History

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

• We are global. You will 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, Black British history, and Queer history. You will be introduced to innovative historical methods from oral and public history.

• We help you achieve academic success. Meet your personal tutor during induction and every term to help you set goals and improve your skills. You will participate in diverse assessments, so you can apply your learning to practice, and learn with the support of peers in small group seminars, field trips, and film screenings.

• We develop you to succeed in your future career. You will gain career knowledge and experience, including through our work placement module, which will help you stand out to future employers.

• 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.

Course Modules

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

Option 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 these 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 45 credits worth of 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.