Undergraduate

Undergraduate students are not formally members of the Centre, but are welcome to join in with many Centre activities: there may be opportunities to develop research skills on bigger projects and public engagement activities (sometimes as paid research assistants); and students are encouraged to attend CHM's research seminars, especially if they are considering going on to postgraduate studies.

Across the three years of the degree you will find an exciting selection of modules in the History of Medicine, Science and Technology. Recent examples include: Mind, Body and Society (Year 1), Being Human: Human Nature from the Renaissance to Freud (Year 2); Science in the Early Modern World (Year 2); Race and Science: Histories and Legacies (Year 2); Measuring Society: Social Sciences and Social Problems in Twentieth Century Britain (Year 2); Surveillance States: Biometrics from the Border to the Bathroom (Year 2); Medicine, Empire and the Body (Year 3); Socialist Bodies: Dreams and Realities of the Physical in Soviet Russia (Year 3); The Early Modern Body (Year 3); Science, Technology and Global Politics, 1900 to the Present (Year 3); and Madness and Society (Year 3).

Postgraduate

Postgraduate students in CHM can expect to be part of a thriving and supportive community of MA, MPhil and PhD students, postdoctoral researchers, academic staff and the wide range of CHM Associate members and other contacts. There is a very good ‘collegiate’ atmosphere, with plenty of formal, informal, academic and social interaction.

The Centre offers PhD supervision for a wide variety of medical humanities topics. The People page will show you some of the specialisms of our core academic staff. We are also able to draw on the expertise of staff across the History Department and beyond.

Masters

The History Department offers an MA in History of Medicine for students who want a taught MA course. This includes a module introducing you to Themes and Methods in Medical History in Term 1; a module in which students take a lead in interviewing staff about book projects in the second term, Matters of Life and Death; and a final 20,000 word Dissertation. There is also the opportunity to take optional modules from the broad range available across the Department's MA programme.

Through the generous support of the Wellcome Trust, CHM is currently able to consider applications for MA Studentships to support study in the MA in the History of Medicine. Details on this and other funding available to support MA and PhD study are available on the History Department webpages. Please also feel free to contact the CHM Director, Professor Roberta Bivins, for further information.

Postdoctoral

CHM's doctoral students can apply for workspace in the Faculty of Arts Building. Postgraduate students also have access to the CHM's own library which is stocked with a good collection of key historical works as well as a unique collection of psychological books from the early twentieth century.

Students participate in (and sometimes organise) a very busy programme of events of all kinds. There are conferences, workshops and seminars, many with external speakers, but also 'reading lunches', 'work in progress fora' and support sessions to extend students’ skills. There are also opportunities to contribute to our public engagement projects – in the past, students have worked on a theatre production on Madness and Migration and organised a series of public exhibitions in the local hospital.

Students who are not formally part of CHM but who are taking some History of Medicine modules or have overlapping interests are also welcome to join us for many of our activities.