**Year 1**
The first year of the History degree offers you the opportunity to study a range of periods and approaches to history. Many of the modules cover quite large topics or long periods; these are intended to introduce you to subjects which may be unfamiliar and which pose new questions and new problems, showing you how wide the study of history really is.
You will take ‘Making History’ which will enable you to develop more advanced study skills through working in a small, intensive seminar. These require extensive reading, discussion, and writing about problems of historical interpretation in a defined area, and will focus on both primary and secondary sources. The module is divided into different strands from which you will make your choice.
In addition, you will choose five further modules from a list of approximately 12. You must choose at least one Medieval, one Early Modern, and one Late Modern Module. Typically, you will have one weekly lecture and a small-group seminar every two or three weeks. For the seminar, you will be given reading to do in advance, and on the basis of this you and the other students in your group will discuss particular issues. Students are expected to lead the discussion in seminars. Most modules are assessed by coursework essays and by a two-hour examination in May/June, in which you write answers to two essay-style questions.
The modules on offer change each year, as they reflect the research interests of staff; we cannot guarantee in advance that a particular module will be running in any particular year. This list gives you an idea of example modules:
Modern Times: a Cultural History of Europe, c. 1860-1960
Reformation Europe
The Rise and Fall of American Slavery, 1607-1865
The Birth of Western Society, 300-1050 AD
The Making of Modern Africa: Change and Adaptation in sub-Saharan Africa.
**Year 2**
In the second year, you will study five modules. One of these, ‘Conversations with History’, is a double-module which is taught through student-led seminars. It develops your understanding of issues of historiography, provides an introduction to the writing of more extended historical argument, and prepares you for the final year Dissertation. This is an important feature of our course, and so all Single Honours students will take it. It is divided into different strands covering different topics from which you will make your choice.
Alongside ‘Conversations’, students take four further modules. These are taught intensively over half of the academic year (two in the Michaelmas term and two more in Epiphany and Easter terms).
**Year 3**
The third year allows you to specialise, with a triple-module Special Subject, taught entirely through seminars, which involves close study of primary sources. For this, you will work in a small group with a specialist in the field – with a three-hour seminar every week. In the final year, you will also undertake supervised independent research leading to the writing of a double-module Dissertation. Given this emphasis on focused study and independence, there is no requirement for you to study a range of periods in this year.
As well as the Special Subject and the Dissertation, you will also take a single module in the third year: these are all strongly reflexive in character, encouraging students to think about the ways in which historical knowledge is produced.
You will choose your own Dissertation topic, through consultation with a supervisor. There are some limits, set by the availability of primary material and the expertise of supervisors, but the potential range of topics is very wide indeed: in recent years topics have varied from representation of bandits in twentieth-century Hollywood films to ceremonial in medieval France.
**Study Abroad / Placement Year**: For more information on this course, please see our website.
Course Details - Modules
Year 1
The first year of the History degree offers you the opportunity to study a range of periods and approaches to history. Many of the modules cover quite large topics or long periods; these are intended to introduce you to subjects which may be unfamiliar and which pose new questions and new problems, showing you how wide the study of history really is.
You will take ‘Making History’ which will enable you to develop more advanced study skills through working in a small, intensive seminar. These require extensive reading, discussion, and writing about problems of historical interpretation in a defined area, and will focus on both primary and secondary sources. The module is divided into different strands from which you will make your choice.
In addition, you will choose five further modules from a list of approximately 12. You must choose at least one Medieval, one Early Modern, and one Late Modern Module.
The modules on offer change each year, as they reflect the research interests of staff; we cannot guarantee in advance that a particular module will be running in any particular year. This list gives you an idea of example modules:
Modern Times: a Cultural History of Europe, c. 1860-1960
Reformation Europe
The Rise and Fall of American Slavery, 1607-1865
The Birth of Western Society, 300-1050 AD
The Making of Modern Africa: Change and Adaptation in sub-Saharan Africa.
Year 2
In the second year, you will study five modules. One of these, ‘Conversations with History’, is a double-module which is taught through student-led seminars. It develops your understanding of issues of historiography, provides an introduction to the writing of more extended historical argument, and prepares you for the final year Dissertation. This is an important feature of our course, and so all Single Honours students will take it. It is divided into different strands covering different topics from which you will make your choice.
This list gives you an idea of some of the modules running in 2019/20:
Conversations Strands: The End of the Roman Empire; Slavery in Modern Africa; Discipline and Modernity
Treasure of Heaven: Medieval Monasticism
Political Culture in Japan since 1688
Gender and Sexuality During Britain’s Long Twentieth Century.
Alongside ‘Conversations’, students take four further modules. These are taught intensively over half of the academic year (two in the Michaelmas term and two more in Epiphany and Easter terms).
Year 3
The third year allows you to specialise, with a triple-module Special Subject, taught entirely through seminars, which involves close study of primary sources. In the final year, you will also undertake supervised independent research leading to the writing of a double-module Dissertation. Given this emphasis on focused study and independence, there is no requirement for you to study a range of periods in this year.
As well as the Special Subject and the Dissertation, you will also take a single module in the third year: these are all strongly reflexive in character, encouraging students to think about the ways in which historical knowledge is produced.
Special Subjects include:
Developing Africa
Politics and Welfare: England 1880-1914
The Princely Court in Northern Europe, 1350-1500
A World Turned Upside Down: Radicalism and the English Revolution.
Single module:
Gods, Guns and Globalization: A History of Religion in Africa
East Asia in the Historical Perspective
Health, Wealth and Happiness
History of American Capitalism.
You will choose your own Dissertation topic, through consultation with a supervisor. There are some limits, set by the availability of primary material and the expertise of supervisors, but the potential range of topics is very wide indeed: in recent years topics have varied from representation of bandits in twentieth-century Hollywood films to ceremonial in medieval France.
Course Details – Assessment Method
Assessment Methods are not listed for this Course.
Course Details – Professional Bodies
Professional Bodies are not listed for this Course.
How to Apply
26 January This is the deadline for applications to be completed and sent for this course. If the university or college still has places available you can apply after this date, but your application is not guaranteed to be considered.
Application Codes
Course code:
V100
Institution code:
D86
Campus Name:
No college preference
Campus code:
Points of Entry
The following entry points are available for this course:
Year 1
Entry Requirements for Advanced Entry (Year 2 and Beyond)
Entry Requirements for Advanced Entry are not listed for this Course.
International applicants
Standard Qualification Requirements
Specific subjects/grades required for entry:
History at grade A.
Specific subjects excluded for entry:
General Studies and Critical Thinking.
Information:
Applicants taking Science A-levels that include a practical component will be required to take and pass this as a condition of entry. This refers only to English A Levels.
Departments will normally make offers based on Advanced Highers. In the absence of 3 Advanced Highers, where these are not offered by the applicant’s school, offers comprising of Advanced Highers and Highers or a number of Highers may be made on a case by case basis.
We require 60 credits with a minimum of 45 credits at level 3 (or equivalent). At least 12 credits must be taken in History at Level 3 and passed with distinction..
History is required at grade A.
General information on subjects/grades required for entry:
to include 6, 6, 6 from Higher Level subjects including Higher Level History.
Additionally an A Level in History at grade A
OR
BTEC Extended diploma DDD, and an A Level in History at grade A*
Where A Levels are unavailable we also accept IB Higher Levels and Cambridge Pre-U’s as an alternative. Please contact us if you have a different Level 3 qualification you wish to use.
To include History
Additionally an A Level in History at grade A
OR
OCR Cambridge Technical Extended Diploma DDD, and an A Level in History at grade A*
Where A Levels are unavailable we also accept IB Higher Levels and Cambridge Pre-U’s as an alternative. Please contact us if you have a different Level 3 qualification you wish to use.
To include History.
Specific subjects excluded for entry:
Global and Independent Research Pre-U.
We welcome enquiries regarding applications for deferred entry which may be considered in special circumstances. Please contact us using www.durham.ac.uk/study/askus/
Our contextual offer for this programme is A level AAB (or equivalent) including History at grade A. To find out if you’re eligible, please visit: www.dur.ac.uk/study/ug/apply/contextualoffers/.
Please click the following link to find out more about qualification requirements for this course
https://www.dur.ac.uk/study/ug/apply/entry/
Minimum Qualification Requirements
Minimum Further Information are not listed for this Course.
English language requirements
Test
Grade
AdditionalDetails
Durham University welcomes applications from all students irrespective of background. We encourage the recruitment of academically well-qualified and highly motivated students, who are non-native speakers of English, whose full potential can be realised with a limited amount of English Language training either prior to entry or through pre-sessional and/or in-sessional courses.
It is the normal expectation that candidates for admission should be able to demonstrate satisfactory English proficiency before the start of a programme of study, whether via the submission of an appropriate English language qualification or by attendance on an appropriate pre-sessional course.
Acceptable evidence and levels required can be viewed by following the link provided.
