Full Time option suitable for:

Domestic(EEA) applicants: Yes
International (Non EEA) applicants currently residing outside of the EEA Region. No

Part Time option suitable for:

Domestic(EEA) applicants: Yes
International (Non EEA) applicants currently residing outside of the EEA Region. No

The Graduate Diploma programme is aimed primarily at students who have an undergraduate qualification in a non-cognate discipline or students who are returning to education after a long period of absence.

Full-time Graduate Diploma students will take (1) Renaissance Europe, a module that develops your awareness of historiography and the critical skills needed for graduate-level history (2) a core module from the suite  of MA programmes offered in the School of History (3) Project Development, a course designed to devise and make preparations for your final research project (4) A further 10 credit MA option and (5) The Graduate Diploma Project, normally a dissertation of around 8,000 words.  Part-time Graduate Diploma students will spread the programme over two years, but will take Renaissance Europe and Project Development in the first semester of their first year. 

The programme is targeted at students who wish to progress to further study, or who wish to develop key transferable skills vital to many and diverse careers.  It is designed for students coming to history from a non-cognate subject, those who did not live up to their potential in their BA, and those returning to education after a long period of absence.  We value and promote a strong work ethic, intellectual curiosity, and the importance of independent learning.  These values are instilled within a robust but supportive environment, with a particular focus on encouraging an awareness of broad historiographical trends and the development of the skills required to assess and analyse different forms of primary evidence.  The learning environment stresses the importance of research, critical and analytical thinking, and of making informed challenges to prevailing ideas, interpretations and approaches. Small group seminars are vital to the programme’s design; it is here, in a very structured and active learning environment where students hone their ability to present, defend, and question historical knowledge.  The learning trajectory is supported through the use of weekly research journals, presentations, essays and book reviews.  The taught elements of the programme are intended to build and develop the skill set and confidence of learners to equip them to undertake the research project.  A feature of the Graduate Diploma Programme is that students who perform strongly in the first semester can apply to be transferred to the MA. The MA is completed within the same academic year.  

• Ability to survey in a critical and analytical fashion the historiography of given subjects
• Awareness of a number of major historiographical trends since the nineteenth century.
• Development of a strong work ethic and awareness of the effort required to succeed at graduate level.
• Drive to work independently but to thrive on and respond to the feedback of peers and the teaching staff within a structured environment.
• The ability to survey a body of scholarship written over time, to offer an informed critical and analytical commentary, and to identify fertile areas for further research.
• The ability to take an embryonic idea for a research project and develop it into a successful 8,000-word piece of scholarship. A range of skills will be required, including: planning, historiographical awareness, analytical ability to handle primary sources, & ability to communicate findings.
• The confidence to work with and handle a range of primary sources, especially those relevant to the chosen research subject of the learner.

View All Modules Here

GradDip History (Z160) Full Time
EU          fee per year - € 7000
nonEU    fee per year - € 15070

GradDip History (Z161) Part Time
EU          fee per year - € 4190
nonEU    fee per year - € 7540

***Fees are subject to change

The Graduate Diploma programme is aimed primarily at students who have an undergraduate qualification in a non-cognate discipline or students who are returning to education after a long period of absence

 An NFQ Level 8 degree is required but applications are assessed on a case by case basis. 

• MA Archives & Records Management FT
• MA Medieval Studies FT
• MA European History (UNICA) FT
• MA History of Welfare & Medicine in Society FT
• MA Public History FT
• MA International War Studies FT
• MA Irish History FT
• MA Global History FT

The following entry routes are available:

* Courses will remain open until such time as all places have been filled, therefore early application is advised