Modern History

You can choose to focus your studies on Britain, but you can also explore a variety of historical periods, events and cultures, including Europe, the Americas (North and South), Asia and Africa through a broad range of optional modules.

In Year 1, you take core modules that explore the nature of history as a discipline. You look at the changing assumptions, methods and definitions of history and explore the current concerns of historians.

Having acquired research skills and knowledge in Year 1, your studies in Years 2 and 3 are more specialised.

In Year 2, core modules in Reading History and Practising History deepen your understanding of the discipline. You also select from a range of optional modules that focus on the modern world, concentrating either on using original documents, or exploring continuity and change over long periods. Options may include The British Raj, the Modern Global Hispanic World, Nazism and the Holocaust, and Everyday Life in Post-war Britain.

In Year 3, you produce your dissertation and take core modules in Writing History and on how History Matters in the public sphere. Optional modules take the form of Depth Studies and Comparative Studies. An understanding of methodology is developed by Depth Studies, which establish a comprehensive knowledge of a particular period by evaluating the use of primary and secondary sources and any issues associated with them as evidence. While an area of historical concern across more than one country and culture is examined by Comparative Studies.