TNH course structure
Curious about what studying the Transnational History MA program entails? This article will introduce you to the program’s structure and the courses available for enrollment.
In this two-year Master’s program, you have to obtain 120 ECTS credits. This means 60 credits per year and 30 per semester on average. You can compile your own curriculum that reflects your personal interests and future career plans.
You will study three types of courses:
- Compulsory courses (66 ECTS credits in total) form the core of the program. They offer insights into key methods, concepts, and approaches in transnational history, as well as academic writing. These courses are designed to equip you with a methodological and conceptual toolbox, along with strong analytical skills—providing a solid foundation for further study in specialized elective courses. Master’s thesis seminars offer structured guidance throughout the thesis-writing process.
- Elective courses (at least 42 ECTS credits in total) cover a wide range of specialized areas and topics, allowing you to focus on fields that match your personal interests and future career plans. These courses are organized into six modules, each exploring key themes in transnational history. You are required to select two modules based on your academic focus. The module in which you write your Master’s thesis is considered the “major”, while the second selected module serves as your “minor”. Students must earn at least 18 ECTS credits from each of these two modules, totaling 36 ECTS credits. The remaining credits can be earned by selecting courses from across all available modules.
- Optional courses (up to 12 ECTS credits) may be taken at any department of Charles University. You may earn up to 12 ECTS credits through these off-field courses. These credits can also be used for elective courses or language study. There is no minimum credit requirement in this category (i.e., all 120 ECTS credits can be earned through compulsory and elective courses alone).
To successfully graduate, you have to write your MA thesis and pass a state exam. The state exam comprises a defence of the Master’s thesis and an academic debate based on thematic areas of questions in the field of Transnational History. This debate will assess your ability to analyze historical processes and phenomena with an emphasis on their transnational contexts from the 19th century to the present.
Detailed course structure
Compulsory courses
- Comparative and Conceptual History
- Research Training in History: Methods, Approaches and Sources
- Academic Writing for Historians
- Transnational History of the Modern World: Concepts, Acteurs, and Processes: The Long 19th Century
- Transnational History of the Modern World: Concepts, Acteurs, and Processes: 20th and 21st Century
- MA Thesis Seminar I
- MA Thesis Seminar II
- Research Project Seminar
Elective courses
The following list of elective courses is preliminary. The course offerings for next academic year will be updated in the coming months: new courses are likely to be added, while some may be removed. We hope this preview of our curriculum provides a broad sense of the academic opportunities available and captures your interest.
Module 1: Social and Economic Change
- The State and Capitalism in the Euro-Atlantic Space Between Belle Epoque and the Financial Crisis
- Economic Transformations in the post-Soviet Area
- Societal changes in Western European countries
- Postsocialist transformations on film
Module 2: Conflict and Violence
- Theories of Antisemitism
- Human Rights in post-Soviet Space
- Ethnic Violence and Wartime Dynamics. Exploring the Yugoslav Conflict of the 1990s
- War and Society
Module 3: Migration and Minorities
- Constructing of the Refugee: Refugee Regimes in the 20th Century
- Social Exclusion and the Roma in Central Europe
- Transnational Histories from Below: A Microhistorical Approach to Minority Experience
- Native American History since 1830
Module 4: Past in Present
- Cultural Memory and Identity in the Balkans
- The Twentieth Century in European Memory: Themes and Approaches in Contemporary European Memory Studies
- Theorizing Memory: Social and Cultural Remembering
- Concepts and Interpretations of Central European History
- World War II: Public History and Memory
Module 5: Ideas, Culture and Religion
- Cold War Science in Transnational Perspective
- Cultural History of Communist Europe
- Race and Global Politics
- Entangled Modernities: Circulations of Knowledge and Power in the Global South and East during the Cold War
Module 6: Actors and Power in Global Politics
- U.S. and the Global South
- Cold War in Documents 1945-1962
- Cold War in Documents 1963-1991
- U.S. and Human Rights
Optional courses
The offer of optional courses is practically limitless, as you can choose from courses taught at your faculty or across the university. You may select any course offered at any department of the university, provided it is open to students from other fields beyond the one for which it was originally designed. Alternatively, you may choose to focus on your core field by selecting TNH electives or language courses, if the broader offer does not appeal to you.
Optional supplementary certificates
Alongside your degree, you’ll have the opportunity to earn supplementary certificates during your studies. Currently, we offer a Certificate in Digital Humanities. This certificate comprises four specialized courses and provides students with essential data literacy and digital competencies that are increasingly valued across disciplines in both academic research and professional practice. The courses cover core concepts and methodological approaches in Digital Humanities, data analysis using R, and the application of AI within the humanities and social sciences. You will acquire practical skills in data work—learning how to locate and process large datasets, analyze texts using machine learning tools, create visualizations, interpret statistical outputs, and apply AI methods to specific research questions.
