MA in History - Colonial and Global History (Research)

Leiden University

The Colonial and Global History (research) programme at Leiden University offers the most in-depth and comprehensive programme of European expansion and globalisation currently available in Europe.

Why study Colonial and Global History (research) at Leiden University?

You will join a research master's programme in which you will explore how worldwide political, economic, cultural and religious contacts shaped processes that led to the development of regional identities and the formation of states. Although the programme highlights the global connections and entanglements made by conquest, trade and migration, you will gain a unique comparative understanding of European imperialism and its impact on Asia, Africa and South America.

Join a highly stimulating academic environment

You will join an international cohort of students and researchers who have chosen Leiden University and the Colonial and Global History (research) programme on the basis of the department’s internationally-acclaimed research and its Cosmopolis scholarship programme. In a highly stimulating and international academic environment, you will participate in the latest debates in the field of colonial and global history and you will contribute yourself to the progress of that field by investigating unexplored primary sources.

Focus on Maritime History

You can also choose to focus on Maritime History. Maritime history, a field which has enjoyed a real renaissance in the past two decades, encompasses humankind’s relationships to the seas and oceans of the world. Besides economic, political and nautical themes, there is a new attention to social and cultural phenomena and the relation between maritime and global history, and between maritime history and cultural heritage institutions. Leiden University is the only university within the Netherlands with its own master’s specialisation in Maritime History.

Benefit from excellent resources

Leiden University is the perfect place to study Colonial and Global History on the basis of the massive archival collections of its East and West India Company (VOC and WIC) in the National Archives and the Royal Library in The Hague (15 minutes from Leiden). The programme offers tailor-made methodological and practical courses to access and optimally use these unexplored materials to open a truly unique window on early modern Asian, African and American societies.

Colonial and Global History (research) degree

Colonial and Global History (research) at Leiden University is an accredited degree programme. After successful completion of this programme, you will receive a research master’s degree in History and the title Master of Arts (MA).

Career prospects

Create a world of opportunities with a master's degree from Leiden University.

What our graduates do

Our graduates end up working in a diverse range of positions, examples include:

• PhD candidate at a university in England
• PhD candidate at a Dutch university
• Assistant publisher at a large publishing house
• Online content specialist at a PR company
• Project officer for video and audio-visual collections at a provincial archive
• Policy officer at a city council
• Researcher and teaching staff member at Leiden University
• Communications advisor at a consultancy firm
• Coordinating strategy advisor at a ministry of security and justice