Programme Specification: MSc Economic History
1. Awarding Body
2. Details of accreditation by a professional/statutory body, e.g. ESRC;
BPS etc
LSE
N/A
3. Name of final award
4. Programme Title
5. Duration of the course
6. Based in the Department/Institute:
7. Relevant QAA subject benchmark statements
MSc
Economic History
12 months full-time; 24 months part-time
Economic History
N/A
8. Application Code
9. First written/last amended
10. The programme aims to:
V3U1 and V3U2
September 2003 / November 2012
Provide a broad training in social science research methods in their application to historical study.
11. Programme outcomes: knowledge and understanding; skills and other attributes
Subject knowledge:
 knowledge of economic history (general and specialist) and how to apply such knowledge to new problems in context;
 understand the use of theory, analysis and evidence in the construction of economic history arguments.
Transferable understanding and skills:
 understand the complexity of the past and how to frame complex problems by presenting them in ways which simplify while still retaining relevance;
 ability to undertake advanced-level independent research on their own formulated question;
 skills to gather, deploy, combine, assess and analyse evidence of different kinds;
 skills to critically examine both the arguments and evidence presented by others.
 skills to make arguments consistent with inferences from such evidence and to communicate these arguments and conclusions in clear, concise and persuasive forms.
General skills:
 skills in IT for general and academic purposes
 library, internet and information search skills
 research report writing
 oral presentations
 collaborative research and presentation
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12. Teaching, learning and assessment strategies to enable outcomes to be achieved and demonstrated
Teaching and learning strategies
The degree programme consists of 1.5 obligatory core taught courses and either optional courses to the value of two units and a half-unit, 6,000 word, dissertation or optional courses
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to the value of 1.5 unit and a full-unit, 10,000 word, dissertation.
Teaching on the core course covers the role of theory; the nature of historical analysis; explanation in economic history; research design; and sources and methods of data collection and analysis. This research training course is also designed to assist and inform dissertation work and includes a written assignment that must relate these core materials to the dissertation topic. Optional courses are substantive economic history courses, defined by a combination of theme, geographical area and historical period. All full-unit courses last 20 weeks and are taught in combinations of lectures and seminars depending on the material.
Core course and overview material is delivered by means of lectures. For all courses, students learn how to work with the materials and develop both their knowledge and skills in seminars groups through an apprenticeship “learning-by-doing” process. All courses in economic history are supported by Moodle, which is the virtual learning environment system
(VLE) used by LSE.
An important component in students’ learning is provided by their undertaking an independent, but closely supervised, research project in economic history. The supervision process provides a structured timetable for their work and for feedback during the process, beginning with four timetabled dissertations sessions in the Michaelmas Term which are attended by all
MSc students. By the end of this term, students must decide whether they will write the
10,000 word or the 6,000 word dissertation. Those who choose the full-unit 10,000 word dissertation will attend additional sessions in the Lent Term which will give guidance on research design and research methods. By the end of the Summer Term, with the help of their supervisors, students produce a draft t hesis. On the basis of supervisors’ feedback, students then extend and revise their dissertation for submission by the beginning of
September.
All courses and components are taught by LSE faculty or visiting teachers and post-doctoral researchers. All students are allocated to a member of the teaching faculty for individual supervision and dissertation supervision. Visitors and research faculty are also available to provide further expertise for dissertation research. The MSc Programme Director provides support to all students in respect of course choice and any other programme issues.
Assessment strategies
All courses have written work requirements during the course and students are given feedback on their work.
The core course is assessed by an examination. Substantive courses are examined either by examination or by assessed work. All students must produce a dissertation or either 6,000 or 10,000 words.
13. Programme structures and requirements, levels, modules and awards
See the MSc Economic History programme regulations
Additional information
14. Criteria for admission to the programme
Applicants should have at least an upper second class honours degree, or its equivalent, in the social sciences.
15. Indicators of quality
Consistent positive External Examiners’ reports on the degree programme and performance of students.
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Between 80 and 90 students, from all over the world, take this course each year. It is by some margin, the largest group of its kind.
Members of the department serve on the boards and executive committees of major economic history societies/associations, as editors and editorial board members of leading journals in the field.
The LSE Careers Centre website provides data on career destinations of LSE graduates.
16. Methods for evaluating and improving the quality and standard of teaching and learning
The programme is subject to the School’s overall mechanisms for quality evaluation and improvement. In addition, we have departmental mechanisms as follows:
We use three mechanisms to review quality and initiate improvement. a) Review by the departmental Teaching Committee, which includes the Head of Department and Undergraduate and MSc Programme Directors. b) Review by Department Meeting; and c) Review by course teachers.
The first two mechanisms (a) and (b) are used to evaluate and improve the quality of teaching, programme offerings, programme design, and assessment. Minor changes are initiated by advice from office holders to the department; major changes are decided by the department as a whole (often following a Teaching Committee review). The third mechanism
(c) is used by individual teachers to improve course quality and design.
Our mechanisms make use of information and advice given by External Examiners reports;
TQARO student opinion surveys; our staff-student committee meetings; individual student feedback; and our own course and programme level reviews.
School mechanisms (*operate at departmental level):
 regular staff appraisal*
 induction and mentoring* system
 improvements in teaching technique are effected by the Teaching and Learning
Centre (TLC) through observations, advice and further training;
 induction programme and mentoring scheme for new members of staff;

Staff/student liaison committee;
 centrally administered student satisfaction questionnaires by the Teaching Quality
Assurance and Review Office;
 an improved system for ensuring that External Examiner’s comments/recommendations are fed through to Departments and acted upon;
 the School’s Teaching, Learning and Assessment Committee (TLAC) which regulates all aspects of teaching quality;
 annual monitoring of courses and periodic reviews every 3-5 years. The outcomes of the annual reviews are presented to TLAC;
 the School’s Undergraduate Studies Sub Committee and Graduate Studies Sub
Committee which oversee all taught programmes and ensure that significant changes to programmes and courses pass through a sequence of formal stages to ensure that curricular changes are appropriate and compatible with other developments.
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