modules, exploring a range of approaches to writing. You will develop your writing skills in several genres including fiction; poetry; life writing; and scriptwriting for film, radio and stage. Through being supported to develop your own pieces of writing, and by engagement with the module materials, you will develop important skills in complex argument and critical commentary.

Alongside your study of creative writing, you can also study a second specialism from art history, classical studies, English language, history, modern languages, music, philosophy and religious studies. This will entitle you to include both subjects in the name of your degree, or complete your degree with modules chosen from a wide range of options.

This is one of several specialist routes available in our BA (Honours) Arts and Humanities (R14). The degree starts by developing your understanding of the world we live in through a variety of perspectives, periods and subjects – including English language. You’ll then take two specialist English language modules, discovering how the English language works, its history, its politics and how it came to be such a hugely influential global language. Using the illustrated module books, and extensive audio, video and interactive material, you’ll explore communication and creativity in language and its written, spoken and visual potential in diverse and changing cultural and technological settings.

Alongside your study of English language, you can choose to study a second specialism from art history, classical studies, creative writing, history, modern languages, music, philosophy and religious studies. This will entitle you to include both subjects in the name of your degree, or complete your degree with modules chosen from a wide range of options.

This is one of several specialist routes available in our BA (Honours) Arts and Humanities (R14). The degree starts by developing your understanding of the world we live in through a variety of perspectives, periods and subjects – including English literature. You’ll then take at least two specialist English literature modules, discovering more about an exciting range of texts produced across many periods and places. You will encounter a range of genres, from poetry to fiction to film, and explore a variety of approaches for reading them. Through engagement with the study materials, contained in the module books and audio-visual resources, you will develop important skills in analysis, evaluation and communication.

Alongside your study of English literature, you can choose to study a second specialism from art history, classical studies, creative writing, history, modern languages, music, philosophy and religious studies. This will entitle you to include both subjects in the name of your degree, or complete your degree with modules chosen from a wide range of options.

This is one of several specialist routes available in our BA (Honours) Arts and Humanities (R14). The degree starts by developing your understanding of the world we live in through a variety of perspectives, periods and subjects – including history. You’ll then take at least two specialist history modules covering different periods of history from around 1500 to the late twentieth century. You’ll tackle such exciting and challenging issues as power and warfare, culture and beliefs, health and medicine, imperialism, class and gender, and learn the skills of the historian in understanding sources, debates and approaches to the past.

Alongside your study of history, you can choose to study a second specialism from tart history, classical studies, creative writing, English language, English literature, modern languages, music, philosophy and religious studies. This will entitle you to include both subjects in the name of your degree, or complete your degree with modules chosen from a wide range of options.

This is one of several specialist routes available in our BA (Honours) Arts and Humanities (R14). The degree starts by developing your understanding of the world we live in through a variety of perspectives, periods and subjects – including music. You'll then take at least two specialist music modules. You'll work with a wide range of musical styles and develop skills in analysing, creating and writing about music.

Alongside your study of music, you can choose to study a second specialism from art history, classical studies, creative writing, English language, English literature, history, modern languages, philosophy and religious studies. This will entitle you to include both subjects in the name of your degree, or complete your degree with modules chosen from a wide range of options.

If you love the written and spoken word, this course is for you. A comprehensive and stimulating introduction to English language and literature, it investigates how the English language is used in a variety of global contexts, and explores literature from different historical periods and in diverse cultural settings. You’ll explore writing and speech in a wide range of forms, and develop your skills in the interpretation of literary and non-literary texts. 

If you are interested in reading between the lines, and being challenged by new ideas and ways of seeing, then this course is for you. English literature is a broad, accessible and important subject. On this course you will study a range of texts dating from around 1570 to the present, from poetry to fiction to film, and discover a variety of approaches for reading them. You will develop your skills of analysis and communication, enabling you to take a fresh look at familiar texts, and to encounter new texts and ideas with confidence.  

This degree course offers a stimulating and wide-ranging introduction to English literature and creative writing. You’ll have the opportunity to study and interpret literature from different historical periods and diverse cultural settings – including translations – and to develop your writing skills in several genres including fiction; poetry; life writing; and scriptwriting for film, radio and stage. 

This wide-ranging course will develop and deepen your knowledge of different periods of history from around 1500 to the late twentieth century. You’ll tackle such exciting and challenging issues as power and warfare, culture and beliefs, health and medicine, imperialism, class and gender – learning the skills of the historian in studying historical materials; exploring how we understand, interpret and debate past events; and investigating a range of critical approaches. 

This wide-ranging course will develop and deepen your knowledge of different periods of history mostly after 1750 while providing a critical understanding of political ideas, institutions, issues and theories. You’ll tackle such exciting and challenging issues as power and warfare, security and insecurity, global justice, culture and beliefs, health and medicine, imperialism and resistance, class and gender. Throughout the course you will be learning the skills of both the political scientist and the historian in studying historical materials and contemporary problems; exploring how we understand, interpret and debate past and current events as well as future trends; and investigating a range of critical approaches to historical and political analysis and understanding in an integrated manner

This degree will broaden and deepen your understanding of a wide range of musical practices (encompassing western art music, jazz, popular music, and non-western musics). You will develop the technical skills to analyse and create music in different styles, and the critical skills to discuss music in relation to its cultural contexts. You will also acquire critical and reflective skills to develop your own musical practice.

Do you want to know more about how people have expressed themselves through the ages and around the world? If so, this module is for you. Studying the arts and humanities helps us to learn about what people thought and felt throughout history, as well as how the things they created influence the world we live in today. The module is built around three themes: 'reputations', 'traditions' and 'crossing boundaries'. It invites you to discover people, events, practices, ideas and works of art from three thousand years ago to the present day. No qualifications or previous study experience are needed, and there is lots of support available to help you succeed if this is your first module at university level.

How are cultures produced and encountered, and why does it matter? These questions are examined in this module through the key themes of place, power, literary ‘classics’, and journeys. You'll learn about contemporary cultures and relationships between cultures throughout history, discover how and why cultural identities emerge, and explore how they are expressed using texts, images and objects. After exploring a range of case studies from classical studies, art history, English literature, and creative writing, you'll investigate these themes with specific reference to your choice of one of these subject areas..

What makes a revolution? Why does the world suddenly change, and what are the consequences? In this module you'll examine four periods of swift and radical change: the Reformation, the French Revolution, the aftermath of World War I, and the 1960s. You’ll look at each from the perspectives of History, Music, Philosophy and Religious Studies, discovering how these disciplinary approaches complement each other and enhance your understanding of continuity and change. In the final part, you'll return to the discipline that most interests you and study a topic or period in greater depth.

This is a foundational module for studying art history, exploring the many and dynamic roles that art, architecture and other artefacts played in human life from prehistory up to 1800 CE, from cave paintings through Byzantine icons to artists’ etchings. In the period before 1800, artworks were not unchanging objects of appreciation destined for museum walls. Instead, they were closely connected to people’s social, economic, political and spiritual lives. In this module, you'll study key examples of this dynamic relationship and learn how to analyse artworks methodically and thoughtfully in their historical contexts.

This module introduces you to the art and visual cultures of the modern period. It consists of five blocks, each centring on a crucial topic or issue that helps to define the distinctiveness of art and visual cultures as they have developed between the mid-eighteenth century and the present day. Each block includes familiar examples such as the Pre-Raphaelites and Impressionism as well as more unexpected material such as taxidermy and satellite imaging. Each block also addresses the local and the global, with material relating to the United Kingdom, its regions and nations, and to more distant contexts and diverse cultures.

This module takes a student-centred approach to creative writing, offering a range of strategies to help you develop as a writer. The emphasis is highly practical, with exercises and activities designed to ignite and sustain the writing impulse. The five-part module starts by showing ways of using your memory and experience and building a daily discipline. This is followed by demonstration and practice of the three most popular forms – writing fiction, writing poetry, and life writing (biography and autobiography). The concluding part aims to demystify the world of agents and publishers, teaching you how to revise and present your work to a professional standard.

The early modern period from 1500 to 1780 is one of the most engaging periods for historical study. Beginning with the upheavals of the Reformation, and ending with the Enlightenment, this was a time of fundamental intellectual, social, religious and cultural change. At the same time, early modern Europe was rooted in and retained many of the customs of medieval times. You will explore this balance of change and continuity through documents written, and (for the first time) printed including diaries, pamphlets, legal documents, bureaucratic records and ballad songs, as well as the images and objects.

In this module you'll think about literature in the light of key contemporary concerns: representation and identity, the environment, politics, and the imagination. Along the way, you'll read books in a diverse range of literary genres, including novels, drama, short stories, poetry, and essays. In your literary encounters, you'll travel in time from the sixteenth century to the twenty-first century and read texts from Britain and around the world.

This module explores the nature of musical sound and the ways that technology can be used by creative musicians. You'll be introduced to the skills needed for making recordings, and the module resources include software packages for analysing and editing recorded sound. You'll study how the physics of sound underlie musical experiences, and investigate the acoustic properties of different instruments. The module aims to deepen your understanding of the nature of sound and to equip you better as a musician, whatever your background and musical interests.

This module is available from Oct. 2018.

How have writers chosen to tell their stories, and why? What techniques do they use to make us believe in the reality of the worlds they create? If you’re interested in finding out in depth about how literature works this module is for you. You'll read gripping stories from across literary history, from Shakespeare to science fiction, from Thomas Hardy to Arundhati Roy, with a particular focus on nineteenth- and twentieth-century novels. This will develop your understanding of key techniques and devices used by writers, as you investigate the historical contexts behind their work and discover new ways of understanding literature.

The British Isles in the long nineteenth century was a place of rapid expansion and growth, when the United Kingdom became the so-called ‘workshop of the world’. It was also a period of conflict and uncertainty, where poverty and political unrest prompted widespread anxieties about the nature progress. Taking up these different perspectives, this module looks at the landmark transformations of the period such as the political union of Britain and Ireland, industrialisation, the growth of cities, and the expansion of the British Empire. By focusing on one century, this module provides space for a deep engagement with historical method and debate.

This introduction to the fundamentals of music will allow you to understand and use music notation. You’ll study the elements of music and how these are assembled into larger musical structures, focusing on music encountered in Western traditions (popular and classical). You’ll learn to make sense of a wide variety of notated music, and you’ll be encouraged to make meaningful connections between the topics you study and your own experiences and tastes through independent study. You’ll develop practical musicianship skills, using professional music-notation software, that will provide you with a grounding for arranging and composing.

This diploma includes the same modules as the first two years of the BA (Hons) in Art History and Visual Cultures. It will equip you with the knowledge and critical skills to understand the part that art, architecture and design have played in everyday life. You will discover the ways that images, environments and artefacts communicate meaning and value through being looked at and handled in both past and present. You will explore the power of images to influence debates, both historically and in the present day, and develop transferable skills in visual literacy.

This diploma of higher education encompasses a wide range of fascinating disciplines including art history, classical studies, creative writing, English language, English literature, French, German, history, music, philosophy, religious studies and Spanish. As you work through the course, you’ll develop your cultural literacy and deepen your understanding of the past – while sharpening your critical awareness and skills of debate and analysis.  

This diploma offers stimulating options in English literature, English language and creative writing. Whether it’s reading between the lines, exploring the written and spoken word, or developing your writing skills in several genres, this qualification is for you. Depending on options chosen, it provides opportunities to encounter a range of texts from different historical periods and diverse cultural settings; to explore English language use in global contexts; and to develop and reflect on your own writing practice.

This wide-ranging course will develop your knowledge of different periods of history from around 1500 to the twentieth century. You’ll tackle such exciting and challenging issues as power and warfare, culture and beliefs, health and medicine, imperialism, class and gender. You’ll begin to develop the skills of the historian in studying historical materials; exploring how we understand, interpret and debate past events; and investigating a range of critical approaches.

This wide-ranging course will develop your knowledge of different periods of history mostly after 1750 while providing a critical understanding of political issues, concepts and institutions. You’ll tackle such exciting and challenging issues as power and equality, debates in politics at the national and global level, culture and beliefs, imperialism and resistance, class and gender. Throughout the course you will be learning the skills of both the political scientist and the historian in studying historical materials and contemporary political debates; exploring how we understand, interpret and debate past events as well as analysing contested political issues and future trends; and investigating a range of critical approaches to historical and political analysis and understanding in an integrated manner.

This diploma will broaden and deepen your understanding of music through study of a wide range of genres (including western art music, jazz, popular music, and non-western musics). You will develop the technical skills to analyse and create music in different styles, and examine the technologies that are used to produce, manipulate and transmit music.

This module presents a new history of art, starting with the Renaissance, when Europeans encountered a new range of desirable objects from across the globe. It then explores the role of art and architecture in colonial expansion up to 1800, before looking in depth at art and culture in British India. It concludes by analysing the globalisation of artistic practice from the twentieth century to the present day. The module highlights the vital role that art has played in the stories that Europeans have told about the wider world, and suggests ways in which these stories might be challenged or revised. See sample material.

Empires have had a remarkable impact on world history over the last five centuries. This module explores empires thematically, looking at their origins, rule, the experiences of imperialists and their subjects, forces of resistance, and imperial decay and legacies. The British empire is covered in detail along with its European counterparts and Asian empires: Ottoman, Mughal, and China. The module is about half online, and uses sources – including personal journals, oral histories, court records, film and photographs – to explore the perspectives of a wide range of people: from rulers and resisters to ordinary subjects.

This module will give you an overview of Europe's twentieth-century history. It begins with Europe on the eve of the First World War and ends with the reunification of Germany at the end of the Cold War. As well as analysing political and military developments, it will introduce you to the key themes in Europe’s economic, social, medical and cultural history. A central focus of the module is how historians have studied the period. You will be introduced to historical debates, and to the vast resources for the study of twentieth-century history that are now being made available online.

This module explores themes that have shaped the British Isles, from medieval lordship and conflict, through the spread of Protestantism and the industrial revolution, to political protest and the rise of nationalism in an era of globalisation. By studying this module you will gain the skills you need to write a final 6,000-word dissertation, in which you will carry out an in-depth investigation of a topic that you select. Throughout this online module you will work together with other students to form a tight knit ‘learning community’, sharing ideas and sources and helping to improve one another’s work.

Advanced creative writing develops your writing ability by widening your generic range and developing your knowledge of style. The module works on the forms introduced in the OU level 2 module Creative writing (A215) – fiction, poetry and life writing – and supplements these with dramatic writing, showing you how to write for stage, radio and film. You’ll explore how these scriptwriting skills might enhance your prose style, improve your writing across the range of forms, and further develop your individual style and voice. The module offers guidance on professional layouts for the dramatic media, and is a natural progression from Creative writing (A215).

This is a dissertation module, designed as the final stage in your degree journey. Prior study of art history is strongly recommended. Over three taught blocks, with module books and online study, you will work with ways of approaching works of art, architecture, and design within the discipline of art history. A336 is about thinking, and writing, with critical analysis. How do you identify what art means? Why is art connected to society? How do visual works communicate? Can art explain ideas? You’ll be introduced to some key authors and their works and shown through case studies how you can apply their ideas and methods to a range of art works. The case studies have a global scope and delve into prehistory as well as reaching into contemporary art. Writing as a craft is an important theme, leading up to your choice of dissertation project. Block 4 is your dissertation, supported by two teaching weeks, in which you produce either a 7000-word academic dissertation OR a 5000 word dissertation plus a 2000 word discussion and rewriting of your dissertation in a public-facing format.

What does music mean? What does it do? These are the queries at the heart of this module. You will explore how music conveys meanings and impacts its social contexts, before moving into investigations of audiences, performances, and film music. The module incorporates a focus on the transmission of music, examining how it is edited, notated, and recorded. The final part looks at music in relation to specific social and historical contexts, incorporating case studies of works of western art music from the eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth centuries.

This module, offered by Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in collaboration with the Music at the OU, is aimed at practising musicians engaged in degree-level study of music. Students may be active in any genre of music, and there is no specific level of technical attainment required to register. Students examine their own and other musical practices, methods of developing and improving technical and practical skills, and the cultural place and value of different performance contexts. The module includes a residential school.

This module takes you on an engaging journey through a diverse selection of great literature from 1570 to 1818. You will focus on two globally recognised writers in English: the playwright William Shakespeare and the novelist, Jane Austen. Your literary journey from Shakespeare to Austen will include Renaissance poetry (Donne, Spenser) and drama (Kyd, The Spanish Tragedy), Restoration comedy (Wycherley, The Country Wife), 18th century fiction (Swift, Gulliver’s Travels), Oriental tales (Arabian Nights), travel writing (Montagu’s Turkish Embassy Letters), autobiography (Rousseau, Confessions) and Romantic ballads. 

This module draws you into the main currents of literature from 1800 to the present day. You will engage with some of the most stimulating literary works ever written, and track the seismic historical transitions and transformations relevant to them – with an eye on our present and the future. Numerous major authors are offered for close critical study (Dickens, Tennyson, Woolf, T.S. Eliot, Dylan Thomas, Winterson, and others), alongside exciting but relatively neglected authors. Influential literary movements and critical interventions will be discussed, while leaving ample space for your own ideas. The module has three parts: Realities, Movements, Futures.

This module is offered in collaboration with the University of Dundee and can count towards Q01, R14 and the Open degree (QD). It looks at the history of Scotland from the Anglo-Norman reforms of the twelfth century to the Union of Parliaments with England in 1707. It therefore covers the Wars of Independence, the Stewarts kingdom of the late medieval period and the Renaissance, the Reformation, and the civil wars of the seventeenth century. As well as political and religious history, it includes units on social and cultural themes. All students planning to study this module should read this guidance.

This module is offered in collaboration with University of Dundee that can count towards Q01, R14 and the Open degree (QD). The Modern History module covers the period from the union of 1707 to the creation of the Scottish parliament in 1997. The module examines the social, political, religious and economic factors that have shaped modern Scotland, from high politics to the impacts of urbanisation, industrial growth and decline, and religion and everyday life. All students planning to study this module should read this guidance.

This certificate provides a broad introduction to the arts and humanities, including history, art history, philosophy, classical studies, religious studies, music and English – expanding your cultural horizons while training you to think and argue clearly. Apart from sheer enjoyment, it offers excellent preparation for further study and will give your career prospects a boost. 

If you have a passion for the arts and are looking for an intellectual challenge, this certificate course provides you with an excellent opportunity to upgrade your qualifications. You will deepen your understanding of art history, classical studies, music, philosophy or creative writing, while developing advanced research and analytical skills that will give you the edge in today’s competitive jobs market and prepare you for further academic study.

This postgraduate diploma will suit anyone with appropriate entry qualifications who has a passion for the arts and humanities and is looking for an intellectual challenge. At present our postgraduate diploma includes subject lines in English and history.

Our MA in English Literature introduces you to studying literature, poetry, drama and prose in relation to culture and across three broad themes. These are literary-popular culture, which includes exploring genre writing, the bestseller and mass literary production; revolution and literature, in which you’ll encounter texts representing revolutionary social or political change; and global literary cultures where you’ll look at English literature as an international literary form. The structure of this masters degree allows you to select options and specialise throughout the first year in preparation for the more sustained self-directed work of the dissertation in year two.

The MA in Art History draws upon the exciting research and outstanding teaching expertise of the department. Studying art history at postgraduate level will deepen your understanding of art, architecture and visual culture, build your analytical and critical skills, and develop the skills needed for independent study and research. You'll start by exploring the core concepts and recent developments that have shaped art history from Renaissance Italy to the contemporary Caribbean, before building on these foundations to expand your understanding of visual and material objects – incorporating architecture, art and design. You'll complete this degree by researching and writing a dissertation on an agreed topic of your own devising.

For a more detailed introduction to this qualification, please select ‘MA in Art History’ in the menu to the right.

This qualification is an exciting opportunity to develop your skills as a writer in fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction and scriptwriting for film, radio and the stage. You will be able to write in a genre of your choice and experiment with at least one other through practical and inspiring activities. You will hone your writing practice through sharing, reading and critiquing work in progress, and will work towards producing a substantial piece of your own creative writing to a professional standard. 

If you have a passion for history and are looking for an intellectual challenge, this fascinating MA course could be what you are looking for. It explores aspects of British and Irish local and regional history between 1750 and 1950, introducing the key themes of Poverty and welfare, Crime, Police and Penal Policy, The role of families, Urban History, Religion and Industrialisation. Using our world-class collection of online primary source materials, you will be encouraged to produce an independent research project on a topic of your choice.

Our Masters degree in Music introduces you to the diverse topics and methods of music research and equips you with the critical skills to pursue your own research interests in music. You’ll develop your ability to analyse and interpret musical sources and practices, to understand and apply theories to develop your own arguments, and to communicate effectively to a variety of different audiences. You’ll also encounter musical practices and genres from a wide range of places and time periods and have the opportunity to follow your own musical interests. This qualification will be ideal if you wish to pursue higher-level academic research or if you want to advance your career in music education or the creative industries.

The purpose of this module is to build on your existing knowledge of art history and develop your analytical and research skills. It explores both the foundational concepts that have shaped art history and recent developments in the discipline, with reference to subject areas ranging from Renaissance Italy to the contemporary Caribbean. Studying it will prepare you for the dissertation module MA Art History part 2 where you will have the opportunity to plan, research and write an extended piece of work based on your own art-historical interests.

This module aims to broaden understandings of ‘Art History’ in terms of methods, materials, spaces and sites of practice. It explores relationships between visual arts and the public realm by examining contexts within which art, architecture and design are situated and mediated, ranging from consideration of the professional practice of art historians, within and outside academia, to exploring public realms of print media and the built environment. Central to the module is the development of subject specific research skills and practices which build throughout the module towards the dissertation.

Building on skills learned at undergraduate level or as a practising writer, this module helps to harness your individual strengths, helping you to generate and develop ideas. You will build a disciplined practice of writing in a genre of your choice (fiction, poetry, scriptwriting or creative non-fiction), while also experimenting with at least one other genre. You will develop a practical focus, come to read as a writer, encounter texts from various cultural settings, while refining your analytical and editorial skills. You will learn about professional writing practice, and hone your writing skills through sharing, reading and critiquing work-in-progress.

This module is the second part of the MA in Creative Writing. You will build on skills that you have acquired in part 1, whilst at the same time being challenged to develop those skills further in your primary genre specialism.

Throughout this module you will specialise in one of four writing genres: fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction or script. The module is organised into four teaching blocks and a further section of independent study where you will develop your ideas into a sustained piece of creative writing produced to a professional level.

Our MA in English Literature introduces you to studying literature ‘in the world’ across three broad themes: ‘Literature and the Popular’, ‘Literature and Revolution’ and ‘Literature and the Global’. You’ll also have a wide choice of optional texts: from early-modern manuscripts to detective fiction; and from classical tragedy to the global short story. You’ll encounter actual archives and databases and be introduced to digitised manuscripts and other original materials as you develop skills in research and analysis. You’ll also work like a professional researcher using specific approaches, following up clues, reviewing context, and making exciting discoveries about your topic.

This module requires you to produce a dissertation on a subject in Literary Studies of your own choice. The opening block guides you in drafting a detailed research proposal, and also introduces strategies for communicating your research to non-university audiences. The remainder of the module is dedicated to writing the dissertation. Working in close dialogue with your own personal tutor, you'll proceed from the initial proposal to submit drafts of the first two chapters before submitting the final dissertation.

This is the first of two modules which together lead to the award of the MA in History and immerse you in the craft of doing history. You'll have the opportunity to specialise in the study of Britain and Ireland during either the early modern or the modern period, and you can choose from a range of themes to explore in depth. These include the body, popular politics, interpersonal violence, immigration, the environment and institutions. Along with the digital skills you'll gain from studying, you'll develop the skills to an advanced level in locating and using primary and secondary sources and in the communication of research to various audiences.

This module provides an exciting opportunity to engage deeply with a historical topic that interests you through the preparation and execution of your own independent research project. This module has been designed to support you in the planning, research and writing of a dissertation on a topic that you choose yourself. This will also build on the specialist themes that you have studied during the first part of our MA in History and informed by feedback from your supervisor.

You will be introduced to the breadth and depth of the study of music, including elements of historical musicology, ethnomusicology, feminist musicology, organology, music and technology and more. Case studies drawn from the research of every member of the OU Music staff throughout the module ensure a wide cultural and geographical scope. Independent study is a key part of the module, allowing you to pursue study in your own area of interest. The module is accessible and relevant to those who have a vocational or leisure interest in music.

In Part 2 of the MA in Music (available from September 2025), you will plan and implement a dissertation project on a subject of interest to you. An initial block of teaching material provides guidance for developing projects in five areas of music study: historical musicology, critical and hermeneutical studies, ethnographic research, practice-led research, and popular music studies. At the conclusion of this block, you will submit and receive feedback on a proposal in which you outline your project plan. The remaining weeks of study are devoted to researching and writing up the 13,000-word dissertation that is the culmination of your MA studies.