History

Our BA History offers you a wide range of history modules, stretching around the world and across thousands of years, taught by world-leading academic researchers. It is designed to support students pursuing specific career objectives as well as lifelong learners seeking to deepen their understanding of history.

Why choose this course?

• This BA History is ideal if you want to be taught by leading experts in the field learning about diverse periods of history and the past experiences of different cultures.

• It offers you historical knowledge, analytical proficiency and presentational skills all vital in career paths in areas such as teaching, journalism and the arts or media.

What you will learn

You will take core modules offering new, global perspectives on ancient, medieval, modern and contemporary history. As you progress through the course you will be able to choose from option modules focusing on periods, cultures or themes, from prehistoric humans to medieval, early modern and modern societies across the world. You can also explore themes within histories of ‘race’, migration, gender and sexuality, or choose to take philosophy or history of art modules.

You will hone your research skills, analytical ability and writing proficiency through essays and an original dissertation.

How you will learn

You will learn through illustrated lectures, interactive seminars and more informal discussions with your peers and tutors. We tailor the course specifically to meet the wide-ranging requirements of a student body diverse in terms of age, background, location, intellectual interests and professional goals. This means that we regularly develop and introduce new modules in response to student interests, new insights from our academic research and to address broader social needs.

The course is available to study full- or part-time. It has an evening timetable with classes taking place in the evening.

Foundation Year

If you opt for the Foundation Year route, this will fully prepare you for undergraduate study. It is ideal if you are returning to study after a gap, or if you have not previously studied the relevant subjects, or if you didn't achieve the grades you need for a place on your chosen undergraduate degree.

Highlights

• Birkbeck was ranked in the top eight universities in the UK for its History research in the 2021 Research Excellence Framework.

• Situated in historic Bloomsbury, we are at the heart of academic London. Situated very close by are: the Institute of Historical Research and the Institute of Classical Studies, with their specialist libraries, training facilities and seminars; the British Museum and other world-class galleries and museums; and the British Library, the largest national library in the world.

• The School of Historical Studies at Birkbeck is home to thriving student societies and a number of affiliated research centres that actively run seminars, conferences and other events where some of the world's best scholars present their latest research.

• Get a flavour of our teaching and research in this area through free online and in-person seminars, workshops and tasters.

Careers and employability

On successfully graduating from this BA History, you will have gained an array of important transferable skills, including:

• a sophisticated use of written and spoken English

• an advanced ability in situating contemporary issues in their historical contexts

• facility and precision in the critical analysis of complex concepts

• strong skills and initiative in researching and writing up clear reports.

Studying this course will prepare you for careers including:

• teaching

• museum or gallery curatorships

• political, cultural or investigative journalism

• archive organisation and management

• historical writing/consulting

• academic research and specialisation.

Course modules

For information about course structure and the modules you will be studying, please visit Birkbeck’s online prospectus.