This exciting and challenging joint honours degree will give you the opportunity to study past and present human societies through a combination of historical and sociological perspectives.
You will achieve a systematic understanding of the social, cultural, economic and political processes that have shaped human civilisations over time, considering the complexities of class, gender, race and other factors in different societies. This will enable you to build an understanding of the impact of power, resistance, and social change in British, European and global history. This flexible course allows you to develop your own areas of specialism and a range of skills that are attractive to employers.
This BA History and Sociology course brings together two academic disciplines to give insights that neither could provide on their own. A joint honours degree allows you to study the same core topics as students on each single honours course, but take fewer optional and discovery modules, so you can fit in both subjects.
At Level 1, you will study core and optional modules that will develop and broaden your historical skills, as well as exploring different approaches to the past. You will also analyse contemporary British society and culture and explore the key issues and concepts in global sociology.
At Level 2, you can choose from an impressive variety of optional modules, reflecting the latest research in both subjects. You could focus on major societal challenges, such as climate change, pandemics, disabilities, crime, racial and gender oppression, as well as the evolution of medieval and early modern societies across the globe, or the recent history of Britain, Europe, Africa, the Americas, Asia and Australasia. You will also take compulsory modules that focus critical skills and practices in both disciplines.
After Level 2, you will have the option to spend a year in an industrial placement or at a host University abroad, which would enable you to develop and enhance your transferable skills. Throughout your degree, you will develop your skills in independent research and analysis. You will put these into practice at Level 3 when you undertake an independent piece of research on a topic of your choice.
At Level 3, you will also apply the research and analytical skills you have developed in an independently researched dissertation, where you can specialise in a subject of your choice. Working closely with an expert tutor on a research-based ‘Special Subject’ module, you will focus on a specific topic in which you engage closely with primary sources, as well as optional Sociology modules that showcase the latest thinking in the discipline.
[Learning Outcomes, Transferable (Key) Skills, Assessment]
View Timetable
Candidates are required to take 120 credits, with a minimum of 40 credits in both History and Sociology.
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) | |
| HIST1065 | Diverse Histories of Britain | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| SLSP1201 | Making Sense of Society: Reading Social Theory | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| SLSP1213 | Formations of Coloniality and Modernity | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) |
Candidates will be required to study up to 40 additional credits, either by choosing from the basket below or via University designated ‘Discovery Modules’.
Candidates may study up to 40 credits from this basket of History 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) | |
| 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) | |
| MEDV1081 | Religion and Culture: Medieval Christianity, Judaism and Islam | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) |
Please note that optional modules run subject to enrolments. An optional module may not run if only a low number of students choose it.
Candidates may study up to 20 credits from the following optional History of Science modules:
| Code | Title | Credits | Semester | Pass for Progression |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HPSC1015 | Magic, Science and Religion | 10 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| HPSC1030 | History of Psychology | 10 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| HPSC1046 | Introduction to the History of Science | 10 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| HPSC1050 | Darwin, Germs and the Bomb | 10 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| HPSC1080 | History of Modern Medicine | 10 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) |
Please note that optional modules run subject to enrolments. An optional module may not run if only a low number of students choose it.
Candidates may study up to 40 credits of Discovery Modules.
[Learning Outcomes, Transferable (Key) Skills, Assessment]
View Timetable
Candidates must study 120 credits in total. These 120 credits will comprise any compulsory modules stated as well as a mix of optional and/or University designated ‘Discovery Modules’ as set out below.
At Level 2 candidates must choose at least 40 credits and a maximum of 80 credits of History modules.
At Level 2, candidates must choose at least 40 credits and a maximum of 80 credits of Sociology modules.
Candidates should select a maximum of 70 credits and a minimum of 50 credits per semester.
Candidates are required to study the following compulsory modules:
| Code | Title | Credits | Semester | Pass for Progression |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HIST2025 | History in Practice | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| SLSP2011 | Sociology and Social Policy Research Methods | 20 | Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) |
Candidates may study 20-60 credits from the following baskets of History Optional modules. No more than one module per basket can be selected. These modules will vary year on year.
Basket 1 - MEDIEVAL AND EARLY MODERN HISTORY
Students choose one module:
| Code | Title | Credits | Semester | Pass for Progression |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HIST2035 | Medieval Masculinities: Sex, Violence and Learning 1000-1200 | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| HIST2083 | Voices of the People: Language and Speech in the Early Modern World | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| HIST2090 | Sin in Spanish America, 1571-1700 | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| HIST2105 | Medieval Romans and the shape of Afro-Eurasia today | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| HIST2170 | Patient Voices: Medicine and Healthcare in the Middle Ages | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| HIST2260 | Digital Methods for History, Art and Literature | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) |
Please note that optional modules run subject to enrolments. An optional module may not run if only a low number of students choose it.
Basket 2 - MODERN HISTORY
Students choose one module:
| Code | Title | Credits | Semester | Pass for Progression |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HIST2011 | Mud, Blood and Poetry: The Cultural History of War in Britain | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| HIST2309 | Communist Eastern Europe, 1945-89 | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| HIST2360 | Bass Culture in Modern Britain | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| HIST2420 | Nationalism, Colonialism and 'Religious Violence' in India, 1857-1947 | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| HIST2432 | Lost Colonists: Failure and the Family in Southern Africa, 1880-1939 | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) |
Please note that optional modules run subject to enrolments. An optional module may not run if only a low number of students choose it.
Basket 3 - CROSS LISTED WITH BA INTERNATIONAL HISTORY AND POLITICS
Students may either choose one module from this basket OR 20 credits of University designated ‘Discovery Modules’.
| Code | Title | Credits | Semester | Pass for Progression |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HIST2140 | Imperial Germany 1871-1918 | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| HIST2152 | Spain, 1898-1936: Disaster, Reaction and Reform | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| HIST2301 | The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union, 1921-1993 | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| HIST2557 | Thinking About History | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| HIST2565 | Histories of Black Britain | 20 | Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) | |
| HIST2658 | Mao Zedong and Modern China, 1949-Present | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) |
Please note that optional modules run subject to enrolments. An optional module may not run if only a low number of students choose it.
Basket 4 - MEDIEVAL AND EARLY MODERN HISTORY
Students choose one module:
| Code | Title | Credits | Semester | Pass for Progression |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HIST2037 | Dread and Despair? Living with Disability in the Middle Ages | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| HIST2045 | Transformations of the Roman World | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| HIST2073 | Most Christian Kings: France, 1515-1715 | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| HIST2220 | The Body, Disease and Society in Europe, 1500-1750 | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| HIST2580 | Slavery Studies Through Autobiography | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| MEDV2085 | Medieval Narratives in the Modern World: Nationalism, Terrorism, Popular Culture | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) |
Please note that optional modules run subject to enrolments. An optional module may not run if only a low number of students choose it.
Basket 5 - MODERN HISTORY
Student choose one module:
| Code | Title | Credits | Semester | Pass for Progression |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HIST2103 | Later Victorian England: Politics, Society and Culture | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| HIST2315 | Mughals, Merchants and Mercenaries: 'Company Raj' in India 1600-1857 | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| HIST2353 | America and the Sixties | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| HIST2430 | The History of Africa since 1900 | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| HIST2434 | The Global Caribbean, 1641-1848 | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) |
Please note that optional modules run subject to enrolments. An optional module may not run if only a low number of students choose it.
Candidates may study 20-60 credits from the following Sociology baskets of optional modules.
SOCIOLOGY BASKET 1
| Code | Title | Credits | Semester | Pass for Progression |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SLSP2021 | Crime, Law and Regulation | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| SLSP2041 | Disability Studies: An Introduction | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| SLSP2181 | The Sociology of Culture | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| THEO2251 | Sociology of Religion | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) |
Please note that optional modules run subject to enrolments. An optional module may not run if only a low number of students choose it.
SOCIOLOGY BASKET 2
| Code | Title | Credits | Semester | Pass for Progression |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SLSP2052 | Gender and Society | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| SLSP2146 | Crime, Race and Ethnicity | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| SLSP2151 | Debates in Childhood and Youth | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| SLSP2933 | Sociology and the Climate Crisis | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| SLSP2976 | Social and Public Policy beyond the University | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) |
Please note that optional modules run subject to enrolments. An optional module may not run if only a low number of students choose it.
Candidates may study up to 40 credits of University designated ‘Discovery Modules’ as needed to bring their overall credits for Level 2 up to 120 credits.
[Learning Outcomes, Transferable (Key) Skills, Assessment]
View Timetable
Students must study 120 credits in total.
At Level 3 students must choose at least 40 credits and a maximum of 80 credits of History modules.
At Level 3, students must choose at least 40 credits and a maximum of 80 credits of Sociology modules.
Candidates will be required to study one of the following Final Year Project Modules:
| Code | Title | Credits | Semester | Pass for Progression |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HIST3075 | Public History Project | 40 | Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) | PFP |
| HIST3500 | History Dissertation | 40 | Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) | PFP |
| SLSP3600 | Sociology/Social Policy/Crime Dissertation | 40 | Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) | PFP |
Candidates will be required to study 40 credits from one of the following Special Subject modules:
Basket 1 Medieval & Early Modern History
| 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) | |
| HIST3071 | An Animal History of Byzantium, c. 1000-1200 | 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) | |
| HIST3687 | The Later Elizabethan Age: Politics and Empire | 40 | Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) |
Please note that optional modules run subject to enrolments. An optional module may not run if only a low number of students choose it.
Basket 2 Modern History – International
| Code | Title | Credits | Semester | Pass for Progression |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HIST3235 | Dividing India: The Road to Democracy in South Asia, 1939-1952 | 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) | |
| HIST3590 | White Africans: Intimacy, Race and Power | 40 | Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) | |
| HIST3695 | The Korean War | 40 | Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) | |
| HIST3930 | The First World War: A Global Conflict | 40 | Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) |
Please note that optional modules run subject to enrolments. An optional module may not run if only a low number of students choose it.
Basket 3 Modern British History
| Code | Title | Credits | Semester | Pass for Progression |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HIST3076 | Bodies on Display: Histories and Ethics of Human Exhibition in Britain | 40 | Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) | |
| HIST3392 | Eastern Subjects: British Attitudes to India, 1757-1857 | 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) | |
| HIST3685 | Georgians at War | 40 | Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) |
Please note that optional modules run subject to enrolments. An optional module may not run if only a low number of students choose it.
Basket 4 Modern World History
| Code | Title | Credits | Semester | Pass for Progression |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HIST3018 | Pieces of A Man: the art, politics and life of Gil Scott-Heron (1949 – 2011) | 40 | Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) | |
| HIST3220 | Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights Movement | 40 | Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) | |
| HIST3240 | The Harlem Renaissance | 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) |
Please note that optional modules run subject to enrolments. An optional module may not run if only a low number of students choose it.
Basket 5 International History and Politics - Britain & Europe
| Code | Title | Credits | Semester | Pass for Progression |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HIST3747 | The Iron Lady Abroad: Margaret Thatcher and UK Foreign Policy from 1979 | 40 | Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) |
Please note that optional modules run subject to enrolments. An optional module may not run if only a low number of students choose it.
Basket 6 International History and Politics - Global
| Code | Title | Credits | Semester | Pass for Progression |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HIST3015 | Indonesia from Revolution to Dictatorship (1945-1967) | 40 | Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) | |
| HIST3026 | People, Water and Sand: An Environmental History of the Middle East | 40 | Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) | |
| HIST3888 | The Global Vietnam War | 40 | Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) |
Please note that optional modules run subject to enrolments. An optional module may not run if only a low number of students choose it.
Candidates who choose SLSP3600 (Sociology dissertation) must also choose:
| Code | Title | Credits | Semester | Pass for Progression |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SLSP3097 | Research Skills for your Dissertation | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) |
Candidates who choose SLSP3600 (Sociology dissertation) may choose 20 credits from the following baskets of History optional modules.
Level 3 History options, Semester 1
| Code | Title | Credits | Semester | Pass for Progression |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HIST3100 | Colonial Bodies: Life and Death in British India, 1757-1900 | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| HIST3450 | American History, American Historians | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| HIST3790 | Gender and Slavery in Latin America, 1580-1888 | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| MEDV3411 | Medieval Women Mystics: Visionaries, Saints and Heretics | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) |
Please note that optional modules run subject to enrolments. An optional module may not run if only a low number of students choose it.
Level 3 History options, Semester 2
| Code | Title | Credits | Semester | Pass for Progression |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HIST3074 | The Slave Trade, Slavery and Britain’s Atlantic Empire | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| HIST3530 | Mapping the Middle Ages: Space and Representation from the Pacific to the Atlantic | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| MEDV3010 | Medieval Origin Stories: From the Trojans to the Turks | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) |
Please note that optional modules run subject to enrolments. An optional module may not run if only a low number of students choose it.
Cross Listed with BA International History and Politics
| Code | Title | Credits | Semester | Pass for Progression |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HIST3710 | Nazism, Stalinism and the Rise of the Total State | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| HIST3880 | 'Parasites' and 'Cockroaches': Genocide in the Twentieth Century | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| HIST3920 | People and Protest: Transnational Activism in the 20th Century and Beyond | 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) |
Please note that optional modules run subject to enrolments. An optional module may not run if only a low number of students choose it.
Candidates who choose HIST3500 (History dissertation) or HIST3075 (Public History Project) must choose 40 credits from the following baskets of Sociology optional modules. Only one choice per basket is allowed. These optional modules will vary year on year.
Candidates who choose SLSP3600 (Sociology dissertation) may choose up to 20 credits from the following baskets of Sociology optional modules.
Level 3 Sociology options, Semester 1
| Code | Title | Credits | Semester | Pass for Progression |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SLSP3066 | Quantitative Social Research | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| SLSP3221 | Children, Young People and Life Course Perspectives | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| SLSP3250 | The Sociology of Objects | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| SLSP3996 | Ethnicity and Popular Culture | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) |
Please note that optional modules run subject to enrolments. An optional module may not run if only a low number of students choose it.
Level 3 Sociology options, Semester 2
| Code | Title | Credits | Semester | Pass for Progression |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SLSP3180 | Decolonising Disability and Development | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| SLSP3212 | Crimes of States and Powerful Elites | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| SLSP3231 | Global Terrorism and Violence | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| SLSP3501 | Gender, Technologies and the Body | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) |
Please note that optional modules run subject to enrolments. An optional module may not run if only a low number of students choose it.
Last updated: 08/05/2026 16:49:13
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