Master of Arts in History

at Anglia Ruskin University - Cambridge Campus United Kingdom

Focusing a range of periods and themes including British and global histories, race and politics, gender, sexuality and the body, and also how we recreate history, you’ll take part in hands-on historical research to make sense of how past events have shaped our world today.

Cambridge is the perfect place to study history. Thanks to our close links with local organisations, you’ll find yourself handling historical objects, leafing through archival material, and working with museum professionals, as well as engaging with digital sources and archives.

There’s also the chance to study abroad for a semester, take part in European field trips, and go on work placements as you prepare for a career in many different fields including business, management, local government, heritage, museums and more.

As a history student at ARU, you'll form an understanding of why people and societies think and behave as they do – and how these actions can echo down the centuries. This historical insight will sharpen your ability to analyse and tackle complex problems, such as how social divisions arise and dictators come to power. You’ll also form an awareness of the limitations of our knowledge and the dangers of simplistic explanations.

These are important skills, with the World Economic Forum listing complex problem solving and critical thinking as two of the top 10 skills we need to thrive in today’s workforce.

In Years 2 and 3, our optional modules allow you to explore the areas of history that interest you most, with topics including the First World War, modern British politics, sport, the Russian Revolution and histories of everyday life. There is even a class on the history of James Bond! Meanwhile, your Undergraduate Major Project lets you complete a substantial piece of research work so that you become a historian in your own right.

You’ll be supported by staff, recognised as leaders in their field, whose expertise ranges from British imperialism and Victorian studies, to modern politics, gender history and the history of sense and emotions. It’s no surprise that our BA (Hons) History degree came 4th in the UK for ‘Satisfied with Teaching’ in The Guardian University Guide 2019 – and received an overall satisfaction score of more than 94% in the National Student Survey 2020.

Performing is at the core of our Drama degree at ARU.

With our BA (Hons) Drama degree, we’ll help you to grow into a confident, versatile and exciting drama practitioner with transferable skills to suit the field you want to work in.

With a strong focus on performance, you’ll get to work on public productions as well as smaller-scale projects, exploring practices from the 20th century onwards and devising your own productions.

We’ll encourage you to create innovative and daring performance practice as you develop expertise in group collaboration alongside your own solo performances. You’ll also get the chance to weight your studies to suit your interests, be that drama practice, specialising in backstage production or even theatre administration.

You’ll follow an experiential 'learning-through-doing' programme and your degree will see you choosing from a range of career-focused optional modules, completing a 100% practical Major Project, and graduating with a professionally produced showreel and portfolio.

As a student here, you’ll develop your technical and production skills in our specialist facilities. Our technical staff will be on hand to offer help and support.

You can also choose to study abroad for a semester, with funding available to help cover the cost

Closer to home, you can connect with Cambridge’s performance scene through our links to local networks such as Cambridge Arts Network and Cambridge Live. You’ll get the chance to perform in public venues around Cambridge as well as on campus, in the Mumford Theatre and Covent Garden Studio.

Experience being part of a professional troupe with our very own Community Theatre Company and take the chance to perform and collaborate with other creative industries students.

Learn to create images that tell compelling stories, whether your dream is to be a fashion or fine art photographer or a photojournalist.

As a photography student at ARU you’ll explore many areas of photographic practice including digital and analogue image-making, experimental crossovers, multimedia, self-publishing and exhibition.

Take full advantage of our specialist darkrooms, photographic studios, and digital post-production and printing suite. You can also borrow specialist camera equipment through our dedicated loan service.

All your work will be supported by academic staff working at the forefront of photographic research and innovation and have years of professional experience. You will be taught through individual tutorial and studio sessions, as well as in group lectures and workshops, with regular career development events throughout your study. Recent guest speakers have included Tom Hunter, Jane Hilton, Tim Flach, Hannah Starkey, Carole Evans, Alastair Levy, Mike Crawford and Lillian Wilkie.

Through continuous experimentation, you’ll be encouraged to refine your photographic style and voice.

Critical and contextual studies will connect your own research and writing to your practice and will guide you to specialist resources in our campus library. Explore hundreds of photographers’ monographs and access technical and contextual texts, as well as other online resources, to underpin and expand your practice.

You can expand your skillset, with additional technical workshops including printmaking, 3D work and writing workshops. You can choose to take part in photography field trips too, and experience photographing different locations such as Venice and Prague.

While studying BA (Hons) Photography with us, you’ll learn to adopt a professional approach to your work, covering aspects of career management such as rights issues, project management and self-promotion through social media. You can choose to take up work placements that will help you establish your own professional network, including opportunities such as working for magazines, galleries and photographers. You can also take an optional placement year.

Broaden your expertise through the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques. In a world reliant on data to improve processes and monitor success, this course will help you gain transferable skills in AI to benefit your work place. It's been designed in response to the high demand for experts in big data analysis and modelling. Choose to take an optional 12-week work placement as part of your course and boost your employability.

The combined effect of the big volume of data availability on a global scale and a significant increase in processing power offered by technologies like cloud computing has made it possible to unlock the true potential of machine learning algorithms, extract features from data, and to expand the application domain of artificial intelligence.
The need to adapt and incorporate the ever-growing field of AI and it’s technologies into current business practices is putting increasing pressure on industries to invest in their legacy systems. Supported by Intel’s AI Academy through their online and data processing resources, the skills you will learn can be applied to AI-enabled business strategies and marketing, management of database records, e-business technologies, IT system development and design, and IT project management.

This course is designed to build on the skills of computer scientists, software engineers, IT professionals or established professionals in the areas of computing, mathematics and/or data analysis, to improve and create better systems in their industries, expanding knowledge of machine learning and enabling technologies.

Businesses also have the opportunity to present students on this course with their real life problems through attending as a guest lecturer. We also encourage you to attend local meetings and lectures organised by the IET and BCS, some of which are hosted by our University. This exposes you to engineers from local industries and introduces you to 'what's hot' in technology, an advantage to being based in the centre of Cambridge with its Science and Business Park.

Develop your individual practice, explore and experiment with new processes and media, and engage with contemporary practice and theory by studying for our BA (Hons) Fine Art degree at Cambridge School of Art.

At ARU, studying Fine Art allows you to experiment with your creativity, explore materials and processes, and discover which media best communicate your ideas.

We encourage creative risk-taking, and you’ll have to the chance to explore many new practices and artistic platforms, including photography, printmaking, performance art, film and video, digital media, installation and site-specific approaches. Take a look at some of our students' work.

Our tutors, who are all professional artists, and expert technicians will be on hand to support you. It’s one of the reasons our course is ranked 7th in the UK for 'Satisfaction with Teaching' (The Guardian University Guide 2020).

Here at Cambridge School of Art you’ll be hands-on in your own studio space from the very start of your course. Our studios are based around our digital and traditional exhibition space, the Ruskin Gallery, and you’ll work closely with fine artists in other years and with students from across our creative community. Perhaps most importantly, you’ll get time, guidance and support from our team of practicing artists, dedicated to your creative development. We’ll support you to experiment with materials and across a range of different media, processes and techniques as you develop confidence and build a substantial portfolio of work.

We learn outside the studio too, with visits to local exhibitions, galleries in London and international trips to centres of contemporary art such as Berlin, Madrid, Amsterdam and the Venice Bienniale.

Throughout the course there are opportunities to collaborate and exhibit your work and it’s a great way to develop professional skills in curating, event management, marketing and promotion.

Our students have recently held exhibitions at Cambridge ArtSpace and created site-specific installations at the Institute of Astronomy, the Botanic Gardens and the Museum of Technology. You’ll also showcase your work in our graduating degree show and, as a (Hons) Fine Art student, you’ll also be considered for our annual Supanee Gazeley Prize, a £3,000 award for the best Degree Show exhibition.

All our students are invited to attend the lecture series run by our Fine Art Research Unit, exposing you to contemporary debates in fine art practice. You’ll also study the history and theory of fine art, giving you a solid grounding for careers in the creative and cultural sector, such as curation, arts administration, or arts publishing and journalism – as well as teaching and education.

With an eye on your future career, you’ll receive ongoing support to find placements and work experience and you can also take an optional placement year.

Channel your creativity and develop the next generation of video games. Join a multi-skilled team and become part of a vibrant games and technology community.

If you have a degree in an art and design or computer games-related subject, our arts-based course will allow you to specialise in games art at Masters level.

Study in Cambridge, home to developers including Jagex, Frontier Developments and Ninja Theory, and access cutting-edge research materials through our partnership with the Global Science & Technology Forum.

Study Computer Games Development (Art) at ARU and you’ll be joining a course which scored 100% for overall satisfaction in the Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey 2019.

You’ll be based in the inspiring environment of our new Compass House Games Centre, where you’ll have the chance to work alongside postgraduate students from our MSc Computer Games Development (Computing).

We’ll encourage you to work in design production teams, tackling creative and technical challenges with programmers and industry professionals.You’ll develop your design skills working on live briefs from companies such as Sony and Sumo Digital and learn how to create and publish successful games across a range of platforms.

Learn how to identify new and existing cyber threats and determine methods and processes to minimise attacks. Gain skills in a real-life business context, by cracking passwords and
wireless networks and testing web applications for vulnerabilities and security breaches.

Cyber security is a priority for governments and organisations throughout the world. We’ll work together to explore how organisations and individuals can take action to protect themselves online from cyber-attacks.

We’ll begin by understanding networks and operating systems, how they work and the strengths and weaknesses of them. You’ll then think like a hacker, working from the inside out, as you recognise the threats to an organisation and its resources, and learn to implement and test secure systems.

Focusing on the strategic deployment and implementation of cyber security within an organisation, you’ll cover all aspects of cyber security including network security, computer security and information security

You’ll apply your knowledge and skills hands-on in a real-life context, in our specialised lab, which is already equipped with tools such as Kali LInux, Wireshark, Nmap and Burp Suite. You’ll write your own Metasploit modules, automate social-engineering attacks, bypass antivirus software and turn access to one machine as you take total control of the enterprise.

You’ll gain skills in communicating information to higher levels of the corporation’s managers, giving you confidence to present your invaluable problem solving solutions and strategic security planning in any organisation.

We know there’s a worldwide shortage of skills graduates in cyber security, so you’ll be ahead of the game as you further your career and make a real impact on a society that is increasingly dependent on the internet and IT technology.

Become a resourceful producer of electronic music. Study in Cambridge, explore the latest techniques, and gain experience in a range of electronic music production equipment.

As student at ARU, you'll create a diverse portfolio of work that will prepare you for the modern collaborative creative industries, whether you want to produce and release your own or others’ music, perform as a DJ, or create soundtracks for films and games.

Our BA (Hons) Electronic Music Production degree will help you produce your music projects to a professional standard, no matter your current level of experience. You might be a ‘bedroom producer’ needing to broaden your understanding of production technologies or how to market your work, or an established producer hoping to brush up on particular techniques, such as finalising projects.

You’ll develop your skills in DAW-based production and studio recording to an advanced level, exploring a diverse range of materials such as field recordings, music apps, synthesisers, and vocal recordings that you can use to enhance your creative projects.

As a BA (Hons) Film Production student at ARU, you will be supported by award-winning, lecturers whose work has been screened on all the major UK television networks, as well as at multiple international film festivals. They have won Emmys, HUGOs and BAFTAs and continue to practice.

With their encouragement, you'll produce a rage of programmes and films which may ultimately be as prize and film festival worthy as recent student work. Our second year documentary, Tertiary Sound was officially selected for the BFI London Film Festival and in competitions like the Royal Television Society (East) Student Awards, our students have a growing tradition of success. In 2019, ARU Film Production students scooped up Best Drama, Best Editing, Best Production Design, Best Camera, Best Sound and Best Writing at the RTS (East) student awards, cementing the course’s reputation as a national centre of excellence

You’ll have access to a series of guest lectures and workshops led by industry professionals where you’ll learn more about industry practices, receive invaluable advice and have an opportunity to network with visiting film and programme makers.

You take your career seriously, but you’re also excited about where it could take you next. We share your focus and energy.Our MSc Marketing is designed to advance your practical skills and knowledge, while allowing you to finesse your unique approach as a marketer.

With cutting-edge course content, you’ll go beyond the average marketing skill-set. You’ll acquire vital digital and communications skills, explore international marketing and brand management, and take part in realistic marketing strategy simulations.As a graduate, you’ll be ready to start the next phase of your marketing career.

Studying for a Masters degree is a commitment, and we know you’re doing it for a reason. You want a course with the potential to launch you into new opportunities.

At ARU, everything you learn has meaning and purpose. Marketing is a creative, fast-paced environment and we’re continually optimising our course content to reflect what’s happening in the world of business. You’ll be able to use your newly acquired skills and experience in your marketing career.

As well exploring the art and science of marketing, we focus on its practical application.You’ll be challenged to think on your feet during a Marketing Strategy Simulation module, as you adapt quickly to real-life scenarios.

You’ll also explore digital communications – essential in modern marketing practice – by looking at new and emerging trends, practices and platforms.And you’ll learn to think big, and think international. Studying alongside students from around the world, you’ll learn how products and brands can appeal to consumers across the globe.