History V100 September 2024 - Durham University

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Typical offers

Typical offers
A Level	A*AA
BTEC	D*DD
International Baccalaureate	38

Course details

Our History degree is one of the most varied and exciting in the country. You can explore history from the end of the Roman Empire to the present day. You may study periods and places you have encountered before, but in new ways and in more detail; you may also encounter entirely new ones. You can also explore diverse themes and approaches, such as environmental and scientific history, visual cultures, and gender and sexuality. The course will equip you with critical and presentational skills that are valuable in many careers.

Year 1 offers you an induction into advanced historical study, engaging with different periods and approaches to the study of the past, and experience how history encompasses the diversity of the human experience.

In Year 2 you will engage with a range of periods and styles of historical study, with modules introducing new problems in a more specific framework and developing your understanding of historiography and how to write extended historical arguments. You can also apply to add a placement year or a year abroad to your degree, increasing the course from three years to four.

In Year 3 you will take further responsibility for your own learning. You will bring all your knowledge and skills together in your dissertation. You will be able to concentrate your studies in an area that fascinates you, and really blossom as an independent learner and researcher.

You will be encouraged to attend an extensive programme of activities, including research seminars and public lectures from high-profile guest speakers.

Course structure

Year 1

Core modules:

Making History gives you a grounding in the key skills you will need at later stages of the course to interpret and explain historical information. You will be introduced to the practice of researching and writing history by examining how historians shape knowledge in particular areas.

In recent years, optional modules have included:

Decline and Crisis? Europe 1300–1500
Transformations in the Late Antique Mediterranean, c.300–c.700 CE
Connected Histories: Early Modern Europe, c.1450–1750
The Atlantic Archipelago, c.1500–c.1750
Modern Times: A Cultural History of Europe, c.1860–1960
Power in Africa
Imagining East Asia in the Modern World
Wars and Welfare: c. 1900–1945
The Rise and Fall of American Slavery, 1607–1865.

Year 2

Core module:

Conversations with History encourages you to identify and define your own questions in the context of a given set of historical and historiographical issues. You will develop effective strategies for dealing with these contrasting approaches as you plan and write an in-depth, independent project, and you will discuss and explain your ideas in a small-group context.

In recent years, optional modules have included:

The Book of Hours in Medieval Life and Art
Medieval Islamic World
Inventing France, 1300–1500: Kings and Communities of the Realm
Law and Order in the Barbarian Kingdoms c.500–800 AD
The Court: Art and Power in Early Modern Europe
A ‘Pure’ Land? Gender, Caste and Community in South Asia, c.1750–1950
The “Vast” Early Modern Americas
Early Modern Hospitality in Global Comparative Perspective
Hard Times: British Society, 1815–1902.

Year 3 (Year 4 if undertaking a placement or year abroad)

Core module:

You will undertake supervised independent research leading to the writing of a Dissertation. You will choose your own Dissertation topic, through consultation with a supervisor. With some limitations, the potential range of topics is very wide – in recent years topics have varied from representation of bandits in twentieth-century Hollywood films to ceremonial in medieval France.

In recent years, optional modules have included:

Interpreting Conflict in Post-Colonial Africa
Revolution and History
Liberty, Equality, Democracy: Progressive Thought in Nineteenth-Century Britain
History and Its Audiences
Empires and States in Early Modern Asia: Nomads, Slaves, Scholars, Rulers
Health, Wealth and Happiness: Investigating Standards of Living and Wellbeing in the Past
Beyond Feudalism.

Additional pathways

Students on the BA in History can apply to be transferred onto either the ‘with Year Abroad’ or ‘with Placement’ pathway during the second year. Places on these pathways are in high demand and if you are chosen your studies will extend from three years to four.

Placement

You may be able to take a work placement. Find out more.

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Fees and funding

Full Time Fees

Tuition fees
Home students	£9,250 per year
EU students	£25,500 per year
Island students	£9,250 per year
International students	£25,500 per year

The tuition fees shown for home students are for one complete academic year of full time study and are set according to the academic year of entry. Fees for subsequent years of your course may rise in line with an inflationary uplift as determined by the government.

The tuition fees shown for overseas and EU students are for one complete academic year of full time study, are set according to the academic year of entry, and remain the same throughout the duration of the programme for that cohort (unless otherwise stated).

Please also check costs for colleges and accommodation.

Scholarships and Bursaries

We are committed to supporting the best students irrespective of financial circumstances and are delighted to offer a range of funding opportunities.

Find out more about Scholarships and Bursaries

Department information

History

The Department of History at Durham is one of the most highly regarded history departments in the UK. Staff and students contribute to a vibrant learning environment where you engage in the study of history from the fall of the Roman Empire through to the making of modern Africa. And all from the inspiring setting of Durham World Heritage Site.

The curriculum aims to develop your understanding of what is meant by the term ‘history’ and to challenge your assumptions about the past. You will develop an awareness of the complex relationship between the present and the past in a rich and varied learning environment that includes field trips and guided independent projects alongside traditional lectures and seminars.

Our degrees are built on flexibility and choice, with an extensive selection of modules that cover periods from the Middle Ages to the present from many different parts of the world. Chinese, Japanese, African, South Asian and US history are taught alongside the history of the British Isles and continental Europe. You can also apply to add a further dimension to your learning by spending a year studying abroad in a partner institution or undertaking a work placement.

For more information see our department pages.

Ranking

Top 50 in the world in the QS World University Subject Rankings 2023
4th in The Guardian University Guide 2024
4th in The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2024
4th in The Complete University Guide 2024

Staff

For a current list of staff, please see the History Department web pages.

Facilities

The Department of History occupies a group of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century town houses in the heart of Durham World Heritage Site. Our location is within easy reach of all University colleges, lecture halls and libraries.

Our work incorporates everything from manuscripts to photography, printed sources to museum collections. From the start of your degree, you will work with staff on a rich array of primary sources, which range from medieval manuscripts in the cathedral archive, through the ceramics, prints and textiles held by the Oriental Museum, to the wealth records of the Sudan Archive, and more. The University Library, with its Archives and Special Collections, and the Durham Cathedral Library and Archives hold historical resources of international significance.