BA History and Arabic

Mitigating circumstances may be personal or family illness, other family circumstances, change of teachers during a course, problems with school facilities or an unusual curriculum followed by your school or college. 

We recommend that information on mitigating circumstances that have affected or are likely to affect your academic performance should be included in the referee's report. 

We cannot usually consider information that is supplied after an adverse decision has been made on an application by the admitting School. 

If you encounter mitigating circumstances after you have submitted your application, please inform the admissions staff in the School to which you applied as soon as possible. 

Where mitigating circumstances have already been considered, for example by the relevant Exam Board, we will not be able to make further allowances.

BA History and Arabic 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 a comprehensive grounding in Arabic language, literature, culture, history and linguistics, enabling you to become proficient enough in Arabic to live and work effectively in an Arabic-speaking environment.

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 city of Manchester, itself 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 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.

Arabic

• You have the opportunity to achieve near-native proficiency in modern Arabic while studying the language within its cultural and historical context.
• You will also look more widely at Arab culture and literature from the medieval period to the present day, and be introduced to social and cultural trends in the Arab Middle East and beyond.
• The range of culture units offered across all years of the programme combine the study of the history, politics, literary, and visual culture of the Arab world and are taught by a range of specialists within these fields.
• The course is carefully structured so you can measure your progress step by step. Learning modern Arabic also opens the door to the vast literature of classical Arabic, including religious and secular texts, and provides a perfect platform from which to learn one or more of the colloquial dialects.
• You will spend your third year studying abroad at an academic institution in an Arab country such as Jordan or Morocco, an ideal way to improve your fluency in the language while gaining a fascinating first-hand experience of the Arab world.

The course unit details listed below are those you may choose to study as part of this programme and are referred to as optional units. These are subject to change and are the latest example of the curriculum available on this programme.

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.

Study abroad

Your year abroad will offer the opportunity to gain first-hand experience of life in an Arabic-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 .

Enjoy cultural activities

Manchester is a multicultural city that provides excellent general opportunities for contact with speakers of Arabic and the pursuit of Arabic and Islamic interests outside of the University (e.g.public lectures, societies, cultural events).

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.

Study History at Manchester and you will come away with a degree that is well-regarded by employers for the outstanding analysis and critical thinking skills you will develop.

A degree in Modern Languages and Cultures paves the way for a broad range of careers.

You will develop intercultural awareness and enhanced communication skills - both highly valued by employers.

You will also acquire transferable expertise at the very heart of language learning, including enhanced powers of perception and interpretation and advanced decision-making and multitasking skills.

The University of Manchester is the second most targeted university in the UK for top graduate employers (High Fliers Research, 2024).

Our graduates enjoy success in a wide range of careers, reflecting the high regard in which employers hold a History degree from Manchester, including the BBC - with whom we have well-established links - as well as KPMG, Deloitte, Marks and Spencer, Aviva, Accenture and Barclays.

Typical professions for History graduates include:

• teaching and academia
• heritage and museums
• the Civil Service
• policy and thinktanks
• creative industries
• media and journalism
• marketing and public relations
• law and accountancy
• finance
• NGOs.

Employers who have taken on our Arabic Studies graduates in the past include Santander, RBS, the British Army, Virgin Atlantic, UK Islamic Mission, Amnesty International, and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Many of our graduates go on to undertake further study such as master's and PhD degrees, PGCEs or law conversion courses before taking up their careers.