Program Overview

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MA Renaissance and Early Modern Studies

Immerse yourself in the sources and scholarship that will bring this dynamic period vividly to life.

Overview

Year of entry: 2026 (September)

Course Details

• Start date: September 2026
• Length: 1 year full-time, 2 years part-time
• School/department: Centre for Renaissance and Early Modern Studies

Course Content

You'll take a mix of core and option modules. These modules are taken from one of our eight contributing departments: English, History, History of Art, Archaeology, School of Arts and Creative Technologies, Philosophy and Politics. Topics could range from historic building analysis to early modern fashion, and Shakespeare to the representation of women.

Modules

• Core modules
  • Approaches to Renaissance and Early Modern Studies
  • Research Training
• Option modules You will study three option modules. Our option modules vary from year to year, depending upon the interests and availability of staff. In previous years, options have covered topics such as:
  • Archaeology
    • Domestic Historic Interiors
    • Issues in Cultural Heritage Conservation
  • English
    • Cosmopoetics: Renaissance Science and Poetry
    • Early Modern Theories of Everything
    • Greening the Renaissance. Theology, Science & the Natural World, 1600 - 1700
    • Healing, Harming, Feeling: Medical Hermeneutics in Early Modern Literature
    • Shakespeare
    • Why Read Literature?: Lessons from the Renaissance (and Beyond)
  • History
    • Becoming British? Cultures and Identities in the Early Modern Atlantic World
    • History from below stairs: domestic service in Britain and Ireland,
    • Persecution and Toleration in Early Modern Britain
    • Smell and the Past: Noses and Environments from the Rome to Virtual Reality
    • Topics in the History of Political Thought
    • Violence in Early Modern Europe,
    • Women in Early Modern England: Gender, Print and Politics
  • History of Art
    • Fashion: Theories, Materials and Images )
    • The Domestic Interior in Italy c

Dissertation

• Research Dissertation In summer, you'll complete a research dissertation of 12,000-14,000 words. With support from the Research Training Programme, you'll decide on your topic and submit a proposal during the spring. You'll then be assigned a dissertation supervisor, who will discuss and guide the direction of your research.

Fees and Funding

Annual tuition fees for 2026/27

• Study mode | UK (home) | International and EU
  • Full-time (1 year) | £12,000 | £26,900
  • Part-time (2 years) | £6,000 | £13,450

Additional costs

• There is no obligation to purchase books or other texts - all core texts and resources will be available in our library or online.
• There are normally one or two field trips, which CREMS will usually fund, but you may be asked to pay an admission fee to sites visited.
• You'll be expected to pay for your own photocopying.

Funding information

• Discover your funding options to help with tuition fees and living costs.
• We'll confirm more funding opportunities for students joining us in 2026/27 throughout the year.
• If you've successfully completed an undergraduate degree at York you could be eligible for a 10% Masters fee discount.

Teaching and Assessment

Teaching format

• Most of your modules will consist of weekly two-hour seminars. The research training module will be taught through three-hour workshops. You will normally work in small groups of fewer than 20 students.

Facilities

• You'll have access to a wealth of resources, including the York Minster Library, the Borthwick Institute for Archives, the National Centre for Early Music. Some of the UK's finest surviving early modern houses, including Hardwick Hall, Bolsover Castle, Haddon Hall and Burton Agnes, are also only a short distance away.

Teaching location

• Teaching will be based on Campus West. Many of our staff are based in the beautiful Grade ll listed Heslington Hall, a hub with space for events and student collaboration.

Assessment and feedback

• You will submit an essay for each module of approximately 3,500-4,000 words. You'll also have the opportunity to submit formative essays, which do not count towards your final degree mark, but will give you valuable feedback for you to apply to your final assessed essays.

Careers and Skills

Career opportunities

• museum and gallery curator
• university lecturer and researcher
• gallery invigilator
• associate for an NGO
• book and magazine publisher
• university administrator

Transferable skills

• time management
• archival skills
• digital skills
• critical thinking
• presentation skills
• problem-solving
• statistical skills

Entry Requirements

Qualification

• Undergraduate degree | 2:2 or equivalent in a relevant subject.
• Other international qualifications | Equivalent qualifications from your country

English language

• If English isn't your first language you may need to provide evidence of your English language ability. We accept the following qualifications:
  • IELTS (Academic and Indicator) | 6.5, minimum 6.0 in each component
  • Cambridge CEFR | B2 First: 176, with 169 in each component
  • Oxford ELLT | 7, minimum of 6 in each component
  • Oxford Test of English Advanced | 136, minimum 126 in each component
  • Duolingo | 120, minimum 105 in all other components
  • LanguageCert SELT | B2 with 33/50 in each component
  • LanguageCert Academic | 70 with a minimum of 65 in each component
  • Kaplan Test of English Language | 478-509, with 444-477 in all other components
  • Skills for English | B2: Merit overall, with Pass with Merit in each component
  • PTE Academic | 61, minimum 55 in each component
  • TOEFL | 87, minimum of 21 in each component
  • Trinity ISE III | Merit in all requirements

If you haven't met our English language requirements

• You may be eligible for one of our pre-sessional English language courses. These courses will provide you with the level of English needed to meet the conditions of your offer.