- UCAS course code
- V100
- UCAS institution code
- M20
Course description
"What I love about Manchester is that it doesn't just explore history from the official perspective.
"You can explore it from a cultural perspective, from a feminist perspective, those who have maybe been left behind."
Xenia Bellwood / BA History Student
Our BA History course will give you the opportunity to tailor your degree to suit your own interests while learning from one of the largest concentrations of historians in Britain.
You will be able to choose course units covering a wide range of periods and topics, including ancient, medieval, modern and economic and social history, as well as the history of science, technology and medicine.
In Years 1 and 2, you can also take course units in other disciplines, including languages, the humanities and the social sciences. There are also opportunities for you to spend part of your degree studying abroad.
Students will have the option to specialise in a particular area of interest or continue to study a broad range of areas in their final year, when you have a choice of units covering topics such as British, European, American, African and Asian history at different periods, culminating in a 12,000-word thesis.
You will receive expert training in analysis and critical reasoning while developing important transferable skills in communication and presentation, argument and debate, teamwork, research, and time management, all of which will help prepare you for life after university.
Special features
"We can learn so much from the past. It's made me understand some of the more current problems.
"I think no other university that I looked at before applying gave you so much selection and gave you so much freedom to actually do the modules you want to do."
Hanna Matt / BA History Student
Placement year option
Apply your subject-specific knowledge in a real-world context through a placement year in your third year of study, enabling you to enhance your employment prospects, clarify your career goals and build your external networks.
Study abroad
You can apply to spend one semester studying abroad during Year 2, with exchange partners including those in Europe as well as the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Singapore.
Get involved
Our students can take part in history-related activities outside of the course, including the Manchester Histories Festival .
Explore world-class collections
Enjoy unique opportunities to explore special archived material and carry out research in a wide range of archives, libraries, museums and other research institutions in Manchester and beyond.
Flexible Honours
Our Flexible Honours initiative may allow you to study an additional arts, languages or cultures subject in conjunction with History.
Teaching and learning
You will learn through a variety of channels, including lectures, face-to-face and online seminars, and small group tutorials.
We encourage students to undertake independent study at every level.
Coursework and assessment
Assessment procedures in different course units vary, but our basic objective is to achieve a good balance between formal examinations, continuous assessment and project work.
The Year 3 dissertation is a major piece of original work, accounting for 22% of the final overall mark.
Course content for year 1
Designed to assist students with the intellectual and academic transition to university study, level 1 modules focus on introducing students to key conceptual and methodological issues in relation to studying History.
All students take History in Practice, in which students learn important skills in research and writing to equip them for historical study at university level.
Course units for year 1
The course unit details given below are subject to change, and are the latest example of the curriculum available on this course of study.
Title | Code | Credit rating | Mandatory/optional |
---|---|---|---|
History in Practice | HIST10101 | 20 | Mandatory |
From Reconstruction to Reagan: American History, 1877-1988 | AMER10002 | 20 | Optional |
Constructing Archaic Greek History | CAHE10011 | 20 | Optional |
From Republic to Empire: Introduction to Roman History, Society & Culture 218-31BC | CAHE10022 | 20 | Optional |
The Odyssey | CAHE10101 | 20 | Optional |
The Making of the Mediterranean | CAHE10132 | 20 | Optional |
Cities and Citizens | CAHE10232 | 20 | Optional |
Discoveries and Discoverers: Sights and Sites | CAHE10282 | 20 | Optional |
Introduction to the History and Culture of Pharaonic Egypt | CAHE10651 | 20 | Optional |
Decoding Inequality: Reimagining Digital Culture | DIGI10031 | 20 | Optional |
Displaying 10 of 33 course units for year 1 | |||
Display all course units for year 1 |
Course content for year 2
Modules become increasingly specialist and the programme offers significant choice and flexibility.
Students write an Independent Research Project, which is an extended piece of coursework supervised on a one-to-one basis on a topic of the student's choice.
Course units for year 2
The course unit details given below are subject to change, and are the latest example of the curriculum available on this course of study.
Title | Code | Credit rating | Mandatory/optional |
---|---|---|---|
Independent Research Project | HIST20392 | 20 | Mandatory |
From Jamestown to James Brown: African-American History and Culture | AMER20141 | 20 | Optional |
The American Civil War | AMER21001 | 20 | Optional |
The Conquering Hero: The Life, Times and Legacy of Alexander The Great | CAHE20041 | 20 | Optional |
The Roman Empire 31BC - AD313 Rome's Golden Age | CAHE20051 | 20 | Optional |
Politics and Society in Classical Greece | CAHE20062 | 20 | Optional |
Roman Women in 22 Objects | CAHE20532 | 20 | Optional |
Weimar Culture? Art, Film and Politics in Germany, 1918-33 | GERM20261 | 20 | Optional |
Making of the Modern Mind: European Intellectual History in a Global Context | HIST20181 | 20 | Optional |
Winds of Change: Politics, Society and Culture in Britain, 1899 -1990 | HIST20251 | 20 | Optional |
Displaying 10 of 33 course units for year 2 | |||
Display all course units for year 2 |
Course content for year 3
Students may specialise in the periods and subjects that they have found most interesting.
All students write a History Dissertation, which is an extended piece of coursework based on independent primary research and supervised on a one-to-one basis on a topic of the student's choice, which our students generally find to be the most enjoyable and fulfilling part of their studies.
Course units for year 3
The course unit details given below are subject to change, and are the latest example of the curriculum available on this course of study.
Title | Code | Credit rating | Mandatory/optional |
---|---|---|---|
History Dissertation | HIST30970 | 40 | Mandatory |
American Hauntings | AMER30811 | 20 | Optional |
The Roman Army and the North-West Frontiers | CAHE30882 | 20 | Optional |
Culture and Society in Germany 1871-1918 | GERM30722 | 20 | Optional |
Empire, Gender and British Heroes, c.1885 - 1985 | HIST30622 | 20 | Optional |
Gender and Sexuality in Modern Africa | HIST31002 | 20 | Optional |
Wealth and Welfare: Reconceptualising British Economy and Society between 1832 and 1942 | HIST31051 | 20 | Optional |
China and the West: the Age of Empire and Beyond | HIST31202 | 20 | Optional |
Heroes and Holy Men: The Irish Sea World in the Viking Age, c. 780-1100 | HIST31362 | 20 | Optional |
The Holocaust: History, Historiography, Memory | HIST31491 | 20 | Optional |
Displaying 10 of 45 course units for year 3 | |||
Display all course units for year 3 |
Facilities
As well as taking advantage of the University Library and study spaces such as Alan Gilbert Learning Commons, you will be able to explore a wealth of archives, libraries, museums and other research institutions in Manchester and beyond, including the Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Race Relations Resource Centre, John Rylands Library and the Manchester Museum.
Visit the Facilities page on the History website to find out more.
Disability support
Practical support and advice for current students and applicants from the Disability Support Office .