War Studies & History

Course detail Description

The War Studies & History BA degree will comprise of a total 360 credits studied over three years. You will divide your study time equally between the two subjects and will usually take modules totalling 120 credits each year.

In your first year, you will study a combination of required and optional modules from both areas of study. Although there are no required modules in Year 2, you will study either Intelligence in War Studies, War in International Order or World War II in Europe as part of your modules choices. Your final year will involve you writing a 10,000-word dissertation in either subject area.

We use lectures, seminars and group tutorials to deliver most of the modules on the programme. You will also be expected to undertake a significant amount of independent study. You will be assigned a personal tutor who will provide pastoral support during your studies. Typically, one credit equates to 10 hours of work.

Assessment methods will depend on the modules you have selected to study. The primary methods of assessment for this course are assessed essays, written examinations, individual and group presentations and a written dissertation.

This course is primarily taught at the King’s College London Strand & Waterloo campuses. Our Department is located at the Strand Campus, in the heart of central London close to the seat of government, the City, the Royal Courts of Justice and the Inns of Court, the Imperial War Museum and the National Maritime Museum; providing interaction between the study and practice of security and foreign policy.

• War Studies BA
• History BA
• International Relations BA
• Politics BA/BSc
• European Politics BA

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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.

King’s College London reviews the modules offered on a regular basis to provide up-to-date, innovative and relevant courses of study. Therefore, modules offered may change. We suggest you keep an eye on this course page for updates.

You are required to take 60 credits from War Studies and 60 credits from History.

War Studies

You are required to take the following modules:

• Contemporary Security Issues (15 credits)
• The Art of War Studies (15 credits)

History

You are required to take the following module:

• Historical Skills, Sources & Approaches (30 credits)

War Studies

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

• The Causes of War (30 credits)
• The Conduct of War (30 credits)
• The Experience of War (30 credits)

History

You are required to take one 30 credit module from a range of optional modules that may typically include:

• The Making of Britain 400-1400 (30 credits)
• Medieval Europe 400-1500 (30 credits)
• Early Modern Britain 1500-1750 (30 credits)
• Power, Belief & Culture in Europe 1500-1800 (30 credits)
• The Worlds of the British Empire, c1730-1960 (30 credits)
• Europe from 1793 to 1991 (30 credits)
• Politics & Society in Britain, 1780-1945 (30 credits)
• World History 1870s - 2000s (30 credits)

Year 2

You are required to take 60 credits from War Studies and 60 credits from History.

War Studies

You are required to take one of the following modules:

• Intelligence in War Studies (30 credits)
• World War II in Europe ( 30 credits)
• War in International Order (30 credits)

History

There are no required modules in your second year.

War Studies

In addition you are required to take 30 credits from a range of optional modules that may typically include:

• Empires, Imperialism & the History of the Modern World (30 credits)
• Intelligence in War Studies (30 credits)
• War in International Order (30 credits)
• War & Society (30 credits)
• World War Two in Europe (30 credits)
• War in the 20th Century (30 credits)

History

You are required to take 30 credits from a wide range of 30-credit optional modules, which may typically include the following:

• The Black Death in England (30 credits)
• The Civilising Mission: French Imperialism since 1750 (30 credits)
• War in the Pacific, 1898 to 1975 and beyond: Strategy and Diplomacy (30 credits)
• The Northern Ireland Troubles (30 credits)
• Faraway so Close: The Middle East since 1800 (30 credits)
• China: From Imperial State to People’s Republic (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 also take 30 credits from a range of 15-credit optional modules which may typically include:

• The Hundred Years War (15 credits)
• Atlantic Slavery: West Africa & the Caribbean, 1492-1807 (15 credits)
• Globalisation since the 1970s (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)
• You may also take one optional 15 credit module offered elsewhere in the Faculty, subject to approval.

You will also have the opportunity to study abroad for the full second year. Partner institutions do change from time to time, but the list currently includes the following:

• Georgetown University
• Hong Kong University
• Sciences Po, Paris (basic French language required)
• University of California
• University of North Carolina
• University of Sydney
• Ca'Foscari University of Venice
• Yonsei University
• Keio University
• Korea University

Year 3

You are required to complete a 30-credit dissertation in year three in either War Studies or History.

War Studies & History

You are required to take the following modules:

• Dissertation (30 credits) (in either the Department of War Studies or the Department of History)
• One 30 credit group III module (History)

If you write your dissertation in History you will need to choose two optional modules (60 credits) in War Studies. If you write your dissertation in War Studies you should choose options worth 60 credits in History.

History

You are required to take one 30-credit ‘Group III’ module from a range of modules which may 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 modules (special subject module) (30 credits)

War Studies

If you take your dissertation in War Studies, you will take 30 credits of optional modules. Optional modules may typically include:

• War & Strategy in East Asia ( 30 credits)
• British Strategy 1815 – 1856: from the Congress of Vienna to the Peace of Paris (30 credits)
• Security Issues in the Middle East since WWII (30 credits)
• War on Terror (30 credits)
• Guerrillas in the Mist: Insurgency and Counter-insurgency (30 credits)
• Nature of Riots (30 credits)
• War & International Relations (30 credits)
• Fighting in the Air (30 credits)
• State, Society & Strategy (30 credits)
• New war, New Media, New Journalism (30 credits)
• Russia in the 21st Century (30 credits)
• Religion and Politics in the Middle East (30 credits)

History

If you choose not to take the dissertation in History, you will be required to take 30-credits from a range of optional modules which may typically include:

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