BA (Hons) History with Military History

Year 1

In your first year, you will take the following compulsory modules, as well as two 15-credit modules offered by the Department of History.

Compulsory modules

Module title	Credits
Global Connections: the violence and exchanges that shaped the modern world Global Connections: the violence and exchanges that shaped the modern world 30 credits This module explores the multiplicity of contacts which have shaped the last half millennium of global history. Empire and religion, commerce and colonialism, race and space, and disease and healing all drove and moulded the encounters between distant cultures that created our modern world. This module explores some of these global connections, from trade and the exchange of goods and ideas, to practices of violence and resistance. The module will introduce students to core and emerging debates and approaches within the field of global history. The module will contain five four-week blocks on various topics within modern global history. The History department will publish a list of five blocks each year, from at least the following: Germany’s African Road to the Holocaust Global Sports and the African Diaspora The Ottoman Empire in European History (De)Colonising Enlightenment Political Thought Mosquitos, Microbes and Empire Travellers, Stories, Materials and Knowledges across Eurasia Balkan Migrations and Diasporas African encounters: European travellers and slavers in Africa, c. 1490 – c. 1775	30 credits
Historical Controversies Historical Controversies 15 credits This module introduces you to a range of historical controversies in order to engage you in a critical manner with competing perspectives on a range of different issues and events. The module will contain six, three-week blocks on various sub-disciplines within history, including, social, cultural and political history, across different periods and geographic areas. Throughout, it will focus on work on historiography, considering issues such as the influence of issues contemporary to authors on their writing; the impact of authors’ politics and/or wider values system on their work; the evolution of controversies over time; and theoretical explanations of controversies. In addition, it will take a comparative approach to controversies, with assessment including an option to compare two historical controversies or to analyse one controversy in more depth. Lectures and seminars at the beginning and end of the module, and at the point of handover from one block to another, will discuss comparative themes. The History Department will publish a list of six blocks each year, from at least the following: Acts, Identities and the Origins of Homosexuality The Greatest Whodunit in History: Who Caused the First World War? The Decline of the Liberal Party in the UK and the Rise of Labour Guilty Men? British Appeasement Policy and the Causes of the Second World War in Europe. Fire in Babylon: The New Cross Fire and the Black People’s Day of Action The Unnatural Disaster of Hurricane Katrina Revolutionary Ireland, 1912-23 The English Revolution, 1641–1660 Nations and Nationalism	15 credits
Reading and Writing History Reading and Writing History 15 Credits This module provides guidance on how to develop and perfect the skills that you need to write an undergraduate-level history essay. We'll emphasise the centrality of problem-solving and critical thinking, demonstrating how essays should be used to explore academic debates. You'll learn skills specific to the discipline of history, such as identifying primary and secondary sources, evaluating their suitability and analysing them to answer historical questions. You'll also gain the necessary skills for academic work in other disciplines and for employment, including relevant referencing techniques, planning to meet deadlines, analyzing data, making a clear argument, using relevant technologies in research and presentation of data, working in groups and making oral presentations. For deep learning to take place, you'll practice the skills you've learnt by completing a series of structured tasks that contribute to a summative essay engaging with a specific historical problem. You'll receive feedback on each stage of the process, enabling you to develop and improve your skills. The module is taught with a narrow focus on the lived experience of a defined group of people during a specified historical period (for example the working life of South and East Londoners in the mid-Nineteenth Century) depending on the expertise of the member of staff running the module. Some sessions concentrate on the knowledge required, others on how to apply this knowledge to solve a given historical question. The module also provides specific guidance on the preparation for history examinations.	15 Credits
Identity, Agency & Environment 1 Identity, Agency & Environment 1 15 credits In this module, subtitled ‘Everything is a Text’, you will consider the value of different types of texts and ways of imparting knowledge and ideas. You will reflect upon your identities as learners and future professionals in the world, considering a range of contexts: the academic/educational context, personal settings and the eco-systems that you live and work in. These reflections will be used to inform your practices as academic learners. You will explore academic literacies, different ways of knowing and consider what counts as ‘legitimate’ knowledge. You will engage with critical thinking, making arguments and establishing criteria to defend intellectual positions and these skills will be acknowledged as social practices that produce and reinforce meaning and frameworks of understanding and knowledge. Furthermore, you will engage with a wide range of academic and non-academic material, individuals and environments in order to contribute to discussions regarding attitudes and assumptions about ideas and experience, including within labour markets, cultural hegemonies, distributions of power and the relationship between the individual and society. In this way, the social interactions, relationships and contexts that underpin academic literacies in higher education will be made explicit. You will discuss these ideas with students and tutors from the different subjects at Goldsmiths, and learn to be part of the wider university community. You will also be able to submit an assignment which could be a written, graphically designed, audio, video, or negotiated project. You will get to choose the assessment that best shows what you can do.	15 credits
Identity, Agency & Environment 2 Identity, Agency & Environment 2 15 credits This module, subtitled ‘Researching Our World & Lives’, builds on the conceptual and contextual foundations of Identity, Agency and Environment 1. You will learn how to conduct academic research and will be offered the opportunity to broaden and deepen your understanding of the relationship between your own interests, skills, values, career and non-career aspirations, the concepts, theories and contexts of your discipline, and the world. You will reflect upon your identities as researchers, and learn how the research skills you’ve acquired both within your studies and the world more generally can be related to problem-solving in a wide range of contexts. You will consider your agency as researchers, what you can and cannot research, the ethical issues involved, and think reflexively about your position as a researcher in a range of environments and eco-systems. Formal conventions of academic research and writing will be integrated into your individualised contexts and goals, enabling the expression of ideas and perspectives that may challenge the status quo. The module will encourage creativity, activism, decision-making and the formation of judgements leading to action-planning in relation to research topics and types of evidence, and professional planning. You will learn to critique your own subject disciplines. Interdisciplinary sharing of knowledge will ensure that assessment and learning practices provide you with the opportunity to develop new lines of thinking and knowing, within formative collaborative learning and research communities.	15 credits

Year 2

In your second year, you will have the opportunity to direct your study through optional modules and broaden your intellectual horizons.

You will select 90 credits of optional modules, including 30 credits from the Military History pathway, and up to 30 credits can be a University of London intercollegiate Group II module. You can also select the final 30 credits in a related subject from another Department at the College (15 credits of which are part of the compulsory Goldsmiths Elective module), or choose another 15 credits from the History Department modules,

View the list of year 2 modules approved annually by the Department of History.

Compulsory modules

Module title	Credits
The Goldsmiths Elective The Goldsmiths Elective 15 credits Our academic departments are developing exciting elective ideas to allow you to broaden your education, either to develop vocationally orientated experiences or to learn more about contemporary society, culture and politics. You’ll be able to choose safe in the knowledge that these modules have been designed for non-subject specialists and to bring students from different disciplines together. For example, you may want to take introductions to areas such as Law, Education, the digital industries, the creative industries,think like a designer or understand the history and politics behind our current affairs.	15 credits
Goldsmiths’ Social Change Module Goldsmiths’ Social Change Module 15 credits Lots of students join Goldsmiths because they want to make a difference in society, to bring about positive change and develop skills and experiences which will allow them to access exciting careers. Goldsmiths’ Social Change module will allow you to do work on group projects with students from other departments to bring about change. You’ll be introduced to the UN’s Sustainable Development goals and core project management theories and practices allow you to work across a number of weeks towards a final Festival of Ideas where you’ll report work back to the academic and local community.	15 credits

Year 3

In your third year, you will develop your specialist interests and knowledge.

You will take either the following 30-credit Special Subjects module (Ireland's First World War) or a University of London Intercollegiate Group III Special Subject module from a list approved annually by our partner institutions. These include Birkbeck, King’s College London, Queen Mary, Royal Holloway, University College London.

You will complete a 30-credit dissertation alongside your chosen Special Subject.

You will also choose 60 credits of option modules from a list approved annually by the Department of History.

Module title

Credits

Ireland’s First World War Ireland’s First World War 30 Credits Ireland’s engagement with the First World War was profoundly connected with the politics of the day and the development of the Irish Revolution. Memory of the conflict remains live in today’s politics, with the war playing a central role in unionist identity formation and expression, and nationalist attitudes continuing to change. Meanwhile, the history of Ireland’s First World War is intimately connected to the wider context of the United Kingdom’s war and the way that is remembered through the influence of popular culture. This module is focused on the day-to-day experiences of Irish soldiers in the British army. It also considers connections between the war and wider Irish politics, including the Easter Rising. Battalion war diaries are the core sources, recording the detailed movements of battalions once they had finished training. They provide both much detail and often, vivid description with the main focus being on eleven Irish battalions (1st, 2nd, 6th, 7th, 8th & 9th Royal Dublin Fusiliers, 1st, 2nd and 9th Royal Irish Rifles, 6thConnaught Rangers, and 7th Leinsters) which are central to the module convenor’s books Belfast Boysand Dublin’s Great Wars. A wide range of other sources are used including historical artefacts, poetry, and individual letters/diaries. An optional visit to the National Archive at Kew is arranged to support research, while there is strong academic support and encouragement for research in other archives. An optional residential visit to key Western Front sites takes place at the end of the term following the module. You make a contribution to the cost of that visit, with the rate published alongside the publication of options each year.

30 Credits

Teaching style

The programme is cumulative and progressive, with knowledge and skills building on previous years and growing year on year. Basic skills and competencies are delivered in the first year which sets the broad agenda for the programme as a whole. In the second year, the modules contain increasingly challenging and demanding material which provides the foundations for the significant independent scholarly work required and undertaken in the final year.

Teaching may be delivered in the form of lectures and seminars or other forms of contact time such as extended seminars, workshops, field trips, and film screenings. Lectures introduce subject-specific skills and understandings and provide the basis for discussions, activities, group work, and debates. Seminars linked to lectures provide a space for further exploration of the lecture topics and materials and they reinforce the knowledge gained from the lectures and from independent reading and studying. Seminars also involve field-trips and site visits to relevant places including museums, galleries, archives, and sites of historical interest.

Lecturers also make themselves available for tutorials either during their Consultation and Feedback hours or by appointment. These provide opportunities to ask questions about modules and their content, to receive support and guidance on independent work, and to receive feedback on submitted work.

The following information gives an indication of the typical proportions of learning and teaching for each year of this programme*:

• Year 1 - 13% scheduled learning, 87% independent learning
• Year 2 - 13% scheduled learning, 87% independent learning
• Year 3 - 14% scheduled learning, 86% independent learning

How you’ll be assessed

A wide and innovative variety of different methods are used to assess learning, these include essays, reviews, source analyses, blogs, videos, walks, presentations, exams, and dissertations. Some modules are assessed by portfolios of coursework, or by a combination of coursework and an examination. Others are assessed by long essays or dissertations on topics approved with the tutor. Assessments vary in length according to the type of assessment and/or level of module.

Assessment supports student progression across the programme, as assessments in the first year aim to measure a set of baseline skills and competencies which are enhanced, deepened and broadened in subsequent years. Lecturers return assessments and provide useful and constructive feedback in a timely manner so as to ensure that students learn from the feedback and have the opportunity to improve subsequent work.

The following information gives an indication of how you can typically expect to be assessed on each year of this programme*:

• Year 1 - 44% coursework, 56% written exam
• Year 2 - 100% coursework
• Year 3 - 74% coursework, 26% written exam

*Please note that these are averages are based on enrolments for 2022/23. Each student’s time in teaching, learning and assessment activities will differ based on individual module choices. Find out more about .

Credits and levels of learning

An undergraduate honours degree is made up of 360 credits – 120 at Level 4, 120 at Level 5 and 120 at Level 6. If you are a full-time student, you will usually take Level 4 modules in the first year, Level 5 in the second, and Level 6 modules in your final year. A standard module is worth 30 credits. Some programmes also contain 15-credit half modules or can be made up of higher-value parts, such as a dissertation or a Major Project.

Download the programme specification. If you would like an earlier version of the programme specification, please contact the Quality Office.

Please note that due to staff research commitments not all of these modules may be available every year.

Between 2020 and 2022 we needed to make some changes to how programmes were delivered due to Covid-19 restrictions. For more information about past programme changes please visit our programme changes information page.

Selena Carty

Goldsmiths has the radical nature of being the first of many things, and I’m very much about creating new things.

“I love being at Goldsmiths,” says Selena. “I love the BA History with Military History. I love the modules and the concepts that tutors bring to the courses. I’ve studied history for a long time – I’m a mature student – and the degree is allowing me to put the histories that I love and understand into a context that I didn’t have before I came here.”

Selena is a mum of two who juggles studying at Goldsmiths with parental responsibilities. She also runs BlackPoppyRose, which she founded in 2010. “With BlackPoppyRose I look at the contributions made by the African, Black, West Indian, Caribbean, Pacific Island and Indigenous communities and Global Nations to wars,” Selena explains. “It’s not just as simple as saying we’re remembering those who served in World War I and II – we look back to the Maroon Wars in Jamaica, the Seven Years’ War of the North Americas, the American Revolution, the Napoleonic Wars, Haitian Revolution, Crimean War, Māori wars, Apache wars, Xhosa wars in Southern Africa, and the wars of genocide on Indigenous people.”

BlackPoppyRose is both a symbol of Remembrance and an organisation that educates and empowers people to understand their historical timelines. “The degree allows me to take my work to another level to understand what was going on in European ideology in relation to the domination of Indigenous peoples all over the world,” Selena says. “It helps make sense of why people are remembering, in what ways we’re remembering, and how that ties into heritage, historical legacy and family trees – all of that combined.”

Before starting BlackPoppyRose, Selena travelled the world exploring her own family tree. “My family are from Jamaica, and I’m first generation born in England,” explains Selena. “Although I can look back at Black British history, none of that relates to me personally. So I wanted to look into my own identity. I travelled to Jamaica, America, Canada and all over this country to find family members.”

As a result of this, researching family trees became Selena’s profession, and she has carried out historical investigations for many clients, travelling and interviewing elders. “To see the impact of the work has been insurmountable. Some of the information I’ve been able to find has helped families deal with some of the traumas they’ve been carrying. It’s helped them deal with some of the misnomers they’ve had, and some of the secrets they were so worried about.”

While Selena was travelling and carrying out client work, she was sharing her idea for BlackPoppyRose. “I was asking people, ‘Do we need one? What does it feel like when you see one or interact with one?’ And there’s a lot of emotions, there’s a lot that’s being dealt with.”

Since setting up the organisation, Selena has partnered with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, carrying out a report about the inequality of remembrance, and she’s also supported the National Army Museum with school education resources. “We need to be able to elevate the conversation. It’s not enough to be talking about diversity, it’s not enough to be talking about Black Lives Matter, it’s not enough to be talking about all of these separate entities – because nothing is separate. It’s about looking at how the framework that we exist in is impacted by our histories and our heritage.”

“Something else I’ve done is carry out some work for Call of Duty, one of the most famous war games in the world,” Selena says. “I was approached to assist them in creating the first Black protagonist character, to give them a real background, a real history. I was able to consult with them and their writer to support the development of the character.” Meanwhile Selena works on documentaries with organisations globally, creates all the marketing campaigns and social media content for BlackPoppyRose, and delivers workshops and other training programmes. She is also on the verge of finishing her first book, and is keen to see how that might connect with her university experience. “I want to see that relationship between Goldsmiths doing pioneering war history, and how that can link to other universities doing war history, and see how that narrative and those specialisms can be expanded on. Goldsmiths has the radical nature of being the first of many things, and I’m very much about creating new things. So that’s why I’ve come to Goldsmiths – because I felt that the environment was going to be one that was going to be inclusive and welcoming, and not be intimidated by someone like me.”

Selena has found the experience of returning to the classroom an interesting one. “I’d not been in academic environments for 20 years,” she explains, “so to be in a university format is bizarre because now I’m around so many different people and characters, whereas usually I work by myself. And I’ve got life experience, I’ve learned skills and tools along the way. The younger students are just getting into adulthood. I want to empower them to understand that their gifts are unique to them, and university is about investing in yourself to finetune those gifts.”

“I would definitely encourage anybody who wants to further their work, their understanding, their concepts to think about Goldsmiths as a place to be educated. I hope other places are equally as inclusive in their dynamics, and open to new conversations – and not ones that are structured on what people think other people need, but encourage you to come and develop and share, and be a part of something that can be everlasting.”

Find out more about the work of BlackPoppyRose.

We accept the following qualifications:

A-level: BBB
BTEC: DDM
International Baccalaureate: 33 points overall with Three HL subjects at 655
Access: Pass with 45 Level 3 credits including 30 Distinctions and a number of merits/passes in subject-specific modules
Scottish qualifications: BBBBC (Higher) or BBC (Advanced Higher)
European Baccalaureate: 75%, preferably including History
Irish Leaving Certificate: H2 H2 H2 H2

Additional requirements

At Goldsmiths we offer innovative and challenging degrees, in a stimulating environment, amongst a diverse and exciting community of students. Many of our students have achieved high A-level grades, and that is reflected in our standard A-level offer.

Above all, though, we are looking for potential students who can demonstrate the range of skills, talents, and interests necessary for this work, either through traditional A-levels or otherwise. We believe that all able students, of whatever age and background, who have the ability, should have the opportunity to study at Goldsmiths. We actively encourage applications from students with a wide range of relevant qualifications, especially the access diploma.

If you're interested in applying to Goldsmiths, whether you're currently studying or have been out of education for some time, we'd be delighted to hear from you. If you'd like further advice or have specific questions, please get in touch with the Admissions Officer listed above.

Given the range of students that the programme is designed to attract, applicants may be asked to attend an interview, where the following criteria are evaluated:

• reasons for applying to study this particular degree
• reasons for applying to Goldsmiths
• background knowledge/expectations of the discipline(s)
• intellectual potential and analytic skills
• ability to express ideas verbally and engage in debate
• motivation to complete the programme

Performance at interview can alter the usual criteria for entry on a case-by-case basis.

Above all, we're looking for potential students who can demonstrate the range of skills, talents and interests necessary for this degree, either through traditional A-levels or otherwise. We actively encourage applications from students with a wide range of relevant qualifications, especially the access diploma.

International qualifications

We also accept a wide range of international qualifications. Find out more about the qualifications we accept from around the world.

If English isn’t your first language, you will need an IELTS score (or equivalent English language qualification) of 6.0 with a 6.0 in writing and no element lower than 5.5 to study this programme. If you need assistance with your English language, we offer a range of courses that can help prepare you for degree-level study.

Annual tuition fees

These are the fees for students starting their programme in the 2023/2024 academic year.

From August 2021 EU/EEA/Swiss nationals will no longer be eligible for 'Home' fee status. EU/EEA/Swiss nationals will be classified as 'International' for fee purposes, more information can be found on our fees page.

• Home - full-time: £9250
• International - full-time: £18440

If your fees are not listed here, please check our undergraduate fees guidance or contact the Fees Office, who can also advise you about how to pay your fees.

It’s not currently possible for international students to study part-time under a student visa. If you think you might be eligible to study part-time while being on another visa type, please contact our Admissions Team for more information.

If you are looking to pay your fees please see our guide to making a payment.

Additional costs

In addition to your tuition fees, you'll be responsible for any additional costs associated with your course, such as buying stationery and paying for photocopying. You can find out more about what you need to budget for on our study costs page.

There may also be specific additional costs associated with your programme. This can include things like paying for field trips or specialist materials for your assignments. Please check the programme specification for more information.

Funding opportunities

We offer a wide range of scholarships and bursaries, and our careers service can also offer advice on finding work during your studies. Find out more about funding your studies with us.

Equipping you with the flexibility, skills and confidence needed to achieve your ambitions are central components of the BA History at Goldsmiths.  It provides you with the knowledge and skills that employers seek. According to the Institute of Student Employers, 82% of employers do not specify degree subjects when recruiting graduates. The Hay Group found that 91% of recruiters believe that graduates with refined people skills will advance faster in their organisations.

A degree in history can take you to almost any place you want to go. From teaching to the civil service, and business to social work. History graduates have known expertise in understanding and navigating different organisational cultures, and adapting their knowledge, understanding, and skills to different sorts of complex problems. 

History at Goldsmiths offers a range of opportunities for further study. It delivers several internationally renowned and ground-breaking MA programmes, including MA Queer History and MA Black British History. Through these programmes, the department establishes and fosters a range of partnerships with some of the leading historical and cultural organisations in London and beyond, including English Heritage, Historic England, Historic Royal Palaces, the Black Cultural Archives, and the George Padmore Institute.

Careers service

Goldsmiths' Careers Services offer tailored support to your individual needs. They can help you identify your career interests.

Support includes:

• Giving you practical advice in preparing a CV
• Teaching you important interview skills
• Providing networking opportunities with future employers who are particularly interested in the skills of Goldsmiths History graduates 

Work placement

Students on all BA History programmes can also choose to undertake History’s work placement module. Placement opportunities have included: St Paul's Cathedral, the Jewish Museum, the Cinema Museum, the National Maritime Museum, the London Metropolitan Archives, the Bishopsgate Institute, the Museum of London Docklands, and the Wellcome Library and Archive.  The Connected Curriculum module in year 2 also offers you the opportunity to work with other Goldsmiths’ students towards addressing UN Sustainable Development Goals in partnership with external organisations.