History BA (International Hons)

Students studying the History BA (International Hons) will take the required modules at both institutions in their first and second years.

1st Year

If at St Andrews for the first year, you must choose two of the following compulsory modules:

• The Fall of Rome and the Origins of Europe (400-1000): examines how political, cultural and social life changed in the worlds of Byzantium, Islam and the ‘barbarian’ West in response to major upheavals.
• Scotland and the English Empire 1070-1500: compares and relates the societies of the English crown and the kingdom of Scotland in the aftermath of the Norman Conquest of England.
• The Early Modern Western World (c. 1450-1770): looks at continental European history in the early modern period, and the expansion of Europe.
• Themes in Late Modern History (c. 1776-2001): provides a thematic coverage of major political and social developments in the Western world during the 19th and 20th centuries.

You must also take two modules in one of the following languages:

• Arabic
• French
• German
• Italian
• Latin
• Russian.

If at St Andrews for the second year, you must choose two of the following compulsory modules:

• History as a Discipline: Development and Key Concepts: provides an introduction to key theoretical and methodological approaches which have characterised the emergence of History as a discipline since the Middle Ages.
• Mediaeval Europe (1000-1400): examines key themes that helped to shape Western Europe from the 11th to 14th centuries, a period known as the ‘High Middle Ages’.
• Introduction to Early Mediaeval Europe, 400-1000: introduces students to the history of Europe between the fall of the Roman Empire and the year 1000.
• Introduction to Middle Eastern History: provides an introduction to Middle Eastern History from the dramatic reconfiguration of the Middle East in late Antiquity to its contested and contentious recent past.
• Scotland, Britain and Empire (c. 1500-2000): provides an introduction to how and why the British nation state evolved from the separate kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland and how and why it has survived over the last three centuries.

You must also continue to take two modules in one of the following languages:

• Arabic
• French
• German
• Italian
• Latin
• Russian.

Students will spend either their third or fourth year in St Andrews. You will be able to choose from a wide variety of advanced options.

Here is a sample of Honours modules that have been offered at St Andrews in previous years:

• The Mediaeval Castle
• Heretics and Social Outcasts in Western Europe
• Age of Conquest: Edward I - Scotland and Wales (1239-1307)
• The Formation of Islamic Iran: From the Arab Conquests to the Seljuq Empire (600-1200)
• The Decline and Fall of the French Old Regime (1715-1789)
• Power without Responsibility? The British Press and Politics (1850-1939).

If you spend your fourth year at St Andrews, you may also undertake a 10,000-word dissertation on a topic of your choice. This independent project enables you to develop key research skills which are desired by both prospective employers and by graduate schools offering postgraduate degrees.