History is both a subject and an academic discipline. Students of history attempt to reconstruct and explain the past through the study of its residues, using critical skills and insights particular to the historical profession or drawn from other disciplines. The Leeds School of History is a large research-led department. It achieved a grade point average of 2.75 in the last Research Assessment Exercise, and lecturers in the School generally teach in their specialist research areas.
The School's programme is notable for both the chronological and geographical range of the options it offers, which include modules in British, European, American and Wider World history.
Leeds students have access to some of the best library resources in the country. The University's Brotherton Library houses one of Britain's largest historical research collections and is an invaluable resource for student research projects in years 2 and 3. Students also have easy access from campus to the British Library branch at Boston Spa, the Leeds Public Library, the Yorkshire Archaeological Society and the West Yorkshire District Archives.
As Leeds History graduates develop advanced skills in critical thinking, information handling, research and communication skills, they are highly sought after by leading employers in fields as diverse as Law, the media and accountancy, as well as more subject orientated careers such as the heritage industry, archivism and teaching.
The programme will:
- provide students with tools for the critical interpretation of both secondary and primary texts;
- equip students with extensive background and comparative historical knowledge of a number of chronological periods and cultures or geographic regions;
- offer students a wide choice of specialist topics covering many periods, approaches and cultures, based on the research specialisms of staff in the School;
- equip students with a broad awareness of general developments in historiography, and in depth knowledge of the historiography of their specialist areas;
- expose students to a variety of the approaches and conceptual tools of some of the sub-disciplines of the historical profession, which may include social history, economic history, cultural history, gender history and political history;
- equip students with the skills and opportunity to conduct autonomous supervised research projects, including a primary source or historiographically based dissertation;
- develop students' competency at communicating their ideas by a variety of methods, including oral presentations, essays and a research-based dissertation.
[Learning Outcomes, Transferable (Key) Skills, Assessment]
View Timetable
Candidates will be required to study the following compulsory modules:
| Code | Title | Credits | Semester | Pass for Progression |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HIST1000 | Exploring History | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) |
Candidates will be required to study 20-60 credits from the following optional modules:
| Code | Title | Credits | Semester | Pass for Progression |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HIST1060 | Faith, Knowledge and Power, 1500-1750 | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| HIST1310 | The Medieval World in Ten Objects | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| HIST1320 | Medieval Lives: Identities, Cultures and Beliefs | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) |
Candidates will be required to study 20-60 credits from the following optional modules:
| Code | Title | Credits | Semester | Pass for Progression |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HIST1510 | Global Empires | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| HIST1520 | Global Decolonization | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| HIST1530 | The Making of the Twentieth Century | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) |
Candidates may take up to 40 credits of discovery modules outside the School in place of the option modules listed above.
[Learning Outcomes, Transferable (Key) Skills, Assessment]
View Timetable
Candidates will be required to study at least 40 credits from the following optional modules. These MUST be taken in different semesters:
GROUP A MODULES
| Code | Title | Credits | Semester | Pass for Progression |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HIST2030 | The Crusades and the Crusader States in the 12th Century | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| HIST2045 | Transformations of the Roman World | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| HIST2065 | The Tudors: Princes, Politics, and Piety, 1485-1603 | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| HIST2073 | Most Christian Kings: France, 1515-1715 | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| HIST2080 | Voices of the People: Speech, Language and Oral Culture in Early Modern Europe | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| HIST2090 | Sin in Spanish America, 1571-1700 | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| HIST2105 | Medieval Romans and the shape of Afro-Eurasia today | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| HIST2112 | Jewish Communities in Medieval Europe | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| HIST2115 | Charles the Great to Alfred the Great: Franks, Anglo-Saxons and Vikings in the Ninth Century | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| HIST2117 | Conquerors and Conquered: England, 1000-1135 | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| HIST2135 | Britain and the Industrial Revolution | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| HIST2170 | Patient Voices: Medicine and Healthcare in the Middle Ages | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| HIST2220 | The Body, Disease and Society in Europe, 1500-1750 | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| MEDV2085 | Medieval Narratives in the Modern World: Nationalism, Terrorism, Popular Culture | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) |
AND at least 40 credits from the following modules. These MUST be taken in different semesters:
GROUP B MODULES
| Code | Title | Credits | Semester | Pass for Progression |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HIST2015 | Australia and the World | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| HIST2050 | Material Legacies: Objects and British Cultural Heritage, c. 1783-1851 | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| HIST2103 | Later Victorian England: Politics, Society and Culture | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| HIST2140 | Imperial Germany 1871-1918 | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| HIST2291 | 20th Century Britain: Progress and Uncertainty 1945-1990 | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| HIST2301 | The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union, 1921-1993 | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| HIST2309 | Communist Eastern Europe, 1945-89 | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| HIST2360 | Bass Culture in Modern Britain | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| HIST2420 | Nationalism, Colonialism and 'Religious Violence' in India, 1857-1947 | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| HIST2432 | Lost Colonists: Failure and the Family in Southern Africa, 1880-1939 | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| HIST2435 | The Popular Caribbean: A History | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| HIST2441 | Race, Gender and Cultural Protest in the US since 1865 | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| HIST2442 | Black Politics from Emancipation to Obama | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| HIST2645 | The Rise of Modern Japan: From the Meiji Restoration to the Present Day | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| HIST2653 | American Business History | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| HIST2654 | Global Business History | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| HIST2658 | Mao Zedong and Modern China, 1949-Present | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) |
The following modules offer you the chance to explore the diversity of approaches to the study of the past. Some of the modules give you the chance to research and practise History in collaboration with others, both within and outside the University.
These modules are excellent preparation for the final year dissertation.
GROUP C MODULES
| Code | Title | Credits | Semester | Pass for Progression |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FOAH2020 | Towards the Future: Skills in Context | 20 | Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) | |
| HIST2240 | Hands on Heritage | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| HIST2260 | Digital Methods for History, Art and Literature | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| HIST2505 | Archive Intelligence: Unlocking the Archive | 20 | Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) | |
| HIST2557 | Thinking about History | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| HIST2560 | History on the High Street | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| HIST2565 | Histories of Black Britain | 20 | Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) | |
| HIST2710 | Public Historians: Applied History, People’s History and the Uses of the Past | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) |
Students cannot take level 3 modules at level 2. Students are only permitted to take a maximum of 20 credits below their year of study at levels 2 and 3, with the exception of skills discovery modules.
Candidates may take up to 40 credits of discovery modules from within or outside the School.
[Learning Outcomes, Transferable (Key) Skills, Assessment]
View Timetable
Candidates will be required to study the following compulsory module:
| Code | Title | Credits | Semester | Pass for Progression |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HIST3500 | History Dissertation | 40 | Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) |
Candidates will be required to study 40 credits from the following special subject modules:
| Code | Title | Credits | Semester | Pass for Progression |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HIST3001 | Conquest, Convivencia and Conflict: Christian and Muslim Spain, 711-1212 | 40 | Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) | |
| HIST3002 | Back to School in the Middle Ages: Schools, Teachers and Pupils in north-western Europe 700-1200 | 40 | Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) | |
| HIST3235 | Dividing India: The Road to Democracy in South Asia, 1939-1952 | 40 | Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) | |
| HIST3240 | The Harlem Renaissance: Black Culture and Politics 1919-1940 | 40 | Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) | |
| HIST3270 | The Third Reich, 1933-1945 | 40 | Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) | |
| HIST3330 | Europe in an Age of Total Warfare | 40 | Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) | |
| HIST3332 | The Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939 | 40 | Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) | |
| HIST3360 | Body, Mind and Senses: The Social and Cultural History of Disability in Britain, 1833-1998 | 40 | Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) | |
| HIST3362 | American Consumer Society in Historical Perspective | 40 | Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) | |
| HIST3370 | Black British Culture and Black British Cultural Studies | 40 | Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) | |
| HIST3382 | The Cultural History of Venice, 1509-1797 | 40 | Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) | |
| HIST3390 | The Soviet Sixties: Politics and Society in the USSR, 1953-1968 | 40 | Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) | |
| HIST3395 | The Troubles: The Northern Ireland Conflict, 1968-Present | 40 | Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) | |
| HIST3440 | The Photographic Age: Photography, Society and Culture in Britain, 1839-1945 | 40 | Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) | |
| HIST3498 | Early Modern Media: Printing and the People in Europe c.1500-c.1800 | 40 | Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) | |
| HIST3590 | White Africans: Intimacy, Race and Power | 40 | Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) | |
| HIST3650 | Stalin and Stalinism | 40 | Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) | |
| HIST3685 | Georgians at War | 40 | Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) | |
| HIST3687 | The Later Elizabethan Age: Politics and Empire | 40 | Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) | |
| HIST3695 | The Korean War | 40 | Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) | |
| HIST3743 | From Byron to Bin Laden: Transnational War Volunteers | 40 | Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) | |
| HIST3747 | The Iron Lady Abroad: Margaret Thatcher and UK Foreign Policy from 1979 | 40 | Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) | |
| HIST3760 | A Revolutionary Century: Resistance, Reform, and Repression in Central America, 1900- present | 40 | Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) | |
| HIST3785 | Europe on the Move: Refugees and Resettlement, 1919-59 | 40 | Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) | |
| HIST3888 | The Global Vietnam War | 40 | Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) | |
| HIST3930 | The First World War: A Global Conflict | 40 | Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) |
Candidates will be required to study at least 20 credits from the option modules listed below:
| Code | Title | Credits | Semester | Pass for Progression |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HIST3251 | Twentieth Century Southeast Asia: From Empire to Independence | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| HIST3453 | The Body in Australian History, 1788-2007 | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| HIST3455 | Consumer Society in Historical Perspective | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| HIST3493 | War, Regicide and Republic: England, 1642-1660 | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| HIST3530 | Mapping the Middle Ages: space and representation from the Pacific to the Atlantic | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| HIST3710 | Nazism, Stalinism and the Rise of the Total State | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| HIST3723 | Apartheid in South Africa: Origins, Impact and Legacy | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| HIST3724 | Caribbean Identity, Society and Decolonisation | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| HIST3726 | In the Shadow of Franco: Terror and its Legacy in Spain, 1936-Present Day | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| HIST3728 | The Breaking of Contemporary Britain: Challenges from the Post-War Period | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| HIST3790 | Gender and Slavery in Latin America, 1580-1888 | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| HIST3880 | 'Parasites' and 'Cockroaches': Ethnic Cleansing and Genocide in the Modern World | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| HIST3999 | Doomed to Failure? European Great Power Politics from Bismarck to the Outbreak of World War I | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| MEDV3411 | Medieval Women Mystics: Visionaries, Saints and Heretics | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| MEDV3610 | The Age of Chivalry: The Idea of Knighthood in Medieval Europe, 1050-1450 | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) |
Students may take 40 credits of MEDV modules, 20 credits in lieu of a core HIST option module, with prior permission from the Head of the School of History.
The following modules offer you the chance to explore the diversity of approaches to the study of the past. Some of the modules give you the chance to research and practise History in collaboration with others, both within and outside the University.
| Code | Title | Credits | Semester | Pass for Progression |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FOAH2020 | Towards the Future: Skills in Context | 20 | Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) | |
| HIST2240 | Hands on Heritage | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| HIST2260 | Digital Methods for History, Art and Literature | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| HIST2505 | Archive Intelligence: Unlocking the Archive | 20 | Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) | |
| HIST2557 | Thinking about History | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| HIST2560 | History on the High Street | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| HIST2565 | Histories of Black Britain | 20 | Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) | |
| HIST2710 | Public Historians: Applied History, People’s History and the Uses of the Past | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) |
Students at level 3 may choose up to 20 credits of modules below their level. If a level 3 student chooses to study 20 credits below their level of study, these 20 credits must be taken at level 2. Level 1 modules may not be taken at level 3, with the exception of Skills Discovery modules (indicated by the letters 'skd' on the catalogue).
Candidates may take up to 20 credits of discovery modules from within or outside the School.
Last updated: 07/09/2022 09:24:00
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