History and International Relations

Year 1

Courses are divided into modules. Each year you will normally take modules totalling 120 credits.

In your first year you will take two required International Relations modules, equalling 60 credits; and one required History-based module, in addition to a further 30-credit module in Medieval, Early Modern, Modern or World history.

History:

• Historical Sources, Skills and Approaches (30 credits)

International Relations:

• International Relations Theory (30 credits)
• International History (30 credits)

History

You are also required to take one 30 credit module from the following three periods: Medieval, Early Modern or Modern history. You can choose from a range of options, which may typically include:

Medieval History

• The Making of Britain 400-1400 (30 credits)
• Medieval Europe 400-1500 (30 credits)

Early Modern History

• Early Modern Britain 1500-1750 (30 credits)
• Power, Belief and Culture in Europe 1500-1800 (30 credits)

Modern History

• Europe from 1793 to 1991 (30 credits)
• Politics and Society in Britain, 1780-1945 (30 credits)
• The Worlds of the British Empire, c1730-1960 (30 credits)
• World History, 1870s-2000s (30 credits)

View first-year History module descriptions

International relations

There are no optional modules for International Relations in year one.

Year 2

In your second year of study, you are required to take a 30-credit module on International History, taught by the History and International Relations staff. You are then required to choose a further 30-credit optional module from the International Relations area of the course as well as modules totalling 60 credits from the History section.

Second year students also have the opportunity to study abroad for the second semester of the second year. Current partner institutions include:

• University of Auckland
• Goethe Universität Frankfurt (German language required)
• Hong Kong University
• University of Melbourne
• Monash University
• National University of Singapore
• University of North Carolina
• University of Sydney
• University of Oslo
• University of British Columbia
• University of Washington (Seattle)
• George Washington University
• University of Salamanca (Spanish language required)
• University of Bologna (Italian language required)
• Western University

History:

• There are no required modules in year two.

International Relations:

• Contemporary Issues in International History (30 credits)

History

You are also required to take one 30-credit module from a wide range of optional modules, which may typically include:

• The Northern Ireland Troubles (30 credits)
• History of Feminism ( 30 credits)
• The Black Death in England (30 credits)
• Faraway so Close: The Middle East since 1800 (30 credits)
• China: From Imperial State to People’s Republic (30 credits)
• The Civilising Mission: French Imperialism since 1750 (30 credits)
• War in the Pacific, 1898 to 1975 & beyond: Strategy & Diplomacy (30 credits)
• An additional range of intercollegiate ‘Group II’ 30 credit modules offered by our partner colleges in the University of London

In addition you are required to take 30 credits from a range of optional 15-credit modules, which may typically include:

• Atlantic Slavery: West Africa & the Caribbean, 1492-1807 (15 credits)
• Europe in the Second World War (15 credits)
• The Hundred Years War (15 credits)
• Electric Cities : The Experience of Modernity in London, Melbourne, New York & Paris,
• 1870 – 1929 (15 credits)
• Orientalism, Race, Islam (15 credits)
• Students may also take one optional 15 credit module offered elsewhere in the Faculty, including the Modern Language Centre.

International Relations

You are also required to take 30 credits from a range of optional modules, which may typically include:

• History of The European Cold War (30 Credits)
• Grand Strategy & The Foundations Of Anglo-American Statecraft (30 Credits)
• History of Political Thought (30 Credits)
• Empires and Imperialism (30 Credits)
• War in International Order (30 Credits)
• Intelligence in War Studies (30 Credits)
• War in the 20th Century (30 credits)
• World War Il in Europe (30 Credits)
• Military Strategy (30 Credits)
• Global Politics (30 Credits)
• Contemporary International Relations Theory (30 credits)
• Statecraft and Diplomacy (30 credits)
• International Law, Human Rights and Intervention (30 credits)

Year 3

In your third year, you are required to take a 30-credit "special subject" module in the Department of History, in addition to an accompanying dissertation (30 credits) or a Free-Standing Long Essay (30 credits). You may also take a further 60 credits in optional modules selected from among those offered from modules taught on the BA International Relations programme.

There are no core modules for this programme in year three.

History

Final year students are required to take a 30-credit ‘special subject’ module from a wide range of options, which may typically include:

• Romans and Barbarians: The Transformation of the Roman West 350-700 (30 credits)
• The Enlightenment (30 credits)
• The Experience of Power in Nigeria since 1900 (30 credits)
• Red, White and Blues: Jazz and the United States in the 20th Century (30 credits)
• Women & Gender in Early Modern England (30 credits)
• Additional University of London Intercollegiate ‘special subject’ 30 credit modules

In addition, you are required to take either the special subject associated dissertation (30 credits) or the Free Long Standing Essay (30 credits), which can be on any subject of your choice.

International relations

You are also required to take 60 credits from a range of optional modules, which may typically include:

• Diplomacy (30 credits)
• A History of Nations Nationalism and Theories of the State (30 credits)
• Power, Politics and Ethics in International Relations (30 credits)
• The UN and Global Governance (30 credits)
• The 9/11 Era Anglo American Foreign Policy since the end of the Cold War (30 credits)

King’s College London reviews the modules offered on a regular basis to provide up-todate, innovative and relevant programmes of study. Therefore, modules offered may change. We suggest you keep an eye on our website for updates.