History BA (Hons)

How will I be taught during my BA (Hons) History degree?

Your tutors will use a variety of teaching methods including lectures, small-group discussions and individual tutorials. These will be backed up by regular feedback and consultation hours during which you can discuss your progress with a personal tutor and ask further questions. We make sure that extensive feedback from tutors and peers is built into the course.

Our assessment strategy is designed to support student-centred learning, based on our understanding that everyone has different needs, strengths, and enthusiasms. Assessments will develop your communication skills while also testing your grasp of the learning outcomes for each module. Assessment methods will include essays, presentations, portfolios of work and a final-year dissertation.

A wide range of option modules are offered on this course. To ensure the quality of the student learning experience, some modules are subject to minimum and maximum student numbers and will run depending on the level of demand and staff availability.

• See the Modules for this course

Who teaches the BA (Hons) History course?

With a large number of History staff in the Humanities and Social Sciences School, each with their own specialist areas of interest, you will learn from experts. Our staff are not only teaching their specialist subjects but are making major contributions to their field.

View all staff profiles.

Where will I learn throughout my History degree?

We use a variety of electronic resources to support your studies, for instance by posting guidance and lecture materials on the ‘Blackboard’ eLearning Portal and by making core readings available online. The academic team is constantly experimenting with new ways of facilitating interaction, including the use of mobile technology and social media.

The 24/7 University Library achieves some of the highest levels of student satisfaction in the UK and has held the Cabinet Office accreditation for Customer Service Excellence since 2010. It has excellent digital resources with over 100 databases for independent learning as well as half a million electronic books and another 500,000 print books. Further facilities are available at the Institute for the Humanities, a special research space in the University’s Lipman Building. These include a resource room, specialist computing equipment and interview rooms. Students also have access to a designated Humanities Student Hub, providing space for self-study, group work or a rest in between teaching sessions.

How is research applied to teaching throughout my degree?

At Northumbria your learning will be directly impacted by the teaching team’s passion for the past, their professionalism and enthusiasm for engaging with primary documents. Their research is fundamental to the University’s distinctive learning experience.

In each year of the course, we will develop your research skills as you critique different interpretations of the past, formulate questions, and develop coherent arguments. In the final year you will undertake a dissertation on a topic that you negotiate with tutors. It’s a test of academic maturity that will enable you to demonstrate independent learning, intellectual rigour, and self-directed purpose.

Since 2016, our school hosts an annual History Dissertation Conference – an event at which final-year students present findings from their research projects. The video below gives you a flavour of one of these conferences.

How will my BA (Hons) History degree provide me with the skills needed for my career?

History graduates are especially valued because of their transferable communication skills and the way they evaluate evidence and think critically. You can use your history degree as a platform to launch a career in areas such as finance, law, journalism and the civil service. There are also jobs in museums and archive management, or you can consider becoming a professional researcher by studying further at the postgraduate level.

Whatever you decide to do, you will have strong employability as a result of having acquired the characteristics of a Northumbria graduate. These include critical reflection and self-learning, collaboration and curiosity, and the ability to apply your knowledge to solve problems in ways that are sustainable and ethical.

During your studies, you will have the chance to undertake a work placement in an institution such as a museum, archive, heritage site, or comparable employer. This will give you an awareness of how the skills of historical study can be applied professionally.

You will also have the opportunity to spend a semester in North America or Europe, continuing your historical studies in a new context. You can study a foreign language to assist with this, or travel to broaden your cultural horizons. An international outlook will give you an extra edge in the job market.

Every module will play a role in developing and reinforcing the transferable attributes that are necessary for graduate employment: effective time management, excellent communication, good teamwork and high-level analysis.