History and Politics

You take four papers in each year. Teaching is provided through Faculty/Department lectures and classes and College supervisions, for which you typically write an essay and which give you the opportunity to discuss your ideas with a senior academic.

In the first year, you can expect between eight and 10 hours of lectures and classes a week, along with one or two supervisions.

You’re assessed at the end of every year – mostly by three-hour written exams, though some papers are assessed by coursework and in the final year you can substitute one paper for a dissertation.

The first year provides a core grounding in historical knowledge, intellectual history, political science and international relations.

In Year 1, all students take Evidence and Argument (a paper unique to this course that brings together key thinking from both disciplines), Analysis of Politics, and International Relations.

Your fourth paper is chosen from the following:

• British Political History 1688-1886
• British Political History Since 1880
• European History 1715-1890
• European History Since 1890

The second year offers more specialised papers in the history of political thought, international relations, comparative politics, and European and extra-European history.

You choose one of two History of Political Thought papers, either covering the period from the ancient Greeks to c1700, or c1700-c1890. For the second paper you take either International Relations or Comparative Politics; and you select your third from four further history papers, covering periods of world history, American history or British social and economic history.

Your final paper is chosen from:

• Statistics and Economic Methods – based on case studies and providing methodological training in quantitative and statistical analysis
• Conceptual Issues in Politics and International Relations – exploring an aspect of politics and/or international relations (assessed by two 5,000 word essays)
• a history project (leading to two 5,000 word essays)

All students take an interdisciplinary paper that considers general and thematic issues in history and politics and the relationship between them.

You then choose three papers from a range from the Politics and International Relations and History courses which allow you to specialise further. The papers available each year may vary – see the website for those currently offered. Alternatively, you can replace one of these three papers with a dissertation of 10,000 words on a topic of your choice within the scope of the course.

For further information about studying History and Politics at the University of Cambridge see the Faculty of History website.