- UCAS course code
- RV71
- UCAS institution code
- M20
Bachelor of Arts (BA)
BA History and Russian
- Typical A-level offer: ABB including specific subjects
- Typical contextual A-level offer: BBC including specific subjects
- Refugee/care-experienced offer: BBC including specific subjects
- Typical International Baccalaureate offer: 34 points overall with 6,5,5 at HL including specific subjects
Course description
BA History and Russian 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 develop your Russian language skills to a superior level, while also developing your interests in and knowledge of a variety of other subject areas (such as film and media studies, sociology, history and politics, literary and cultural studies).
History
- We offer one of the most diverse history courses in the UK, with our course units covering almost all 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 and multi-ethnic city of Manchester, a living history book - from Peterloo to the anti-slavery and suffragette movements, 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 the Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Race Relations Resource Centre, 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.
Russian
- You will be provided with a broad grounding in Russian area studies, with an emphasis on the integrated study of language, culture and society.
- Independent, monitored self-study will reinforce your knowledge of grammar and vocabulary.
- Our language courses are taught by native speakers of Russian and English speakers with a superior command of Russian and are supplemented by structured independent language learning activities.
- There are separate pathways for beginners and post-A level students in the first two years of study.
- You will benefit from access to a range of Russian cultural and social events to further your study of the language and culture.
Although language units may show here as optional, they are a mandatory part of your modern languages degree and you will take the units relevant to your level of language in each year of study.
It is compulsory to study language at all levels of your modern languages degree.
Special features
Study abroad
Your year abroad will offer the opportunity to gain first-hand experience of life in a Russian-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) and hosting social events, and get involved with the student magazine, The Manchester Historian .
You can also join The University of Manchester Russian Society and enjoy a variety of social events, such as Russian evenings, cookery, pub crawls, quizzes, film nights and more.
Teaching and learning
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.
Coursework and assessment
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.
Course content for year 1
Your time will be split equally between History and Russian Studies with 60 credits in each area.
History
- In History you will have broad range of options covering a variety of topics, thematically, temporally and geographically.
- 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.
Russian
- Develop crucial Russian language skills through dedicated grammar classes, oral practice with native-speaker lectors, language laboratory work, and a range of independent learning activities. Separate language pathways are offered for beginners and post A-level students.
- Build a solid base for your study skills and gain a grounding in the concepts and debates crucial to an understanding of Russian society and culture.
- Topics and themes introduced in Year 1 are explored in depth in optional content courses in Year 2 and Year 4. As a result, these courses also help you to make informed choices for subsequent years of study based on your own interests.
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 |
The Making of Modern Russia: 1552-1917 | RUSS10251 | 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 |
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Course content for year 2
In Year 2, you can choose to maintain an equal weighting between the two subjects or devote more time to either History or your modern language.
History
- You will write an individual independent research project with one-on-one supervision.
- Your work will build on knowledge and skills gained in your first year developing each subject area to provide a greater breadth and depth of experience. There is greater flexibility of choice than in your first year.
Russian
- Continue with your intensive study of Russian language.
- Choose from optional courses in a range of areas (such as Russian culture and thought, literature, translation studies, Central European and Balkan history and culture, and Polish language).
- Prepare for your year abroad through meetings and consultations with our Residence Abroad Tutor and with final-year students who have recently returned from the year abroad.
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 |
Russophone Literature and Society, 1800-2000s | RUSS20700 | 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 |
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Course content for year 3
Your third year of study is spent abroad under approved conditions.
For more information on the period of residence abroad, please consult the Residence abroad page.
Course content for year 4
In your final year you will again have flexibility about how to weight your study time in each subject:
- Undertake a more extensive personal research project resulting in a History or Languages dissertation, again completed under personal academic supervision.
History
- Explore a huge variety of History course units to complete your degree.
Russian
- The compulsory element of your studies consists of an advanced Russian language course, which focuses on oral proficiency, translation from and into Russian and composition in Russian.
- Optional courses in subjects including Business Russian, Soviet and post-Soviet cinema, Russian popular culture, Russian and Soviet politics and history and memory in post-socialist Eastern Europe round out your studies.
Course units for year 4
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 |
---|---|---|---|
Russian Language 5 | RUSS51050 | 20 | 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 |
History Dissertation | HIST30970 | 40 | 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 |
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Facilities
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.