Program Overview

In this degree you obtain a thorough grounding in the fields of modern history and politics, and will consider how the two disciplines can be integrated. You take an Introduction to Politics module alongside your history modules in your first year, and continue to combine modern history and politics modules in your second and third years. There is a range of relevant options to choose from in both departments and you choose to write your final-year dissertation in either politics or history.

In your history modules you investigate the intersection of the ideas, cultures and economics of different people over the last 200 years of western history. You’re introduced to the relationship between today’s ‘modern’ world, which assumes the significance of political liberty, global interdependence and sexuality, and events and ideas which originated in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Always seeking political cause and effect, our course casts light on aspects of life you might never ordinarily connect to politics and government. You investigate the scope of political science as a field of inquiry, and the methods used by political scientists, in order to explore questions concerning both what does occur in politics, and what should occur in politics.

You study topics including:

• Democratic systems
• Political power
• Concepts in political science: state, laws, wars and political parties
• The spread of communist-inspired revolutions in China, Russia, and Latin America
• The origins and consequences of the Cold War

Our Department of History has developed a strong research and teaching profile, with the majority of our research rated as ‘world leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’ (REF 2014). We provide you with opportunities to explore local history, and have strong links with the Essex Record Office, one of the best county record offices in the UK. You can also explore more international topics; our corridors are truly cosmopolitan, with an international research team and a high proportion of international students.

Study abroad

Your education extends beyond the university campus. We support you in expanding your education through offering the opportunity to spend a year or a term studying abroad at one of our partner universities. The four-year version of our degree allows you to spend the third year abroad or employed on a placement abroad, while otherwise remaining identical to the three-year course.

Studying abroad allows you to experience other cultures and languages, to broaden your degree socially and academically, and to demonstrate to employers that you are mature, adaptable, and organised.