History

Year 1

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

Your first year will comprise the following modules.

• Historical Skills, Sources & Approaches (30 credits)

In addition, you are required to take 90 credits, choosing one 30 credit module from each of the following three periods: Medieval, Early Modern or Modern history. Choose from a range of options, which may typically include:

Medieval History

• The Making of Britain 400-1400 (30 credits)
• European History 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)

First-year module descriptions

Year 2

You will study two required ‘History and Memory’ modules in the second year, as well as taking a number of optional modules. You will also have the opportunity to study a modern language in the second year. Details of languages offered are available at Modern Language Centre.

• History and Memory I (15 credits)
• History and Memory II (15 credits)

One Group II module from a wide range of options that may typically include:

• The Black Death in England (30 credits)
• The Civilising Mission: French Imperialism since 1750 (30 credits)
• Conflict, Coexistence and Cooperation: South Asia’s International Relations since 1900 (30 credits)
• War in the Pacific, 1898 to 1975 and beyond: Strategy and Diplomacy (30 credits)
• The Northern Ireland Troubles (30 credits)
• A range of Intercollegiate Group II modules offered by our partner colleges in the University of London.

One survey module from a wide variety of options that may typically include:

• London from the Romans to the Middle Ages (30 credits)
• History of Feminism (30 credits)
• Making Americans: Peoples, Cultures and Identities in Colonial North America and the United States, 1500-2000 (30 credits)
• Faraway so Close: The Middle East since 1800 (30 credits)
• China: From Imperial State to People’s Republic (30 credits)

Also, you’ll take two further modules from a wide range of options that may include:

• The Hundred Years War (15 credits)
• Atlantic Slavery: West Africa & the Caribbean, 1492-1807 (15 credits)
• Orientalism, Race, Islam (15 credits)
• Europe in the Second World War (15 credits)
• Electric Cities: The Experience of Modernity in London, Melbourne, New York and Paris, 1870-1929 (15 credits)
• One 15-credit module offered by other departments in the Faculty of Arts & Humanities including the Modern Language Centre.

View second-year module descriptions

Second year students also have the opportunity to study abroad for the second semester of the second year. In this case, 15-credit modules are substituted for the 30-credit modules above. Partner universities currently include:

• University of Auckland
• 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

Year 3 Required Modules

There are no core modules in Year 3.

You are required to complete the Group III module and its associated 30-credit Dissertation in Year 3 choosing from a wide range of options that typically include:

• Romans & 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 Group III modules and associated 30 credit dissertations.

In your final year, you’ll also take an additional ‘Thematic’ module chosen from a range of options that may typically include:

• Ritual (30 credits)
• Nations (30 credits)
• God (30 credits)
• War (30 credits)
• Wealth (30 credits)

Final year students are also required to take 30 credits from one of the following options.

• Free standing long essay (30 credits)
• 30 credits of second year (level 5) modules, which may typically include those listed under Year Two

View final-year module descriptions