History and Language (French, German, Italian, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, Chinese) with Foundation Year

This BA History and Language is a carefully structured, wide-ranging course combining history, culture and language study. Alongside developing the critical and analytical skills for assessing historical evidence and questioning conventional wisdom on the past, you will learn to formulate and communicate your own ideas effectively in English and in your chosen language of study.

Why choose this course?

• Birkbeck has one of the very few schools in the UK to include archaeologists, classicists and historians working on every period from prehistoric humans to Ancient Greece to medieval, early modern and modern societies.

• As well pursuing your interests in British, Irish, European and global history, and exploring themes within histories of ‘race’, migration, gender and sexuality, you will have the opportunity to take modules from allied disciplines like politics and geography.

• You will also become competent in a modern foreign language, choosing from French, German, Italian, Spanish, Japanese, Korean or Mandarin Chinese, and study the culture associated with that language.

What you will learn

In history, you will gain skills in:

• critically analysing narratives about the past and its role in the present

• understanding and interrogating primary and secondary sources in discussion and writing

• navigating archives, collections, oral history sources and libraries.

You will also learn a modern language and study the culture in which it is spoken, reaching near-native standard in French, German, Italian or Spanish, or upper-intermediate or advanced level in Japanese, depending on your starting level. If you opt to study either Korean or Mandarin Chinese, your final award will be a ‘with’ degree, so for example BA History with Korean.

How you will learn

History teaching on this course combines lectures from our leading academics who will introduce you to the critical ideas, debates and figures of the past, with seminars where you will pursue collaborative knowledge alongside your fellow students.

Language teaching is interactive and delivered in the target language.

This course is available to study full- or part-time with classes in the evenings.

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, very close by are the Institute of Historical Research, the Institute of Classical Studies, the British Museum and the British Library.

• Our School of Historical Studies is home to thriving student societies and research centres that run seminars, conferences and other events where some of the world's best scholars present their research.

• Get a flavour of our teaching and research through free seminars, workshops and tasters; also check out events at the Raphael Samuel History Centre, a leading centre for public history.

Careers and employability

On successfully graduating from this course you will have gained transferable skills including:

• locating, contextualising and interpreting a range of historical sources

• assessing reliability of different varieties of evidence

• presenting your findings

• speaking, reading and writing in your chosen language

• knowledge about the lands and peoples associated with your chosen language.

Graduates can work in education, business, the arts, museums and galleries, the heritage sector, social work or government. Possible professions include:

• heritage manager

• museum/gallery curator

• archivist

• translator

• higher education lecturer

• school teacher.