BA (Hons) History & History of Ideas
This programme offers one of the few opportunities in the UK to specialise in the history of ideas at undergraduate level, and focuses on the work of individuals and groups who creatively develop and transform received ideas.
Daniel Taylor, BA in History and History of Ideas
See here for details of current vacancies.
3 years full-time or 4-5 years part-time.
VV31.
ABB or equivalent; see entrance requirements for alternative qualifications.
Ability to express ideas and evidence clearly; skills in verbal and written expression and presentation; ability to work independently and with initiative; communicating, negotiating and working with people from different backgrounds; developing interpersonal skills in giving and receiving constructive criticism; ability to make judgements about the basis of different opinions, evidence, and claims; time management skills; a critical approach to interpreting, evaluating and assessing the characteristics, strengths and weakness of different theories and empirical evidence.
Central and local government; administration; private sector management and personnel work; journalism; teaching and research; law.
Please see Undergraduate tuition fees.
History
This degree combines a broader study of history in general with a more specific focus on the nature of ideas and their role in history, their impact on the historical process, and their relationship to material and economic conditions, political power-structures, philosophy, art, religion, literature, science, and sexuality.
What you Study
In the first year you study a foundation course in historical methods and concepts, half of which is devoted to methods and concepts in history of ideas. You also study specific classic texts from figures such as Plato, Aristotle, the Buddha, Confucius, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, Marx and Freud, learning how to understand such texts by placing them in their historical socio-cultural context, and their location in the history of thought. In addition you will develop skills in criticising and evaluating their content and will select one of the following thematic courses: Dictators, War and Revolution; Religion, Peace and Conflict; Identity, Power and Society, or The Nature of Humans: Being, Emotion, Environment, and Organisation.
In your second year you choose two courses in the history of ideas and two in history in general, in line with your own developing interests. You might decide to investigate: heresy and the occult in early modern Europe; the fortunes of Buddhism, from its founding in North East India to its arrival in the contemporary West; early modern witchcraft trials; early modern European philosophy; contemporary moral issues – such as theories of ethics, abortion, suicide, sexual ethics, and war; the history of medicine; the historical context of literary visions of London from Shakespeare to Orwell; the everyday lives of British people from 1800 to the present, featuring issues such as migration, political movements and new literacies; democracy and dictatorship in interwar Europe; Mediterranean, South Asian and African history.
In your third year you also take a Special Subject selected from the 40 or so available through the other University of London institutions. These are based on the use of original sources in a detailed study which further develops your skills in understanding and interpreting historical evidence.
Assessment
Each course unit is examined at the end of the year in which you’ve taken it, using either written exams or coursework; all courses contribute to your final result.
Application enquiries
Please see how to apply for information on applying to this programme.