History (with Integrated Foundation Year)

Why study BA History (with Integrated Foundation Year) at Goldsmiths
History is a relevant, dynamic, fascinating and important field of study which, at Goldsmiths, is approached in creative, innovative and exciting ways.

• If you do not have the required qualifications for degree-level study, our four-year BA in History (with Integrated Foundation Year) offers an alternative entry route.

• The Foundation Year is closely aligned with our undergraduate history programmes, teaching you a foundational knowledge of the subject and helping you develop the necessary academic skills. You choose the undergraduate degree you wish to study at the point of application, but if your interests change as you progress through the foundation year you can apply to switch to a different degree programme

• You will develop an understanding of the post-colonial world through a historical and historiographical survey of the British Empire from the 17th to the late 20th century

• Learn about social, cultural and political themes, including industrialisation, urbanisation, politicisation, radicalism, democracy, liberalism, constitutionalism and national identity in relation to the Battle for the Ballot

• You will acquire skills in historical methodology, including innovative practices such as oral history, public history, and applied history

• Learn how to effectively communicate information, arguments, and analysis in written form. You will successfully deploy techniques such as source evaluation, critical judgment and referencing

• Develop your ability to think critically about knowledge production and communication; look beyond the words on the page, delve into the emotional meaning of images and spoken word, and dig into the truth behind the data

• We are global. You'll learn about the history of the world and the global connections that span our multicultural world.

• We are relevant. You will learn about the continuing legacies of key events in history. Ideas such as democracy, liberalism, identity - how to look beyond the words on the page, delve into the emotional meaning of images and spoken word, and to dig into the truth behind the data.

• We help you explore your interests. Across the degree, you will be able to choose from a wide variety of modules including options at Birkbeck, Kings, Queen Mary, Royal Holloway, and UCL.

• We are interdisciplinary. Explore connections between history and other disciplines and learn about issues of identity and environment. You can also choose an interdisciplinary module option from other disciplines such as anthropology, politics, media studies, and sociology.

• We are research-led. You will learn how to think critically by being introduced to cutting-edge research in fields like non-traditional military history and Black British history. You will explore innovative historical methods from oral and public history.

• We open doors. Whether you see your future in law, business, teaching or further study, this degree will help you get there. If you are not sure what your future holds, studying History can help you find your path. Take your first step, by choosing BA History at Goldsmiths.

• Goldsmiths has a rich heritage of social awareness, civic engagement, creative arts, digital innovation, and equality, diversity, and inclusion. As a Goldsmiths graduate, you will be among the most critically engaged, interdisciplinary educated, and socially aware graduates of the University of London.

Year 0 Foundation Year
Developing your academic skills
Alongside direct preparation for an undergraduate degree in History, you will take two modules with our Centre for Academic Language and Literacies (CALL). These modules will help you develop the broader academic and research skills required for undergraduate study.

You will also learn how key social and political movements of the period have influenced the world we live in today through a cross-disciplinary module: Culture and Society in Post-war Britain. This module will cover topics such as 'Windrush and Migration', 'Irish Colonisation', 'Second-wave Feminism', 'Protest and Punk' and 'South-Asian Britain'.

Writing Your Way: Labyrinths of Stories, Self, and Data
Collaborative Research
Culture and Society in Postwar Britain
The Battle for the Ballot
Empires, Nations and Lines on the Map: Postcolonial Perspectives on Global History

Year 1
In your first year, you'll take the following compulsory modules:
Global Connections
Power, Emotions and Environment
Reading and Writing History
Historical Controversies
Power, Emotions and Environment

Year 2
Your second year will give you the chance to broaden your intellectual horizons, and have more freedom over what you study.

You will take these compulsory modules:
Radicalism and Revolution
Communication, Propaganda and Power
Race, Bodies and Empire
Environment, Disease and the Anthropocene
History at Work
The Goldsmiths Project

Optional modules
You'll also take 2 (30-credits worth) optional modules. Optional modules can vary each year but may include:
Art and Power
A History of Violence
Black and British: A Critical History
Sex, Drugs and Colonial Control: Race, Vice and Deviance in the British Empire
Islam and the West

Year 3
Your final year will be spent developing your specialist interests and knowledge.

You will take the following compulsory modules or one Special Subject module worth 60 credits from a list of University of London intercollegiate Group III modules:
Researching and Writing: Crafting and Presenting Your Work
Special Subject Dissertation
Future Histories: Skills for the Twenty-First Century

You will also choose one special subject module worth 15 credits:
Pleasure, Power and the Raj: Leisure, Society and Social Networks in 19th Century India
OR
Global Cold War

Optional modules:
You will then choose 3 (45 credits worth) optional modules. Modules may include the following:
Witchcraft, Diabolic Possession and the Occult in Early Modern Europe
WARGAMES: Fighting, Narrating and Understanding Modern Battle
Workers of the World Unite: Marxism, Modernity and Revolution in the Twentieth Century
How Democracy Dies: the Rise of the Nazis and the German Republic, 1918-3315
From Emancipations to Nations: Histories of Caribbean Decolonisation
Rebellions in Paradise: Caribbean Emancipations 1791-191415
Heresy and the Apocalypse

Please note that due to staff research commitments not all of these modules may be available every year.

You’ll be assessed by a variety of methods that broaden your academic skillset. These include coursework assignments such as essays, critical commentaries, presentations and personal reflections as well as seen examinations. Assessments vary in length according to the type of assessment and/or level of module.