BA (Hons) History with Foundation

SSC301
Discovering Your Inner Academic 30 credits

In this module, students will learn the core academic and organisational skills required to succeed at university. They will benefit from a range of skill development sessions and subject-specific seminars, allowing them to practice applying the delivered academic skills in the context of their field of study.

SSC302
Individual Project 30 credits

Students will undertake, with supervision, an individual project related to their degree programme. Staff will guide students through the process of defining, planning, and setting up their project. As part of the module, students will gain research and time management skills that will support their successful progression through their degree programme.

SSC306
Literature, History and Visual Cultures 30 credits

This module explores the key texts and voices that have changed the ways in which we think and write the Humanities. It will investigate how thinkers, poets and writers have shaped our contemporary world, and the ways in which we study it. Based on this, this module will also explore the ways in which literature, art, film, media, memory and heritage impact on history and writing today. Students will examine a range of classic and contemporary literary texts as well as visual and media sources and consider the role of technologies in the Humanities. The module will be constructed around the exploration of key themes, for example gender and sexuality, faith, war, and race and ethnicity, using interdisciplinary approaches to identify how they have shaped the Humanities of the 21st century.

SSC309
Imagining the Past 30 credits

This module will introduce concepts central to historical and literary study in the Humanities including: Time; Space; and Experience. Students will work with a range of sources to understand how the Humanities engage with the past. Students will develop the tools needed for progression to Higher Education, with a particular focus on analysing textual materials and essay-writing.

HIS4001
What is History? 20 credits

What is History? – provides an overview of how the discipline of history operates, and looks at some of the key skills associated with the subject.

HIS4002
America from Settlement to Empire 20 credits

This module aims to provide an introduction to major themes in the political, social and cultural evolution of the United States from 1492 to the end of the 19th Century. It aims to emphasise links to Europe and to give students a broad perspective on their historical studies. It will also provide students with an introduction to use of electronic sources in the study of American history and to the development of vital skills in critical thinking and academic writing.

HIS4003
World History since 1850 20 credits

This module is an introduction to major themes in the political, social and cultural history of the modern world beyond Europe.

HIS4004
Fractured Isles: Britain and Ireland 1640-1990 20 credits

The module is an introduction to the major themes in political, social and cultural history of Britain and Ireland in the period 1640-1900. This module will include 2, 2 hour talks that introduce our School and programme level employability related opportunities and support, including details of the optional placement year.

HIS4005
Fighting for Survival: Living and Dying in Early Modern Europe, 1450-1700 20 credits

This module introduces students to the political, social, cultural and religious history of Early Modern Europe, 1450-1700.

HIS4006
History and Heritage 20 credits

This module introduces students to the field of heritage studies. It directs attention to how historians do heritage (and history) for an external audience. It aims to explore the materials and methods used and how they apply to how we understand, interpret and shape how we live with the past today. Students will study a specific topic in history and heritage individually and/or in small groups through problem based learning with an assessment geared towards public engagement.

HIS5008
Preparing for Dissertation Research 20 credits

This module is designed to prepare students for Level 6 dissertation research in History by lectures and workshops that explore key approaches to sources, and practical and theoretical aspects to research in history, before carrying out a small project in independent research. Lectures in the period of the research project will entail an element of choice and also student-generated lectures, based on selection of topics at start of module: with subjects geared to doing research in archives / local studies/ digital resources.

SSC500
Stage 2 Professional Development, Placement Preparation and Identifying Opportunities 0 credits

This module is for students in the School of Society and Culture who are interested in undertaking an optional placement in the third year of their programme. It supports students in their search, application, and preparation for the placement, including developing interview techniques and effective application materials (e.g. CVs , portfolios, and cover letters).

HIS5001
Heritage and Public History 20 credits

The module content will examine the theory and practice of the presentation of the past to public audiences. In it, students will examine the creation, nature, use and understanding of heritage and public history, nationally and internationally. They will examine these issues in case studies of historical ‘sites’ of different types, to gain a critical awareness and understanding of the theories and controversies surrounding heritage and public history. This is a work facing module, where students will consider the theory and practice of ‘using’ ‘sites’ of heritage and public history from the point of view of a range of stake holders.

HIS5002
Royal Navy in the Age of Sail, 1545-1815 20 credits

This module examines the royal navy and the development of British naval power between 1545 and 1815. Beginning with the sinking of the Mary Rose in 1545 this module explores changing role of the navy and sea power in defence to the end of the Napoleonic wars in 1815. This module also investigates the logistics, technological changes and social history of the navy in this period.

HIS5003
The Longest War; Britain, Ireland and the Troubles 1949-2006 20 credits

This module looks at the complex relationship between Britain and Ireland in the later part of the twentieth century up to present day. It has a special focus on the conflict in Northern Ireland. Students will look the impact of the Troubles on both societies; and study in depth the peace process.

HIS5005
Research Methods in Visual, Material and Oral History 20 credits

This module investigates the use of oral, material & visual sources as a means of investigating the past. Also, the contextualisation of historical sources and questions in the wider historiographical literature.

HIS5006
First World War at Sea 20 credits

This module examines World War I at Sea. It will investigate the changing role of maritime history and the history of the sea in this period. This module also investigates logistical, naval, cultural, political, technological changes and social history of World War I from a maritime perspective.

HIS5010
America Since 1900 20 credits

This module is an introduction to major themes in the political, social, economic, business and cultural history of the United States since 1900.

HIS5011
Other Voices - Marginalisation in Early Modern Europe 20 credits

This course explores the ways in which early modern society confronted difference, and constructed its norms and mores. We will consider the role of religion, race, class, and gender in early modern Europe through the study of those groups who found themselves on the outside.

HIS5013
Culture and Society in Britain c. 1760-1914 20 credits

The module content will examine key selected themes in the culture and society of Britain c.1760 – 1901. In it, students will examine primary sources such as pamphlets, books and visual material, to gain a critical awareness and understanding of aspects of British culture and society in this period which may include the duel, capital punishment, mourning cultures, gambling, popular science, culinary cultures, race.

CRM5003MX
Harm in the 21st Century 20 credits

This module explores the global challenges of harmful behaviours and activities in contemporary society by considering specific areas of concern for criminologists. By drawing on real-world examples in everyday life, the module examines how social problems and issues have arisen due to processes of globalisation that have changed the social, political and economic landscape of the 21st century.

CRM5009MX
Crime, Harm and Culture 20 credits

The module aims to provide students with a critical appreciation of harm and crime by exploring relevant issues from film, television, music, fiction literature and art. By applying a criminological lens to different forms of popular culture, students will be able to examine a variety of media forms in terms of its content and its contemporary political, social and economic context using different theories and concepts.

ENG5002MX
Gothic Fictions: Villains, Virgins and Vampires 20 credits

This module looks at eighteenth- and nineteenth-century novels to trace the variety and scope of literary contributions to the Gothic. It begins by discussing the origins of the Gothic novel, then moves to the heyday of the genre in the revolutionary 1790s, on to authors writing in the early and mid-nineteenth century, through to the decadence of the 1890s.

ENG5013MX
‘Hurt Minds’: Madness and Mental Illness in Literature 20 credits

This module considers changing attitudes towards, and a variety of theories of, the mind, examining how different cultures have understood ‘healthy’ and ‘unhealthy’ mental states. It will look at how the experience and treatment of mental illness has been represented in fiction. The mind is at its most fascinating when it behaves outside of expected social norms. By considering a variety of literary texts over several centuries, this module explores shifts in the definition, understanding, evaluation, and management of exceptional mental states.

ENG5017MX
Writing Genre Fiction 20 credits

This module takes students into in-depth engagement with prose fiction writing in various genres, with possibilities including fantasy, science-fiction, period/historical, young adult fiction, horror, comedy, romance, crime, and thriller. The module is taught through lecture, seminars, and workshops where students are asked to submit and feedback to peers and tutors on a regular basis.

LAW5019MX
Law in Context: Commerce and Intellectual Property 20 credits

This module focuses on the work of commercial lawyers in practice in helping businesses to trade. It analyses a range of contractual agreements dealing with the manufacture, sale, supply and distribution of goods, assets and services in general and intellectual property in particular.

PER5008MX
Play and Games for Performance 20 credits

This module will introduce students to practical methods for designing games and play structures for participatory performances that invite audiences to become actively involved in the work. In addition to learning new tools for designing and facilitating play, students will be prompted to consider playfulness from a theoretical perspective, recognising the connection between the play of mimesis and theatrical performance.

PIR5013MX
Politics Beyond Parliaments 20 credits

This module analyses the role of civil society and the public sphere in democratic governance and in democratization from a variety of theoretical perspectives.

PIR5014MX
Voter Behaviour and Effective Election Campaigning 20 credits

This module undertakes an advanced examination of contemporary trends and developments in theories of electoral behaviour globally; then more specifically the relationship between electoral rules, electoral systems and election outcomes; the evolution of campaign techniques, and the role, mechanics, and accuracy of opinion polls in modern electoral politics. These global understandings are applied directly to the case of British politics.

SSC600
School of Society and Culture Placement Year

Students have the opportunity to gain work experience that will set them apart in the job market when they graduate by undertaking an optional flexible placement year. The placement must be a minimum of 24-weeks (which can be split between a maximum of two different placement providers) and up to a maximum of 48-weeks over the course of the academic year. The placement is flexible and can be undertaken virtually, part or full time and either paid or voluntary. This year allows them to apply and hone the knowledge and skills acquired from the previous years of their programme in the real world.

HIS6001
History Dissertation 40 credits

In this module students prepare the ground and complete a Dissertation of 10-12,000 words on a subject of their own choosing, making extensive use wherever possible of primary historical sources. Lecturing staff provide tutorial support and assistance with research and writing.

HIS6003
The African American Experience, 1890-1954 20 credits

Examining the experience of African Americans from Emancipation at the end of the Civil War to the beginning of the Civil Rights movement at the end of WWII.

HIS6005
The Irish Revolution 1912-37 20 credits

This module examines the political, social and cultural history of Ireland during the period 1890-1937 with particular focus on causes and effects of partition and the nature what is known as the ‘Irish revolution’.

HIS6007
Filth and the Victorians 20 credits

In this module students study the Victorian era from the perspective of environment, public hygiene, cultural values of cleanliness and fear of physical, moral and other forms of contamination. Drawing on urban histories, histories of medicine and science, the module also uses a range of literary and artistic sources.

HIS6008
The Civil Rights Movement 20 credits

Examining the African American struggle for civil rights in the 1950s and 1960s.

HIS6009
From Unification to Reunification: Key Themes in Modern German History 20 credits

This module is an introduction to the major themes of political, social and economic development in Germany, especially in the nineteenth and twentieth century. Themes may include nineteenth century revolution and unification, Imperialism and WW1, from the Weimar Republic to Dictatorship, WW2, the FRG and the GDR; and revolution and reunification.

HIS6010
Elizabeth I: The Failure of a Dynasty? 20 credits

This module will allow students to explore how Elizabeth I and her regime dealt with the major religious, dynastic, social and international conflicts and challenges of her reign. Students will explore the limits of the Elizabethan regime’s success, engaging directly with contemporary views, while also considering the subsequent history and mythology of the last Tudor monarch.

HIS6011
Inter-War Britain 1919-40 20 credits

The module examines Britain in the period 1919-40 with an emphasis on Government and politics. The social, economic and foreign challenges facing Britain are examined for their ability to impact on policy and politics.

HIS6012
Modern Japan: Transforming Empire and Identity at the Edge 20 credits

This module is an introduction to the major themes of political, social and economic development in Japan, especially in the nineteenth and twentieth century.

ENG6003
Advanced Short Story Workshop

In this module we will examine a range of contemporary short story writing and relevant theory as a way for students to learn how to compose their own short fiction. Class time will be divided between discussion of short fiction and theory, writing exercises and peer workshops of student work. The workshops will be substantially informed by staff research practice.