BA History and Portuguese / Course details

BA History and Portuguese provides you with the opportunity to study aspects of history that interest you most, from ancient, medieval, modern, and economic and social history, to the history of science, technology and medicine.

You will also gain a thorough grounding in the languages and cultures of the Portuguese-speaking world. 

History

• We offer one of the most diverse history courses in the UK, with our course units covering almost all of human history, including British, European, American, Asian and African history, and ranging from the classical era (Greece and Rome), through the medieval and modern periods, to the late 20th century.
• We offer a wide variety of approaches to history, from political and economic history, to gender, social, cultural, and colonial history.
• You will benefit from studying in the historically rich city of Manchester; itself is a living history book - from Peterloo to the anti-slavery movement, and from Roman and Anglo-Saxon forts to medieval monuments.
• You can draw on the abundant library, archive and museum holdings of the local area, including Chetham's Library, The Museum of Science and Industry, The People's History Museum and the Working Class Movement Library.
• You will also have access to one of only five National Research Libraries, including the special collections of The John Rylands Library, as well as the exclusive holdings of Manchester Museum.
• Our course content is directly informed by our world-leading research - the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (a UK-wide benchmark for research excellence) ranked History at Manchester 4th in the UK for the quality of our research outputs, with 82% of our overall research activity recognised as `world leading' (4*) or `internationally excellent' (3*).

Portuguese

• You will study both European and Brazilian Portuguese.
• You will also explore a range of options in areas such as contemporary culture, colonialism, literature and cinema from Brazil, Portugal, Mozambique and Angola.
• You will be taught by both Portuguese and Brazilian language teachers with specific training and, as a result, both your written and your oral work will be enhanced by constant exposure to accurate, idiomatic, and documented language.
• Cultural content courses are led by academic staff with broad expertise and who publish widely in their field.
• You will benefit from outstanding resources, including world-leading collections on Lusophone Africa within the library, and access to hundreds of films and texts on Portugal and Brazil.
• You will also benefit from us working closely with the Centre for Latin American and Caribbean Studies and we maintain strong links with the Instituto Cervantes located here in Manchester.

• Provides you with the opportunity to study aspects of history that interest you most, from ancient, medieval, modern, and economic and social history, to the history of science, technology and medicine.
• Give you a thorough grounding in the languages and cultures of the Portuguese-speaking world.

Study abroad

Your year abroad will offer the opportunity to gain first-hand experience of life in a Portuguese-speaking country, and further develop your language skills.

Connect with like-minded students

Join the History Society, which plays a key role in building a community among History students at Manchester by organising trips (in the UK and on the continent), hosting social events, and coordinating the student magazine, The Manchester Historian .

You can also join the Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Student Society and enjoy a wide range of cultural events and activities.

Our courses take maximum advantage of our well-established areas of research expertise, including everything from modern British and European cultural history, to economic and social history from the later Middle Ages to the 20th century.

You will learn through:

• lectures;
• seminars;
• web-based seminars;
• small group tutorials;
• field trips.

We encourage you to study a diverse range of types of history and to develop your own original and imaginative approaches.

You will spend approximately 12 hours a week in formal study sessions. For every hour spent at University, you will be expected to complete a further two to three hours of independent study. You will also need to study during the holiday periods.

The individual study component could be spent reading, producing written work, revising for examinations or working in the University's Language Centre.

You will be assessed in various ways, including:

• written and oral examinations;
• coursework essays;
• research reports;
• practical tests;
• learning logs;
• web contributions.

Many course units are assessed through a mixture of techniques.

In your final year, you will write a dissertation.

The University of Manchester owns the Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester Museum and Tabley House, giving you unique access to outstanding cultural and historical resources.

As well as making use of the wider University library network, you will have access to the University Language Centre, a modern open learning facility where you can study independently and make use of a library and audio-visual resources. There are also language laboratories and multimedia facilities.

Learn more on the Facilities page.