BA(Hons) History

Content

Throughout the course you'll engage with a range of periods, places and historical approaches informed by the team’s research and expertise. The course will also support you to apply the skills and knowledge you'll develop in a range of contexts beyond the University. 

Our expertise and teaching include:

• American History: including the Cold War, mafias and organised crime.
• British and Transnational Early Modern History: including Civil War, global trade, commerce, and colonial expansion.
• Global Decolonisation, civil rights and environmentalism.
• Heritage and Public History.
• Histories of Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.
• Modern European History: including revolutionary movements, the rise of and resistance to Fascism, Russian and Soviet history, war and memory.
• Social Histories including youth and youth culture, gender and sexuality, crime and criminal justice, and social protest.

Year one

Your first year provides you with a firm foundation to understand historical change in a range of contexts, and to develop valuable research skills. You'll explore a variety of primary evidence in different historical and geographical contexts, including themes in British and European history, and Global Histories, from the Early Modern to the present day. You'll also consider history as part of the Humanities: how historians interact with and use film, literature, language and creative media.

Year two

In your second year, you'll develop your own research interests and think about history beyond the University. You'll choose from a range of topics and periods, exploring events and societies that interest you.

Placement year (if applicable)

If you study on the four year (sandwich) course, you'll spend a year away from the University on a work placement after Year two.

You'll complete a placement learning module.

See the Placements and Fees sections for more information.

Final year

You'll focus on a selection of specialist topics in depth and put your knowledge and skills into practice in an independent research project in an area of your choice.

This course structure is for full-time students only. Part-time students study the same modules but the delivery pattern will be different.

The University continually enhances our offer by responding to feedback from our students and other stakeholders, ensuring the curriculum is kept up to date and our graduates are equipped with the knowledge and skills they need for the real world. This may result in changes to the course. If changes to your course are approved, we'll inform you.

Learning and Teaching

Our history community is welcoming and supportive. 

Learn through lectures, seminars, workshops and tutorials, and field work, using a range of digital resources.

Develop as a trainee professional, craft your skills as a researcher and develop strong enterprise skills.

You'll work with academics and partners helping to shape new thinking in the field, learn to communicate your ideas clearly and succinctly, and build practical and academic skills you can take into any career.

Consider the uses of history outside of academia, take up placement opportunities and work on meaningful projects with heritage organisations.

Many optional modules incorporate field trips locally, nationally and internationally - previous trips have included Madrid, Berlin and Paris. This is an important opportunity to engage with, and experience, history outside of the seminar room.

Complete a traditional style dissertation or use your historical research in a more practical project, such as a website, exhibition or education materials.

The course is linked to the Humanities Research Group which engages the public in, and shares knowledge from our historical research and the whole Humanities cluster at UWE.

See our full glossary of learning and teaching terms.

Get involved

Join our thriving History Society. You'll have plenty of opportunities to get involved and it'll look great on your CV.

Take part in trips and social events throughout the year, visiting places of historical interest. Regular socials include trips to historic pubs in Bristol.

Sharpen your skills writing for UWE Bristol student media. Publications include the Western Eye and Westworld, blogs such as UWE Bristol Lingo, and the English Society's Cellar Door magazine.

Assessment

You can expect to be assessed through essays, document analysis, seminar papers and presentations, book and article reviews, posters, independent research projects (including a dissertation) and exams. Our wide variety of assessment supports all our students to achieve their potential.

Some modules are almost entirely based on coursework or project work and others have split assessment with up to 50% of the module assessed by formal examination.

See our full glossary of assessment terms.