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Whether you're interested in culture and society, politics and power, or war and conflict, in the School of Philosophical, Historical and Interdisciplinary Studies at Essex we give you the freedom to explore the history that excites you. Our global expertise and topical diversity give you an unrivalled opportunity to pursue your historical passions and discover new ones.

Our MA Curating offers a practical and theoretical training in devising and curating exhibitions, as you work towards the preparation of an exhibition at our on-site Art Exchange gallery. Our course combines practice, theory and histories of curating in equal measure.

Philosophy at Essex takes philosophy back to its roots in everyday existential, social and political issues. Our radical approach cuts across traditional boundaries, fostering dialogue between different schools and disciplines, and we are one of the few universities in the world that bridges the divide between the two great traditions of Analytic and Continental philosophy.

What is ‘political science' and how does that approach differ from simply historical reporting of political phenomena? How can politics be used to analyse the real world? What is the relationship between ideas and political practices? Our MA Politics allows you to explore these questions and more.

Our department offers a distinctively comparative approach to the study of literature; at Essex you don't just study English literature, you study world literature in English. You explore literature across time, geography, and genre, combining scholarly research with innovative, practical ways of engaging with texts.

Join one of the top sociology departments in the UK, ranked 59th globally and 10th in the UK for sociology in the QS World University Rankings by Subject (2023), and further your understanding of the tensions, interactions and networks that dictate how societies are organised. You contribute to the thinking that guides organisations such as the Home Office, Amnesty International and the United Nations.

How should trade be managed to promote both social welfare and the interests of workers and firms? How should merger policy be managed to balance the interests of merging firms and others that share the industry? How should financial markets and financial instruments be designed to promote economic stability and growth? If your first degree isn't in economics, or your economics training doesn't provide sufficient experience for our MSc courses, MA Economics may be for you.

How do we understand crime? How can it be prevented? Why should crime be punished, and how should we go about it? Criminologists engage with some of the most pressing issues, decisions and dilemmas facing societies today.

Study the nuts and bolts of language: sound systems, word structure, sentence structure, and how meaning is conveyed. Learn about the different theories that have been proposed to account for human linguistic ability.

This new course is subject to final approval. Our MA Western Marxism course will give you important subject knowledge in Western Marxism as well as wider research skills.