In the seminars you meet in small groups to discuss historical themes, sources, methods and historiographical debates. These courses focus on acquiring knowledge, learning analytical and practical skills, and exchanging ideas and reflection. Assignments are usually assessed with writing assignments and presentations. Research MA students can choose their literature seminar and research seminar within one track, or build their programme across the tracks. The Historical theory seminar is designed for the Research Master students specifically.

In the second and third semester, you have the freedom to develop a tailor made programme that meets your specific research interests. The tutorial, optional courses and second research seminar enable you to specialise in a specific theme or field, and may include an internship within or outside the university. You will also take research courses offered at the national research schools, while the Skills for Research seminar critically prepares you for a research-oriented career after graduation.

For your Tutorial and Research MA Thesis, you have the freedom to choose a historical topic that you want to investigate further. You can choose your supervisor from the entire teaching team of the institute, and thus make use of all the knowledge and expertise that Leiden has to offer.

The university encourages cross-listing of courses between the MA tracks, which offers you a very wide range of courses and allows you to make use of the wealth of expertise available within the Institute for History.

The Literature Seminar (10 EC) is the introductory course of the MA Track that every student begins with. In this intensive two-hour weekly seminar, you will delve deeper into key themes and academic debates related to the track's focus, using by secondary sources such as monographs and academic articles.

The Research Seminar (10 EC) is a seminar in which students conduct research using primary sources and literature, presentations are given and a paper is written. The Research seminar is a 2-hour per week course for twelve weeks that is concluded with a substantial paper.

This course is compulsory for all Research MA students. It discusses major problems in historical theory or philosophy of history through close readings of relevant texts. Topics that will be addressed include explanations, models, intentions, representations, narratives, paradigms, comparisons, objectivity, and ethics. The course is valued at 10 EC.

This course prepares  you for possible research careers after graduation. You will discuss various types of successful research projects and reflect upon the organization of academic research. You will develop your own proposal, developing a good research question and including debate, feasibility, and innovative character. The course will guide you through this process. Senior researchers will visit the class to comment upon their own ongoing research projects. The course is valued at 10 EC and is compulsory for all Research MA students.

Within the Research MA History, you will take courses at a national Research School, amounting to at least 10 EC. You will compose this set of courses yourself, together with the Coordinator of Studies. Research Schools courses offer training in both methodology and area specific knowledge. Research MA students choose courses at the Research school that relates most with their possible area of research.

The tutorial is the mainstay of our Research MA as it offers intensive, eye-to-eye discussions with one of Leiden’s many specialists. During the tutorial you will explore the field and determine the subject and research question of your thesis. The tutorial is valued at 10 EC.

You will also choose a number of optional courses, worth up to a total of 20 EC. You are advised to study these courses abroad. The optional courses may also be spent on a research internship, or at courses (level 500) offered at any department of Leiden University or at another Dutch university.

The programme concludes with a thesis, based on original source research and a final oral exam. Together they are valued at 30 EC. The level of the thesis will have to meet high standards. In principle, the (shortened) thesis will have to be worthy of publication in an academic journal. During the final ceremony you are expected to present and defend your thesis vis-à-vis with your thesis supervisor and a second examiner.