History

Course detail Description

History BA at King’s has a world-class reputation, offering graduates excellent career prospects. In your first year, you will explore a wide variety of introductory level modules, building an understanding of the background of historical events over an extensive period. In your second year, you choose a more focused pathway, exploring themes across a narrower time range while encouraging a more comparative approach to history. Your third year of study will challenge you to think more deeply and broadly about historical developments. You will develop comparative and theoretical perspectives, and select from one of the many specialist topics on offer, studying its primary source materials and writing your research dissertation on it.

History BA at King’s is a three-year course where you will take modules totalling 120 credits for each year and will be assessed through a combination of essays, examinations, presentations, group work and dissertations. You will choose from a wide range of modules, which span the Medieval, Early Modern and Modern History of Britain, Europe and the World.

Our modules are designed by the academics within the department and reflect their expertise. In the final year, you’ll have the opportunity to undertake a research dissertation on a topic that is linked to one of the many specialist subjects we offer, with one-to-one support from academic staff with comparable interests. We are part of the University of London and as second and final-year students, you’ll have the option to study History modules at other institutions (such as UCL and Royal Holloway), creating an even greater choice of modules.

Typically, one credit equates to 10 hours of work.

Forms of assessment may typically include coursework, presentations and examinations. You may also benefit from some informal assessment during individual modules to help steer your studies and enhance your learning.

The Department of History at King’s is centrally located on our Strand Campus and is within walking distance of the capital’s famous landmarks, including the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Trafalgar Square, Covent Garden, the River Thames and the South Bank. London offers unparalleled historical resources, including the British Museum, British Library, Imperial War Museum and National Gallery. Please note that locations are determined by where each module is taught and may vary depending on the optional modules you select.

There are opportunities to study abroad as part of your History degree at King’s. Recent popular destinations have included The University of North Carolina Chapel, The University of Auckland and The University of Hong Kong.

All students are offered the opportunity to study abroad as part of their History degree at King's and recent popular destinations include The University of North Carolina Chapel, The University of Auckland and The University of Hong Kong.

Find out more about studying abroad:

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Structure

• Year 1
• Year 2
• Year 3

Year 1

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

You are required to take the following module:

• 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. Options may typically include:

• The Making of Britain 400-1400 (30 credits)
• European History 400-1500 (30 credits)

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

• 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.

You are required to take the following modules:

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

You are also required to take two 30 credit modules selected from a range of options, which may typically include:

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

You are also required to take 30 credits (two 15 credit modules) selected from a range of options, which may typically 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 & 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:

• Ashoka University, India
• University of Auckland, New Zealand
• Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany (German language required)
• University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
• University of Melbourne, Australia
• Monash University, Australia
• National University of Singapore, Singapore
• University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill, USA
• University of Sydney, Australia
• University of Oslo, Norway
• University of British Columbia, Canada
• University of Washington (Seattle), USA
• George Washington University, USA
• University of Salamanca, Spain (Spanish language required)
• University of Bologna, Italy (Italian language required)
• Universidad del Pacifico, Peru (Spanish language required)
• Universiteit Leiden, Netherlands
• Western University, Canada
• Universite Sorbonne IV Paris (Teaching in French)
• University of São Paulo (USP), Brazil
• Peking University, China

Year 3 Required Modules

You are required to take a 30 credit Group III module and its associated 30 credit dissertation from a 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 & Blues: Jazz & 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.

Final year students are also required to take a 30 credit ‘Thematic Special Subject’ module, chosen from a range of options which may typically include:

• Ritual
• War
• Nations
• God
• Wealth

Final year students also 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 in Year 2.

View final-year module descriptions