Historical Studies

You can study a range of periods and subjects from the 5th century to the contemporary world and from English local history to globalisation.

Course Title	UCAS Code	Duration	Typical Offer
BA History	V100	Three years full-time, or four years with a year abroad	AAB
BA Contemporary History	V140	Three years full-time, or four years with a year abroad	ABB
BA History and Politics	VL12	Three years full-time, or four years with a year abroad	ABB
BA History and American Studies	VT17	Three years full-time, or four years with a year abroad	ABB
BA Ancient History and History	V110	Three years full-time	ABB
BA History and Archaeology	VV14	Three years full-time	ABB
BA International Relations and History	LV21	Three years full-time	ABB
BA English and History	VQ13	Three years full-time	ABB (Minimum B in English)

Full entry requirements

Historical Studies at Leicester

The School of Historical Studies has an outstanding reputation for teaching and research across a wide geographical and chronological range. As one of the largest history departments in the UK, we offer a choice of periods and subjects from the 5th century to the contemporary world; from English local history to globalisation. Whatever aspect of history interests you, you will be able to construct a programme of study to match your intellectual interests and capture your imagination.

In the First and Second Years you will have the opportunity to explore a wider range of periods, themes and approaches to the study of history than you are likely to have encountered in your studies so far. In your Second and Third Years you can pursue the aspects of history that interest you most. At Leicester we believe we offer a special experience for our students. Our school combines a reputation for the quality of its work with a genuinely friendly environment.

Why Choose History at Leicester?

National Student Survey Ranking: 93% of students satisfied overallwith their course.
Research rating: 90%
Places: 185
Applications: 1583
Example Jobs: Archivist; Graduate Business Analyst; Teaching; HR Assistant; Legal Assistant; Policy and Parliamentarian Intern; Purchasing Demand Planner; Recruitment Consultant; Research (Parliamentary); Research Support Office Intern; Runner; Trainee Underwriter; Web Consultant.
Example Employers: AgustaWestland; Barclays; Barnardo’s; Daily Telegraph; Hayes; Hewlett Packard; Highway Insurance; HSBC; Input Media; Island Leisure Production; Learn With Us Tuition; Michael Page International; Museum of Lancashire; Protopapas Solicitors; Royal Bank of Scotland; Santander; The Stroke Association; Wiltshire County Council; Worcester City Council.
Example jobs and employers information comes from the University’s ‘Where Did They Go?’ survey, and shows destinations of 2009/10 graduates 6 months after graduation.

We have an outstanding reputation for teaching and research. In the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise, 90% of our research was deemed to be world leading, internationally excellent, or internationally significant. This means that our staff are actively involved in cutting edge research and expanding the boundaries of historical knowledge – knowledge they are eager to share with you.

In addition, the 2011 National Student Survey revealed that 93% of our students are satisfied with their course. This is not only because of the enthusiasm of our staff, but also because of the flexibility built into the degree. The wide-ranging expertise of the staff and the high proportion of course options within the degree mean that you have real choice and the opportunity to create a degree programme to match your particular historical interests. You can choose to specialise in particular periods or themes of history (e.g. the Medieval World, or Ethnicity and Gender) or you can pursue a number of new and challenging approaches to the past.

The newly refurbished and expanded David Wilson Library has an extensive collection of resources for History students, while our internationally recognised research centres in English Local History, Holocaust and Genocide Studies and Urban History offer unique expertise.

Contemporary History

A special Contemporary History degree is available for those students whose main interests lie in modern history and the contemporary world. The degree in Contemporary History is run with the Department of Politics and International Relations. Core modules in Modern History and Politics deepen your knowledge and broaden your approaches to the study of the recent past; Optional Modules and a Final Year dissertation allow you to focus still further and to pursue your specialist interests.

Joint Honours with History

Many students divide their studies between History and another related discipline. We have Joint Honours degree programmes that link History with English, Politics and International Relations, American Studies, Ancient History and Archaeology. Students usually choose these degrees either because they want to specialise in a particular period or approach, or because they wish to pursue more than one discipline. The unity of Joint Honours programmes comes from the links across and within your chosen disciplines. We make no assumptions, however, about your historical interests and the same range of Optional Modules is open to Joint Degree as to Single Subject History students.

History and Politics

The History and Politics degree explores global developments through the complementary disciplines of History and Politics; most students choose to focus on the modern era, though Optional Modules on early modern history and political thought and Medieval history are available. Core courses introduce and deepen understanding of key themes and issues, and are complemented by a wide range of Optional Modules in both departments.

International Relations and History

The International Relations and History degree programme allows students to combine International Relations courses from the Department of Politics and International Relations with the broad range of History Optional Modules that have an international focus. Apart from the core modules, you can also select courses on a broad variety of topics from systems of government to Medieval history.

Ancient History and History

Linking Ancient History with History enables students to study the Classical world alongside the Medieval, Early Modern, and Modern. The coherence of the Ancient History and History degree comes through themes that transcend the ages (e.g. democracy, slavery, imperialism, ethnicity), and from the forensic skills acquired to interpret evidence that is both sparse and complex.

History and Archaeology

History and Archaeology offer two distinct disciplines for understanding human societies in the past. The differences and complementarity of these two disciplines make the History and Archaeology degree challenging and exciting. Students can study the Palaeolithic through to the Modern World, or they can choose to specialise in a particular period (e.g. Post-Medieval History and Archaeology).

History and American Studies

The History and American Studies degree brings together two of the most popular and exciting arts subjects. You have the opportunity to study American history from the eighteenth century to the present as well as studying aspects of British, European and global history. This degree allows you to study American politics and culture in ways that will complement and extend your understanding of both American and world history. As part of the degree, you may apply to study for a year abroad at a partner institution in the USA or Europe.

English and History

For the English and History degree, we have put modules together in clusters that support and enrich each other. For instance, in the First Year, students study Shakespeare, and History of the English Language (in English) and the Early Modern core course (in History). In the Third Year, students could combine a module on Modern Literature (English) with a module on George Orwell (History), or a module on Contemporary Writing (English) with a module on Civil Rights in America (History).

Examples of Optional Modules in Historical Studies

Medieval History

Medieval Foundations
Crusading in the Eastern Mediterranean in the 14th Century
Popular Revolts in Late Medieval England
The Black Prince and his Age
The Age of Bede and Alcuin
Medieval Society and The Natural World
Agincourt to Orleans: Lancastrian England and Valois France
Blood, Position and Power: The Nobility of later Medieval England
The Golden Age of Anglo-Saxon Northumbria.

Early Modern History:

France in the Reign of Louis XV, 1715-1774
Madness, Monarchy and Politics in Georgian Britain
Political Satire, 1681-1792
Global Migrations, 1500-2000
Anglo-American Puritanism, 1565-1700
Culture and Society in the English Town, 1680-1820
Church and State in England, 1688-1833
What is Enlightenment?
Consumption and Cultural Change in the 18th Century
South Asia in the ‘Long Eighteenth Century’
The English Revolution, 1640-1660: Politics, Religion and Ideas
The French Revolution
Jacobitism in Britain and Europe, 1688-1808
Deviance and Disorder in the Early Modern City: Norwich, 1500-1800.

Modern History

The Nazis and Cinema
British Society from Churchill to Major
Race and Slavery in the Americas
The USA and the Vietnam War
Thinking with the Victorians
War, Depression and British Society, 1900-1939
The Civil Rights Movement, 1945-1968
Ireland Under the Union, 1800-1922
From News to History: Contemporary History and the Media
The Making of Modern British Politics, 1865-1979
The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union
The Women’s Movement in Britain, 1860s-1970s
The Making of Modern India, c.1917-1947
British National Identities, 1707-1999
Modern Germany: From Racial Genocide to Re-Civilization
The American Civil War and Reconstruction
Imperialism and Decolonisation
Facing Modernity: Jews in Central Europe
Ideals of Womanhood
The Life and Times of George Orwell, 1903-1950
Israel and Palestine
The Russian Revolution, 1881-1924
The Cause: The Women’s Suffrage Movement in Britain c.1897-1918
The Presidency of Franklin Roosevelt
Enter the Dragon: Modern Chinese History
The Imperial World Economy: Britain and the Developing World, 1815-1914
Sport and the British
Brave New World: City Culture and Identity in Post-war Britain
Stormtroopers, Blackshirts and Arrow Cross: Fascist Movements in Europe 1919-45.

Recent Dissertation Topics

The Image of Elizabeth I
Franco’s Spain
The Siege of Leningrad
Anglo-Saxon East Anglia
Medieval Queenship
The Women’s Land Army during World War II
Race Relations in Birmingham during the 1960s
Prize Fighting in the 19th Century
Nietzsche and the Nazis
The Role of Musicians in the Civil Rights Movement
International Consequences of the Suez Crisis
The Effect of the Viking Invasion on the Mercian Church
Offa and his Coinage (757-796)
Settlers and Natives in 17th-Century New England
Simon Bolivar and Post-Colonial Colombia
The Influence of Classical Antiquity on Machiavelli
Mary Queen of Scots and the Babington Plot

Teaching, Learning and Assessment

We teach through a variety of methods, ranging from large lectures to seminars to individual tutorials. Lectures are used to provide historical narrative and to raise key historical questions and areas of debate; seminars are where you share your opinion about those debates and put forward your interpretation of history. The first year normally sees about 10 contact hours per week, and greater emphasis is placed on small group teaching and independent study as you progress through the degree.

Assessment is through examinations and coursework comprising long and short essays, source analyses, group projects and both group and individual presentations. Approximately three quarters of the final degree mark is assessed through coursework; one quarter through examinations..

Course Opportunities

Once at Leicester, you may choose to transfer to a four-year degree programme and spend your Third Year at one of our partner universities in Europe, which include Rheims and Strasbourg (France), Berlin Humbolt and Regensburg (Germany), Valencia and Salamanca (Spain), Pisa (Italy) and Malta, as part of the Erasmus scheme. You will receive an Erasmus grant (approximately €365 per month in 2009/10) and language training.

In addition to our established European partners, we are developing new exchange links with universities in Australia. Students on the History and American Studies joint degree also have the opportunity to apply for a year in the United States.

Skills Gained

We have all chosen History because we know that the past forms our world. But a History degree also cultivates a range of personal and technical skills that are widely applicable and highly valued by employers – notably self-reliance, enterprise, communication skills, critical judgement and the ability to evaluate and interpret complex, diverse and sometimes contradictory data.

History graduates learn to work individually and as part of a group. They are also IT literate.

Graduate/Career Opportunities

History graduates are highly skilled and readily employable. Most of our graduates enter employment straight away, and a history degree provides everyone with the high-level transferable skills necessary for success in whichever sector of employment they join. Our students develop problem solving and independent study skills, in addition to the research, analytical and communication skills that all graduate employers are looking for.

In the Second Year, a history group project module incorporates team working and presentation skills sessions delivered by the University’s Careers Service and Student Learning Team. We also offer you the chance to do an Employability and Career Management Certificate on a voluntary basis.

Recent history graduates have gone into fields as diverse as law, accountancy, journalism, the civil service, the police, teaching, academia, banking and retail. Many of our students take postgraduate degrees in History and in related subjects such as Museum Studies, Archives and Information Management, Heritage Management, or Teacher Training.