Study information

Programme Specification for the 2024/5 academic year

BA (Hons) History

1. Programme Details

Programme nameBA (Hons) History Programme codeUFA3HPSHPS35
Study mode(s)Part Time
 Academic year2024/5
Campus(es)Streatham (Exeter)
 NQF Level of the Final Award6 (Honours)

2. Description of the Programme

The BA (Hons) History programme gives you the tools you need to study the history that interests you.  It develops a broad foundation of skills and knowledge in the first year, builds on this in the second year as you begin to become an independent researcher, and culminates in the opportunity to produce highly specialised work in the final year, including the study of a particular subject in depth. There is a huge amount of module choice available to you, covering time periods from the Roman Empire to the early twenty-first century, and topics as diverse as migration and mobility, indigenous peoples in Latin America, the history of health and its politics, women in society, the Vikings, magic and witchcraft in early modern Europe, and histories of material things.


3. Educational Aims of the Programme

In this programme, our students and friendly, approachable staff work together, driven by curiosity and inspired by a shared passion for History. Our mission is to research and educate ourselves and others about the past and its present legacies. We aim to develop and pass on the highest standards of rigour and excellence that characterise our discipline at its best. During your time studying for a degree with us, we will make learning exciting, engaging and fun – exploring hidden treasures, secret worlds and famous historical events from new perspectives. We offer a huge range of History options, covering hundreds of years and many different cultures and continents.  We will also encourage you to broaden your horizons further by taking modules that interest you beyond History.  You will be challenged along the way to move out of your comfort zone, not just by what you study, but what you learn about yourself and your capabilities during your degree.  This, we believe, will prepare you well for life beyond graduation, including tools that will help you thrive in an increasingly complex, rapidly-changing world.

 

We will work with you on your personal development so that you can:

  1. Become an open-minded and internationally-engaged individual and an informed participant in uncovering the fullest range of human histories, particularly in decolonising the study of the past.  You will have the chance to explore rich and diverse ways of seeing the past.  The programme will enable you to become an informed participant in decolonising the study of the past, recognising injustices in the past and present, and uncovering the full range of human histories: for example, in our first-year modules, Understanding Medieval and Early Modern History, and Understanding Modern History. By studying history across time periods and cultures, you will be able to engage sensitively and appropriately with a wide range of perspectives.  You will develop a deeper historical understanding of the causes and consequences of some of the most pressing issues facing societies today, including conflict and violence, climate change, social injustice and inequality: for example, in our second-year module, Uses of the Past, or our final-year module, The Future of the Past. This ability to understand past and present from multiple perspectives will enable you to make your own connections, forge your own opinions, and be an agent for positive change.

  2. Become a mature and critical reader able to observe, understand, analyse and interpret a wide variety of historical sources, from ancient archives to digital collections.  This will not only enrich your lifelong experience, but equip you to make sense of a complex world, giving you the skills to decode past and present. You will become well-informed, capable of in-depth and critical engagement with a wide variety of historical themes, and experienced in applying these to a range of geographical areas and time periods, developing your abilities at each stage of the programme.

  3. Become a confident, independent thinker and researcher adept at constructing reasoned arguments based on historical evidence, and gain a well-developed awareness of the different methodological and theoretical ways of thinking about the past and how it has shaped us.  You will be able to marshal ideas cogently, and have the chance to develop these skills through the independent second-year research project, Doing History in the Digital Age, and your final-year dissertation.  With choice over your own direction of study – including interdisciplinary studies, digital humanities, language development, supported research projects, and opportunities such as internships – you will be able to shape the content of your own intellectual and personal development.

  4. Become an effective listener, communicator and collaborator able to use your knowledge, insights and creativity to work with others and independently.  You will be equipped with critical communication skills that are essential for you to be able to use your knowledge, insights and creativity to work both collectively and independently. By practising a range of assessed activities such as oral presentations and group work, you will become a highly attuned and empathetic listener, capable of engaging with a wide range of perspectives. You will develop high levels of literacy through various written assignments, and the ability to speak fluently and listen attentively and accurately through participation in a variety of activities.  By working with others across a range of assessed activities you will gain experience of collaborating with others respectfully and in a mutually-supportive environment.

 

4. Programme Structure

5. Programme Modules

Details of the modules currently offered may be obtained from the College website:
http://intranet.exeter.ac.uk/humanities/studying/undergraduates/modules/

You may take optional modules as long as any necessary prerequisites have been satisfied, where the timetable allows and if you have not already taken the module in question or an equivalent module.

You may take elective modules up to 30 credits outside of the programme in any stage of the programme as long as any necessary prerequisites have been satisfied, where the timetable allows and if you have not already taken the module in question or an equivalent module.

Stage 1

75 credits of compulsory modules, 45 credits of optional modules

 

Compulsory Modules

Stage 1: 75 credits of compulsory modules, 45 credits of optional modules

Single Honours students must take at least 15 credits (and up to a maximum of 30 credits) of Sources and Skills modules at Stage 1. ‘Sources and skills’ modules change yearly, depending on staff availability and other factors.

 

CodeModule Credits Non-condonable?
HIH1137 Becoming a Historian: Core 15Yes
HIH1421 Understanding Medieval and Early Modern History 30No
HIH1422 Understanding Modern History 30No

Optional Modules

Single Honours students must take at least 15 credits (and up to a maximum of 30 credits) of Sources and Skills modules at Stage 1. ‘Sources and skills’ modules change yearly, depending on staff availability and other factors.

You are strongly encouraged to take at least 15 credits (and up to a maximum of 30 credits) of modules outside History in Stage 1 via modularity.

Single honours students may take as one of their options HIH1139 Becoming a Historian (Extension)

CodeModule Credits Non-condonable?
HIH1139 Becoming a Historian: Extended 15No
HISS S1 new BA SH opt 2023-4
HIH1002 Losing an Empire, Finding a Role: Britain Since 1945 15 No
HIH1014 The Body in Eighteenth-Century Britain 15 No
HIH1042 Murder in Early Modern England 15 No
HIH1043 The Collapse of Communism in Central-Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union 15 No
HIH1051 Everyday Life in the Anglophone Caribbean, c.1900-1966 15 No
HIH1053 Gender and Sexuality in the Middle Ages 15 No
HIH1138 Medieval, Manufactured? Uses and Reuses of the Middle Ages 15 No
HIH1408 The Dissolution of the Monasteries 15 No
HIH1411 From Wigan Pier to Piccadilly: Britain between the Wars 15 No
HIH1501 The Viking Phenomenon 15 No
HIH1505 The First Crusade 15 No
HIH1506 The First Day of the Somme 15 No
HIH1585 Ladies of the Night: Prostitution in the Victorian World 15 No
HIH1586 Early Modern Venice: Representations and Myths 15 No
HIH1597 Serfdom in Late Medieval England 15 No
HIH1600 Images of Stalinism 15 No
HIH1607 JFK 15 No
HIH1612 Renaissance Florence 1350-1550 15 No
HIH1614 Environment and Industry, 1750-1950: Global Perspectives 15 No
HIH1615 Imperial Science, Race, and Exploration in the Long 19th Century 15 No
HIH1616 Producing Poverty: Peasants in a Global Perspective, 700-1300CE 15 No
HIH1618 Body, Border, Partition: Understanding Violence in South Asia 15 No
HIH1140 Confinement, Care, Cure: Psychiatric Institutions in the Twentieth Century 15 No
HIH1539 Early Modern Things: Materials as Historical Sources 15 No
HIH1534 Maritime Power in the Age of Nelson 15 No
HIH1532 The History of Strategic Thinking 15 No
HIH1412 Early Modern Magic and Witchcraft 15 No

Stage 2

60 credits of compulsory modules, 60 credits of optional modules

 

Compulsory Modules

CodeModule Credits Non-condonable?
HIH2237 Doing History in the Digital Age 30Yes
HIH2002 Uses of the Past 30No

Optional Modules

You must select 30 credits of Stage 2 Option Modules from term 1, and 30 credits from term 2.

As part of your options, you are strongly encouraged to take 30 credits outside History via modularity.

CodeModule Credits Non-condonable?
HISS S2 BA SH opt 2022-3
HIH2014A Decolonisation and the Collapse of the British Empire, 1919-1968 30 No
HIH2032A Europe 1650-1800: From Enlightenment to Romanticism 30 No
HIH2036A Albion's Fatal Tree: Capital Punishment in England, 1688-1965 30 No
HIH2186A Deviants and Dissenters in Early Modern England 30 No
HIH2209A African American History 30 No
HIH2218A Religion, Society and Culture in Tudor England 30 No
HIH2224A African Modernities: Popular Cultures in Twentieth Century Africa 30 No
HIH2234 Sailors, Slavery and Piracy: The Atlantic World, 1600 - 1800 30 No
HIH2590 An Age of Iron? Europe in the Tenth Century 30 No
HIH2592 Science, Empire, and Natural History Museums: A Global Perspective 30 No
HIH2587 The Other Renaissance: Religion, Knowledge, and Power in the Twelfth Century 30 No
HIH2011A Forgetting Fascism, Remembering Communism: Memory in Modern Europe 30 No
HIH2037 American Frontiers: The West in U.S. History and Mythology 30 No
HIH2137A Inventing Modern Man: Constructions of Mind, Body, and the Individual, 1400-1800 30 No
HIH2138A History of Development: Ideologies, Politics, and Projects 30 No
HIH2145A Spain from Absolutism to Democracy 30 No
HIH2179A The American Empire 30 No
HIH2185A China in the World, 1500-1840 30 No
HIH2208A Medieval Paris 30 No
HIH2233 The British World c.1860-1975 30 No
HIH2591 Philip Augustus and the Making of France, 1180-1223 30 No

Stage 3

30 credits of compulsory Dissertation, 60 credits Special Subject, 30 credits of Option modules.

 

 

Compulsory Modules

a You must select HIH3005 Dissertation OR HIH3006 Research Project Dissertation

CodeModule Credits Non-condonable?
HIH3005 General Third-Year Dissertation [See note a above]30Yes
HIH3006 Research Project Dissertation [See note a above]30Yes

Optional Modules

You must select a Special Subject for 60 credits.

You must select 30 credits of Option Modules from either Concepts or modules from outside of History via modularity.

CodeModule Credits Non-condonable?
History UG Final Stage Concepts Concepts modules
HIH3329 The Future of History 30 No
HIH3330 Communications 30 No
HIH3331 Elites 30 No
HIH3332 Sexualities 30 No
HIH3333 Heroes 30 No
HIH3334 Civil Wars 30 No
HIH3335 Violence 30 No
HIH3336 Revolutions 30 No
HIH3337 Race 30 No
History UG Final Year Special Subjects 2024-5 Special Subjects
HIH3415 Everyday Stalinism: Life in the Soviet Union, 1928-53 60 Yes
HIH3416 Critics of Empire 60 Yes
HIH3417 The Yes, Minister Files: Perspectives on British Government since 1914 60 Yes
HIH3422 Street Protest and Social Movements in the Modern Era 60 Yes
HIH3426 Health and its Politics in the 20th Century 60 Yes
HIH3430 From the Grand Tour to Gladiator: Modern encounters with the ancient world 60 Yes
HIH3433 Beyond Cannibalism: Indigenous Peoples and the European Colonisation of Brazil, 1500-1822 60 Yes
HIH3434 The Body in Early Modern England 60 Yes
HIH3436 Engendering Empire: Making the British Imperial World 60 Yes
HIH3437 Death to the Traitors: Rebellion and Resisting Tyranny in the Middle Ages 60 Yes
HIH3438 The Rise of Capitalism in Britain 1660-1830 60 Yes
HIH3439 Women's Experience in Britain: Race, Class and Gender since 1945 60 Yes
HIH3441 Britons Abroad: The Experience of Travel, c. 1650-1900 60 Yes
HIH3442 From Its Cradle to Its Grave? The National Health Service in Britain, 1948-Present 60 Yes
HIH3444 Them and Us: Imagining the Social "Other" in Britain since the 1880s 60 Yes
HIH3448 Britain in an Age of Revolution: War, Society and Culture, 1789-1815 60 Yes
HIH3450 Decolonisation and Colonial Conflict 60 Yes
HIH3451 Borders and Mobilities in Postcolonial South Asia 60 Yes
HIH3452 Whiteness: A Global History 60 Yes

6. Programme Outcomes Linked to Teaching, Learning and Assessment Methods

Intended Learning Outcomes
A: Specialised Subject Skills and Knowledge

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)
On successfully completing this programme you will be able to:		Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs) will be...
...accommodated and facilitated by the following learning and teaching activities (in/out of class):...and evidenced by the following assessment methods:

1. Describe and discuss the philosophical problems confronting historians.
2. Demonstrate knowledge of the recurring themes in History, such as class, gender, ethnicity, religion and war, and of the main themes in particular topics selected for modules; trace the key developments within a topic and relate them to an overall conception of the subject matter; evaluate complex themes in History; make close specialist evaluation of key developments within particular periods/topics
3. 3 Identify the variety of approaches taken to historical research; evaluate the professionalism and scholarly value of historical works; evaluate the reasons for changes in historiographical approaches.
4. Define a suitable research topic in the subject area and pursue it to completion.
5. Use different types of historical source; evaluate different and complex types of historical source; use primary sources in a professional manner.
6. Present work in the format expected of historians, including footnoting and bibliographical references.
7. Demonstrate how quantitative data can be used in historical research.

ILO1s 1-3 are developed at stage 1 in compulsory modules though lectures, seminars, and written work.

ILO 1 is further developed especially in compulsory modules at stage 2.

ILOs 2-3 form the backbone of all modules taken at all stages, but the level of complexity and nuance develops according to stage.

You are encouraged to use stage 1 and 2 compulsory modules as a way of addressing ILO 4, and concentrate on doing so in a Dissertation at final stage. More generally, the choice of coursework that you are given in all modules develops this skill in you from the outset of the programme.

ILO 5 is a requirement of all modules, but there is particular primary source emphasis - developing in complexity as you progress through the stages of the programme - at stage 1 in Sources and Skills modules.

ILO 6 is developed in all modules. You are given clear guidelines about ILO 6 in the Undergraduate Handbook, and are instructed in such matters in stage 1 compulsory modules, and are expected to demonstrate it in all modules.

ILO 7 is developed through Sources and Skills and may be developed in other elective modules. Many modules have a requirement of some work with quantitative data.

The assessment of these skills is through a combination of coursework in a variety of formats, oral work both independently and as part of a group, and project and Dissertation work. The criteria of assessment pay full recognition to the importance of the various skills outlined.

Intended Learning Outcomes
B: Academic Discipline Core Skills and Knowledge

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)
On successfully completing this programme you will be able to:		Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs) will be...
...accommodated and facilitated by the following learning and teaching activities (in/out of class):...and evidenced by the following assessment methods:

8. Draw thematic comparisons between material from different sources
9. Describe contrasting approaches to research and judge between competing views
10. Describe and evaluate the nature of both qualitative and quantitative evidence.
11. Identify basic philosophical questions arising from academic research.
12. Think and write broadly about large historical themes.
13. Comprehend complex terminology and discourses, and deploy such terminology in a comprehensible manner.
14. Identify problems of reliability and bias in, and more generally evaluate evidence.
15. Collate data from a range of sources.
16. Reference sources accurately in written work.
17. Answer questions concisely and persuasively in writing.
18. Present work and answer questions orally.
19. Ask pertinent and intellectually demanding questions of other students.
20. Focus on and comprehend complex texts.

All these ILOs are embedded in all modules, at all stages of the programme, and are developed via seminars, lectures, workshops, and supervisions.

The assessment of these skills is through a combination of coursework in a variety of formats, oral work both independently and as part of a group, and project and Dissertation work. The criteria of assessment pay full recognition to the importance of the various skills outlined.

Intended Learning Outcomes
C: Personal/Transferable/Employment Skills and Knowledge

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)
On successfully completing this programme you will be able to:		Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs) will be...
...accommodated and facilitated by the following learning and teaching activities (in/out of class):...and evidenced by the following assessment methods:

21. Undertake independent study and work to deadlines
22. Digest, select and organise material for written work and oral presentations, and write to varying word lengths.
23. Plan the execution of work over a very long time scale.
24. Participate in oral discussions; present and evaluate complex arguments and ideas orally; digest, select and organise material for oral presentations.
25. Work with others as part of a team on challenging material.
26. Interact effectively with peers and staff.
27. Undertake group work, including the presentation and discussion of material in groups.

ILO 21 is an essential part of the successful completion of the programme but is particularly developed in stage 2 core modules and the Dissertation modules.

ILO 22 is developed through coursework and presentation work throughout the programme.

ILO 23 is developed through stage 1 and 2 core modules and, in final stage, through the Dissertation modules, which have a single end of year deadline.

ILO 24 is developed through seminars, which form the whole or part basis of all modules.

The skills in ILOs 25-26 are developed to some extent in all modules, through interaction in seminars and in discussion with tutors about coursework, and in response to criticism both collective and individual. However, there is particular emphasis on ILO 25 (and ILO 27) in stage 1 Sources and Skills and core modules, where you work as part of a team to present and respond to the presentations of others, and in modules in the second and final stages.

The skills in ILOs 21-23 are assessed in all modules.

ILO 22 is covered by the fact that you write coursework of differing lengths, which is summatively assessed. In addition, presentations are formally assessed in modules throughout the programme.

ILO 23 is covered by the Dissertation modules and, to a lesser extent, stage 1 and 2 compulsory modules.

Formative assessment of work in seminars (ILO 24) takes place across the programme, with opportunities for summative oral assessment in stage 2 options, among other modules.

Team work skills (ILOs 25-27) are formally assessed in stage 2 compulsory modules and in final-year optional modules.

7. Programme Regulations

Classification

8. College Support for Students and Students' Learning

History tutors set aside two ‘office’ hours a week during term-time to see personal tutees and students they teach, and are also available to see students by appointment. There is a full programme of personal tutoring that accompanies the academic curriculum, varying by stage and focusing on particular issues relevant to your progression through the degree course. The role of academic tutors is to support you on individual modules; the role of personal tutors is to provide you with advice and support for the duration of the programme and extends to providing you with details of how to obtain support and guidance on personal difficulties such as accommodation, financial difficulties, and sickness.

 

Each research centre in History runs its own seminar series, which you are welcome to attend. In addition, we have close relations with a range of organisations that support student research. For example, Exeter Cathedral Library is a key centre for the study of medieval history. The Bill Douglas Cinema Museum, on campus, houses one of Britain’s largest public collections of books, prints, artefacts and ephemera relating to the history and prehistory of cinema. At the heart of the Centre is the Bill Douglas and Peter Jewell Collection, comprising approximately 50,000 items.

 

Programme handbooks and other useful information can be accessed via the student gateway pages on the Exeter Learning Environment (ELE): http://vle.exeter.ac.uk/login/index.php,

 

Other useful information and student resources can also be accessed via ELE, including  specific information on library skills, essay writing and research skills, and via StudyZone: https://www.exeter.ac.uk/students/studyzone/

9. University Support for Students and Students' Learning

10. Admissions Criteria

11. Regulation of Assessment and Academic Standards

12. Indicators of Quality and Standards

The programme is not subject to accreditation and/ or review by professional and statutory regulatory bodies (PSRBs).

13. Methods for Evaluating and Improving Quality and Standards

14. Awarding Institution

University of Exeter

15. Lead College / Teaching Institution

College of Humanities (CHUM)

16. Partner College / Institution

Partner College(s)

Not applicable to this programme

Partner Institution

Not applicable to this programme.

17. Programme Accredited / Validated by

0

18. Final Award

BA (Hons) History

19. UCAS Code

Not applicable to this programme.

20. NQF Level of Final Award

6 (Honours)

21. Credit

CATS credits

360

 ECTS credits

180

22. QAA Subject Benchmarking Group

[Honours] History

23. Dates

Origin Date

21/09/2022

 Date of last revision

22/09/2023