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History at Murray Edwards College

See also: Faculty of History website

History at Murray Edwards College is dynamic, forward-looking and ambitious. We aim to recruit the brightest, most interested and dedicated female students, regardless of background, and provide them with outstanding teaching and intellectual guidance, as well as pastoral support. We have a friendly community of historians at the College, which comes together regularly both socially and more formally in the College's twice-termly History Society. Each year group also works together in College seminars provided to enhance their understanding of History as a discipline and of historiography. We believe that we offer our students a stimulating environment in which they can, and do, excel. Put simply, it is our aim that every student who comes to us fulfils their potential and goes on to have a successful career in whatever they decide to do after graduating; and we devote our resources to ensuring this. If you want to be part of a highly dedicated and motivated community in which excellence and your individual development are key priorities, then you should consider applying to Murray Edwards College.

What are we looking for?

First and foremost, we are looking for people who have a genuine passion for History and who are interested in the exceptionally diverse undergraduate course that Cambridge University offers.

Where entry standards are concerned, our normal offer for those studying A Levels is now A*AA in academic subjects (not including General Studies or Critical Thinking). We normally consider around four applicants for every place available, and admit anywhere between 6 and 10 Historians a year to the College. When considering applications, we take into account a number of factors in order to build up an holistic academic picture of candidates. These are:

• performance in public examinations to date
• school/college's predictions for future performance
• reference
• personal statement
• submitted essays
• interview performance

In practice, where public examinations are concerned, UK students to whom we offer places will normally have:

• a good crop of A*s at GCSE, and
• good A grades at AS level across their subjects (please note that, in line with all Colleges in the University, we ask for a declaration of your individual Unit Scores at AS for all subjects when you apply to us; that said, please do bear in mind that we know that individual module marks can sometimes be out of line with your overall performance, and we look closely at how you have performed on average across your subjects, making allowances for any obvious blips), and
• will be predicted to obtain three A grades or better at A2

We also regularly make offers to those not sitting A Levels. Of the other examination systems we see very regularly, we would usually expect at least 40 points in the International Baccalaureate, with 7, 7, 6 at Higher Level (if History is taken, we would expect a 7 in it at Higher Level); where Scottish Highers are concerned, our offers would usually be 5As in the Advanced Highers. If you are studying for other qualifications, please contact our Admissions Office for information about offer levels in those examinations. We are always delighted to receive applications from outstanding overseas students as well as those from the UK.

Extenuating circumstances

What we have set out above is what we would normally expect from candidates and how we would normally evaluate their application if there were no extenuating circumstances. However, we remain steadfastly and genuinely committed at Murray Edwards College to making access to a Cambridge education possible for those who may have had difficulties with their schooling or with their health, or other problems during the course of their education. Our record in admitting talented students who have had such difficulties is an excellent one, and we know from experience that such candidates may not have achieved the kinds of grades we would normally expect from applicants, whilst nonetheless having the potential to thrive at Cambridge. If you or your school/college feel you are in this category, you should consider making an application to us through the Cambridge Special Access Scheme, information about which is available in the University Prospectus or from our Admissions Office. Please feel free to contact our Admissions Office if you would like to discuss your individual circumstances with us; we are always happy to talk to you.

Who's who in Murray Edwards College History?

You will be supported by our History 'Fellows' (those engaged in research and teaching in the College and University): Dr Kate Peters, Dr Alan Strathern, Dr Jonathan Healey and Dr Alison Carrol. Dr Strathern works and teaches in the history of the world outside the West from the fifteenth century to the present day. He has published articles on themes such as ethnic consciousness, early modernity, sacred kingship and origin myths. His major interest, however, is in religion as an historical force, and he is currently working on a comparative study of elite conversions to Christianity and Islam. He is Director of Studies for third year undergraduates. Alison Carrol is a historian of modern France. She studied at the universities of Exeter and Rennes II (Haute Bretagne), and completed her PhD at Exeter in 2008. Alison’s work focuses on politics and identity, and she is interested in the left, the centre-periphery relationship in France, and the role of borders in European history. She has articles forthcoming on the themes of socialism, identity and language in interwar France, and is currently preparing a book on politics in Alsace after 1918.

What does Murray Edwards College offer its Historians?

Our absolute dedication to our students' intellectual development has already been stressed, and the personal input of our Fellows is crucial to this. We spend a great deal of time obtaining the very best teaching for our students. We also monitor their progress closely, with a view to creating a continuous constructive dialogue with each of our students, which we believe is a key to success. Regular 'mocks' at the beginning of each term are used to help students gear-up for their University examinations - all of these 'mocks' are marked and commented on, and we have found this makes a real difference to performance in Cambridge formal exams. We provide each year group with regular seminars on historiography and on technique, including an extensive study skills programme for all first years on arrival at Cambridge. At the same time, we feel strongly that a supportive community spirit amongst our students, in which collaboration rather than competition is the emphasis, is an additional spur to achievement. We aim to foster this through social events (curry and pizza evenings once a term have become a regular part of our calendar), and the History Society. The latter is student run and attended by all Murray Edwards College Historians, enabling them to hear experts speak about all manner of historical topics twice a term. We also have a more formal History Society dinner in the Lent Term.

What other resources do we offer?

First, the College has an outstanding library, even by Cambridge standards, holding a total stock of over 60,000 volumes. In History we aim to have copies of all the texts students need in their first and second years and many of the more specialised works they will use in their third year. The key to this is recommendations by undergraduates and a large budget dedicated to keeping our collection up to date. The library is open all day and all night every day of the week, and borrowing rights are extensive. All students can also have access to the internet at faster than broadband speed from their rooms. If they do not own a computer, the College has an excellent, recently refurbished computer suite, which they can access 24 hours, 7 days a week. This includes printers, a scanner and photocopiers.

The Cambridge course and how it works

You may already understand a great deal about History at Cambridge from the University Prospectus, but this section is designed to provide a summary of that information. As a collegiate University, all Cambridge students are admitted to a College, and this provides their base - it's where they live, and often eat. However, they go to lectures and take examinations with all other members of the University in central buildings - lectures take place in the History Faculty, ten minutes' cycle ride from Murray Edwards College. Each week they also have a supervision - a one-to-one or small group tutorial with an expert in the period/area of History they are studying. These supervisions can take place in the student's own College or another College; this is dictated by where the expert is based. During the course of their career at Cambridge, Murray Edwards College students are, in common with those from other Colleges, likely to be supervised by experts from all over the University. It is this 'pooling' of expertise which we believe is one of the crucial elements in Cambridge's success as a University. Although Murray Edwards College is a women's College, your experience of Cambridge will therefore not be a single-sex one. What we can offer you is an outstanding level of care and attention within your College base, to enable you to flourish at a University level.

If what you have read here sounds appealing and you would like more information, please contact us by email at admissions@murrayedwards.cam.ac.uk, or by post at Murray Edwards College, Cambridge CB3 0DF, or by telephone on 01223 762229.

What students do next

Other web pages show more about the careers of students from this College who studied your subject in the past.

Checked by ER, August 2011