History BA (Hons)

In year two, you will continue to develop the skills and knowledge you’ve learnt. We do this by embedding the following four principles into the curriculum and developing your:

• Technical skills – digital fluency, backed with the right academic knowledge
• Study skills – to be an adaptive, independent and proactive learner
• Professional skills – to have the behaviour and abilities to succeed in your career
• Global awareness – the beliefs and abilities to be a resilient, confident and motivated global citizen

In your second year, you will begin to deepen your knowledge about the history of Europe and the US. You will explore their cultures, conflicts and key social changes. 

Modules

• The Far Right in Contemporary Europe - 20 credits

  This module focuses on the rise of Far-Right political parties in West European countries. The focus will be on the different explanations put forwards for their success or failure to acquire electoral support, their influence on the behaviour of mainstream political parties and politics in general in the case study countries. 

  Compulsory

• The Shadow Warriors: Modern Britain and Espionage - 20 credits

  This module charts the professionalisation of Britain's intelligence organisations from the Great Game to the early Cold War. It will examine the formation of the intelligence services in Britain, and their relationship to allies in the United States and enemies in the Soviet bloc. It will also examine cultural depictions of spies and espionage, from Fleet Street to Hollywood. 

  Compulsory

• Making of the Modern United States: Race, Class, and Gender - 20 credits

  The aim of this module is to explore the major social, cultural, and political forces which led to the emergence of the United States. It will pay particular attention to the ways in which race, class and gender have shaped the country's history, from the colonial period to its rise as a global superpower.

  Compulsory

• War and the Media in Britain, 1785-2003 - 20 credits

  Knowledge of the media and how it operates, especially during wartime, is essential for many reasons. The information the media gathers and disseminates to us as consumers is a vital part of our society, bringing the world beyond our immediate environment to us as readers, listeners and viewers. Historians also rely heavily on the media with journalists often claiming to write ‘the first draft of history’. This module will introduce you to key issues and debates around the media. 

  Compulsory

• Humanity and the Natural World - 20 credits

  This module explores the human relationship with the natural world, examining the ways in which an emerging Western worldview has affected humanity's impact on its surroundings. It covers topics from the dominant views of nature emanating out of the Scientific Revolution of the Renaissance to the birth of the modern environmental movement and organisations like Greenpeace and the nascent political ideology of Ecologism. 

  Compulsory

• The International History of Europe - 20 credits

  The aim of this module is to introduce you to the history of the relations between the major European powers in the twentieth century. The foreign policies of Britain, France, Italy, Germany and the Soviet Union will provide the focus of this module. This module will examine the development of the European states system and thereby provide you with the essential background for understanding contemporary Europe. 

  Compulsory

There’s no better way to find out what you love doing than trying it out for yourself, which is why a work placement² can often be beneficial. Work placements usually occur between your second and final year of study. They’re a great way to help you explore your potential career path and gain valuable work experience, whilst developing transferable skills for the future.

If you choose to do a work placement year, you will pay a reduced tuition fee³ of £1,250. For more information, please go to the fees and funding section. During this time you will receive guidance from your employer or partner institution, along with your assigned academic mentor who will ensure you have the support you need to complete your placement.

Whilst we would like to give you all the information about our placement/study abroad offering here, it is often tailored for each course every year and depending on the length of placement or study abroad opportunities that are secured. Therefore, the placement and study abroad arrangements vary per course and per student.  Request further information about going on a placement or study abroad year. 

Modules

• UK Work Placement– 0 credits

  This module² provides you with an opportunity to reflect upon and gain experience for an approved placement undertaken during your programme. A placement should usually be at least 26 weeks or equivalent; however, each placement will be considered on its own merits, having regard to the ability to achieve the learning outcomes. 

  Optional

• International Study/Work Placement – 0 credits

  This module² provides you with an opportunity to reflect upon and gain experience for an approved international study/work placement undertaken during your programme. A work/study placement should usually be at least 26 weeks or equivalent; however, each placement will be considered on its own merits, having regard to the ability to achieve the learning outcomes. 

  Optional

Year three aims to bring you to the level to enter the world of work by consolidating your knowledge and skills from year one and two.  Your studies could culminate in a dissertation, the production of a documentary film, or by launching a curated exhibition based on your independent research of an area of interest to you. 

You will be asked to choose optional modules to total 120 credits in your final year.

Modules

• Independent Project - 20 credits

  This module is designed to enable you to develop, enhance and put into practice the research and analytical skills acquired in your previous years of study in order to pursue an in-depth analysis of a subject of your own choosing within the context of your programme of study. This can take the form of an extended piece of writing, or a media project such as a documentary film. 

  Optional

• Global Organised Crime - 20 credits

  The module will examine the recent evolution of the traditional criminal organisations in comparative perspective (Sicilian mafia, American Cosa Nostra, Japanese Yakuza and Chinese Triads), the growth of the new wave of organised criminal groups (with a focus on the Balkans, Eastern Europe, Africa and the South American Cartels), the nature of criminality behind the human trade and piracy, the emergence of youth gangs and the evolution of organised crime in the UK.

  Optional

• • United States' Foreign Policy since 1945 - 20 credits

  The aim of the module is to examine in detail several major themes and developments in post-1945 US foreign policy. These are examined both for their intrinsic importance and interest, and for the light they throw on the foreign policy making process in the US system and on the development of the international system.

  Optional

• Race and Resistance in the Americas - 20 credits

  This module will examine the ways in which ethnic minorities have stood up to corrupt, racist power structures across the Americas.  It will pay particular attention to the ways in which suppressed people have empowered themselves and fought to resist white supremacy and the socio-cultural systems that support it.  

  Optional

• The Third Reich 1933-1945 - 20 credits

  This module will examine the rise to power of the Nazis and their domination of German political life. It will also analyse the changing nature of Nazism and the impact of Nazi ideas on various sectors of society. The priorities of the Nazis and the impact of those priorities on the German people and those who fell under their control in the Second World War will provide the focus of this module. 

  Optional

• Post-War Germany: From Division to Unification and Beyond - 20 credits

  This module explores the political and economic history of the German nation from its division at the end of the Second World War to its reunification in 1990 and beyond. The module examines the international significance of the two German states and their internal developments over the 40 years of division, and the social and economic impact of the subsequent unification on the nation as a whole.  

  Optional

• The Green Movement: The Search for Sustainability - 20 credits

  This module considers the emergence of the modern environmental movement from the 1960s to the most recent climate change activism of Greta Thunberg and Extinction Rebellion as well as identifying the emergence and impact of climate change denial. It will demonstrate possible sustainable futures with an appraisal of alternative ways of living in search of sustainable futures. 

  Optional

• Women's lives in Britain and the US 1800-1945 - 20 credits

  The aim of this module is to examine aspects of women’s lives in Britain and the US between 1800 and 1945 using an historical approach that will focus on the following areas of study: working lives and labour relations, education, women’s roles in war, peace campaigning, feminist campaigns. It will explore and compare changes and continuities in the political, social and economic status of women in both countries.  

  Optional