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BA HISTORY AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

  • UCAS code
    VLC2
  • Typical offer
    BBB
  • Year of entry
    2022
  • Course duration
     3 years
  • Year of entry
    2022
  • Course duration
     3 years
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Find out about how we'll be delivering our courses in 2020.

Our joint honours BA History and International Relations course enables you to address today's key issues and investigate their roots in the past. Explore both history and international relations and gain an understanding of how they influence one another.

Discover a thousand years of history whilst experiencing all the specialist areas on offer at the University of Reading. The History Department's expertise covers a wide and diverse range of regions, from Europe and Africa to America, South Asia and the Middle East. Module choices cover diverse periods and topics, from the Crusades to the 1960s, slavery in America to Tudor monarchy, and Cold War Berlin to medieval magic.

In your first year, your core modules will explore people, politics and revolution – finding out how people struggled for power in past societies – and the culture and concepts those societies developed. We will teach you the skills you need to study and research history through an individual project of your choice. This joint degree enables you to address contemporary issues and trace them back to their historical roots.

You will be taught in small interactive seminar groups, encouraging discussion and debate with teaching staff and fellow students. We place a great deal of importance on employability skills in both sides of your degree, and our modules History Education, Discovering Archives and Collections, and Going Public all offer students short work placements and act as an introduction to possible career paths.

By studying international relations, you will acquire a strong grounding in the fundamental elements of the subject such as political ideas and international relations theory. Your teaching staff have direct professional experience and act as policy advisers to the government as well as international bodies such as the EU and UN. You will have the opportunity to gain a broad overview of the subject through a wide range of specialist core and optional modules, which cover topical issues such as European political integration, international terrorism, and politics in the Middle East.

You will have access to a number of unique resources. The University has three museums and several special collections for you to explore. In International Relations, we run model United Nations and Middle East simulations, get a feel of the political process and apply your knowledge and skills to a scenario that mimics real life.

You may study abroad for a term in your second year at a wide range of universities from Hong Kong to Melbourne, and broaden your knowledge and experiences. The University also offers all students the chance learn a modern language alongside their core subjects.

Placement

Placements are a prominent feature of our degree courses and highly encouraged. Through our links with the Careers Centre, you can source potential employers and help with CVs and letters of application. Staff in the History Department also have close links with the University’s Institute of Education, Museum of English Rural Life (MERL) and Special Collections (archives), and with external organisations such as Cliveden House, English Heritage, Reading Museum, Reading Borough Library and the Berkshire Record Office.

In History, we ensure that placements are incorporated into core learning. In the second year, we offer opportunities for short group placements in museums and heritage organisations, and encourage students to reflect on what they have learned from previous employment or voluntary work experience. For third years, two optional modules offer placements of 10 working days in local archives and secondary schools.

In the Department of Politics and International Relations, you can also undertake a two-week placement as part of a module on British government and politics. It's an opportunity for you to gain first-hand experience working with an MP, charity, pressure group, local councillor or media organisation.

For more information, please visit the Department of History website.

Overview

Our joint honours BA History and International Relations course enables you to address today's key issues and investigate their roots in the past. Explore both history and international relations and gain an understanding of how they influence one another.

Discover a thousand years of history whilst experiencing all the specialist areas on offer at the University of Reading. The History Department's expertise covers a wide and diverse range of regions, from Europe and Africa to America, South Asia and the Middle East. Module choices cover diverse periods and topics, from the Crusades to the 1960s, slavery in America to Tudor monarchy, and Cold War Berlin to medieval magic.

In your first year, your core modules will explore people, politics and revolution – finding out how people struggled for power in past societies – and the culture and concepts those societies developed. We will teach you the skills you need to study and research history through an individual project of your choice. This joint degree enables you to address contemporary issues and trace them back to their historical roots.

You will be taught in small interactive seminar groups, encouraging discussion and debate with teaching staff and fellow students. We place a great deal of importance on employability skills in both sides of your degree, and our modules History Education, Discovering Archives and Collections, and Going Public all offer students short work placements and act as an introduction to possible career paths.

By studying international relations, you will acquire a strong grounding in the fundamental elements of the subject such as political ideas and international relations theory. Your teaching staff have direct professional experience and act as policy advisers to the government as well as international bodies such as the EU and UN. You will have the opportunity to gain a broad overview of the subject through a wide range of specialist core and optional modules, which cover topical issues such as European political integration, international terrorism, and politics in the Middle East.

You will have access to a number of unique resources. The University has three museums and several special collections for you to explore. In International Relations, we run model United Nations and Middle East simulations, get a feel of the political process and apply your knowledge and skills to a scenario that mimics real life.

You may study abroad for a term in your second year at a wide range of universities from Hong Kong to Melbourne, and broaden your knowledge and experiences. The University also offers all students the chance learn a modern language alongside their core subjects.

Placement

Placements are a prominent feature of our degree courses and highly encouraged. Through our links with the Careers Centre, you can source potential employers and help with CVs and letters of application. Staff in the History Department also have close links with the University’s Institute of Education, Museum of English Rural Life (MERL) and Special Collections (archives), and with external organisations such as Cliveden House, English Heritage, Reading Museum, Reading Borough Library and the Berkshire Record Office.

In History, we ensure that placements are incorporated into core learning. In the second year, we offer opportunities for short group placements in museums and heritage organisations, and encourage students to reflect on what they have learned from previous employment or voluntary work experience. For third years, two optional modules offer placements of 10 working days in local archives and secondary schools.

In the Department of Politics and International Relations, you can also undertake a two-week placement as part of a module on British government and politics. It's an opportunity for you to gain first-hand experience working with an MP, charity, pressure group, local councillor or media organisation.

For more information, please visit the Department of History website.

Entry requirements A Level BBB | IB 30 points overall

Select Reading as your firm choice on UCAS and we'll guarantee you a place even if you don't quite meet your offer. For details, see our firm choice scheme.

Typical offer

BBB, including grade B in A level History, Ancient History, or Classical Civilisation

International Baccalaureate

30 points overall, including 5 in History at higher level

Extended Project Qualification

In recognition of the excellent preparation that the Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) provides to students for University study, we can now include achievement in the EPQ as part of a formal offer.

BTEC Extended Diploma

DDM (Modules taken must be comparable to subject specific requirement)

English language requirements

IELTS 7.0, with no component below 6.0

For information on other English language qualifications, please visit our international student pages.

Alternative entry requirements for International and EU students

For country specific entry requirements look at entry requirements by country.

International Foundation Programme

If you are an international or EU student and do not meet the requirements for direct entry to your chosen degree you can join the University of Reading’s International Foundation Programme. Successful completion of this 1 year programme guarantees you a place on your chosen undergraduate degree. English language requirements start as low as IELTS 4.5 depending on progression degree and start date.

  • Learn more about our International Foundation programme

Pre-sessional English language programme

If you need to improve your English language score you can take a pre-sessional English course prior to entry onto your degree.

  • Find out the English language requirements for our courses and our pre-sessional English programme

Structure

  • Year 1
  • Year 2
  • Year 3

Core modules include:

  • Journeys through history 1 (People, power and revolution)
  • Journeys through history 2 (Culture, art and ideas)
  • Research skills and opportunities in history (individual project)
  • Introduction to contemporary democracy
  • Introduction to Political Ideas
  • Politics: international relations and strategic studies

Please note that all modules are subject to change.

Core modules include:

  • Modern international relations

Optional modules include:

  • Europe 1450-1600: religion, culture and belief
  • Crusading in the high middle ages, 1095-1291
  • Kingship and crisis in England, c.1154-1330
  • Under the red flag: Labour and British politics, 1880-1939
  • Warrior nation: Prussia and Germany, 1740-1945
  • Power, poverty and protest: the social history of rural England, 1800-2000
  • Society, thought and art in modern Europe
  • The colonial experience: Africa, 1879-1980
  • Unity, nationalism and regionalism in Europe
  • American government and politics
  • British government and politics
  • European political integration
  • Historical approaches and my dissertation
  • Intellectuals and society in twentieth-century Italy
  • Model united nations
  • My career: working it out
  • Political culture in seventeenth-century England
  • Women of the Medieval world
  • American history: from colonial times to the late twentieth century
  • Europe in the twentieth century
  • Rebel girls: the influence of radical women 1795-1919
  • Victorian Britain
  • Political thinking
  • Going public
  • The media and politics
  • New early modern period
  • ‘The greatest of terrestrial kingdoms’: France at the crossroads of the world in the high middle ages

Please note that all modules are subject to change.

Core modules include:

  • Dissertation (either in history or in international relations)

Optional modules include:

  • Axis at war: life and death in fascist Italy and Nazi Germany, 1936-45
  • From Darwin to death camps? Evolution and eugenics in European society, 1859-1945
  • Gothic: architecture, money and cultural identity
  • Industrialisation and its discontents: city, country and Utopia in England, 1800-2000
  • Intelligence, war and international relations
  • Race, ethnicity and citizenship in America
  • The struggle for a new civilisation, 1931-1941
  • War, peace and international ethics
  • Witches, heretics and social outcasts: Europe and its outsiders c.1250-1550
  • 'Battleaxes and benchwarmers’: early female MPs 1919-1931
  • British foreign and defence policy since 1945
  • Contemporary powerpolitics
  • Crime and punishment: theoretical approaches
  • Democracy and democracy promotion
  • Discovering archives and collections
  • European case studies
  • Feminism and political theory
  • France and Europe since 1945
  • Grand strategy from classical Rome to modern China
  • History education
  • International terrorism
  • Introduction to critical security studies
  • Ireland and the English in the middle ages
  • La Belle Epoque: France 1880-1914
  • Medieval magic and the origins of the witch-craze
  • Nationalism
  • Political extremism in Britain between the Wars
  • Politics and international relations of the Middle East
  • Politics of the international economy
  • Popes and emperors: contests for power in the central middle ages
  • Revolution in Britain and Ireland: 1603-1649
  • Strategic theory
  • Strategy in the two World Wars
  • The sixties: politics and culture in a divided world
  • The UN and international order
  • The United States and the Cold War
  • Toleration: theory and practice
  • US foreign and defence policy since 1950
  • United Kingdom politics since 1960
  • Work placement and project

Please note that all modules are subject to change.

Fees

New UK/Republic of Ireland students: £9,250* per year

New international students: £19,500 per year

*UK/Republic of Ireland fee changes

UK/Republic of Ireland undergraduate tuition fees are regulated by the UK government. These fees are subject to parliamentary approval and any decision on raising the tuition fees cap for new UK students would require the formal approval of both Houses of Parliament before it becomes law.

EU student fees

With effect from 1 August 2021, new EU students will pay international tuition fees. For exceptions, please read the UK government’s guidance for EU students.

Additional costs

Some courses will require additional payments for field trips and extra resources. You will also need to budget for your accommodation and living costs. See our information on living costs for more details.

Financial support for your studies

You may be eligible for a scholarship or bursary to help pay for your study. Students from the UK may also be eligible for a student loan to help cover these costs. See our fees and funding information for more information on what's available.

Careers

Throughout your degree you will complete career and skills related modules, encouraging you to think about what career you would like and what skills you will need. If you would like a career in teaching, or in archives or records management, try our optional third-year modules, History Education and Discovering Archives and Collections. We have had a high success rate from students who have completed History Education, with many of our graduates gaining places for Initial Teacher Training. Additionally, both these modules develop a wide range of interpersonal, organisational, presentational and research skills readily transferable to other areas of employment.

As a graduate of this joint degree you will have a broad range of transferable skills, including the ability to think clearly and critically, to communicate with confidence and work effectively both individually and as part of a team. Previous employers have included The British Museum, The Football Association, House of Commons, Marks and Spencer, MI5, Morgan Stanley and Siemens Financial Services.

Past students have put their political analysis skills to direct use in the UK and European civil services, the armed forces, think tanks, non-governmental organisations and journalism. Others have gone into advertising, PR, media and banking.

Sophia discusses the course

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Subjects A-B

  • Agriculture
  • Ancient History
  • Animal Science
  • Anthropology
  • Archaeology
  • Architectural Engineering
  • Architecture
  • Art
  • Biological Sciences
  • Biomedical Engineering
  • Biomedical Sciences
  • Business and Management, Accounting and Finance

Subjects C-E

  • Chemistry
  • Classics and Classical Studies
  • Climate Science
  • Computer Science
  • Construction Management
  • Consumer Behaviour and Marketing
  • Creative Writing
  • Drama
  • Ecology
  • Economics
  • Education
  • Engineering
  • English Language and Applied Linguistics
  • English Literature
  • Environment

Subjects F-G

  • Film & Television
  • Food and Nutritional Sciences
  • Foundation programmes
  • French
  • Geography
  • German
  • Graphic Communication and Design

Subjects H-M

  • Healthcare
  • History
  • International Development
  • International Foundation Programme (IFP)
  • International Relations
  • Italian
  • Languages and Cultures
  • Law
  • Linguistics
  • Marketing
  • Mathematics
  • Medical Sciences
  • Meteorology and Climate
  • Museum Studies

Subjects N-T

  • Nutrition
  • Pharmacology
  • Pharmacy
  • Philosophy
  • Physician Associate Studies
  • Politics and International Relations
  • Psychology
  • Real Estate and Planning
  • Spanish
  • Speech and Language Therapy
  • Surveying and Construction
  • Surveying and Construction
  • Teaching
  • Theatre

Subjects U-Z

  • Wildlife Conservation
  • Zoology

Subjects A-C

  • Agriculture
  • Ancient History
  • Animal Sciences
  • Archaeology
  • Architecture
  • Art
  • Biological Sciences
  • Biomedical Sciences
  • Business (Post-Experience)
  • Business and Management (Pre-Experience)
  • Chemistry
  • Classics and Ancient History
  • Climate Science
  • Computer Science
  • Construction Management and Engineering
  • Consumer Behaviour
  • Creative Enterprise

Subjects D-G

  • Data Science
  • Economics
  • Education
  • Energy and Environmental Engineering
  • Engineering
  • English Language and Applied Linguistics
  • English Literature
  • Environmental Science
  • Film, Theatre and Television
  • Finance
  • Food and Nutritional Sciences
  • Geography and Environmental Science
  • Graphic Design

Subjects H-P

  • Healthcare
  • History
  • Information Management and Digital Business
  • Information Technology
  • International Development and Applied Economics
  • Languages and Cultures
  • Law
  • Linguistics
  • Management
  • Medieval History
  • Meteorology and Climate
  • Microbiology
  • Nutritional Sciences
  • Pharmacy
  • Philosophy
  • Physician Associate
  • Politics and International Relations
  • Project Management
  • Psychology
  • Public Policy

Subjects Q-Z

  • Real Estate and Planning
  • Social Policy
  • Speech and Language Therapy
  • Strategic Studies
  • Teaching
  • Theatre
  • Typography and Graphic Communication
  • War and Peace Studies
  • Zoology

Subjects A-B

  • Agriculture
  • Ancient History
  • Animal Science
  • Anthropology
  • Archaeology
  • Architectural Engineering
  • Architecture
  • Art
  • Biological Sciences
  • Biomedical Engineering
  • Biomedical Sciences
  • Building and Surveying
  • Business and Management, Accounting and Finance

Subjects C-E

  • Chemistry
  • Classics and Classical Studies
  • Climate Science
  • Computer Science
  • Construction Management
  • Consumer Behaviour and Marketing
  • Creative Writing
  • Drama
  • Ecology
  • Economics
  • Education
  • Engineering
  • English Language and Applied Linguistics
  • English Literature
  • Environment

Subjects F-G

  • Film & Television
  • Food and Nutritional Sciences
  • Foundation programmes
  • French
  • Geography
  • German
  • Graphic Communication and Design

Subjects H-M

  • Healthcare
  • History
  • International Development
  • International Foundation Programme (IFP)
  • International Relations
  • Italian
  • Languages and Cultures
  • Law
  • Linguistics
  • Marketing
  • Mathematics
  • Medical Sciences
  • Meteorology and Climate
  • Museum Studies

Subjects N-T

  • Nutrition
  • Pharmacology
  • Pharmacy
  • Philosophy
  • Physician Associate Studies
  • Politics and International Relations
  • Psychology
  • Real Estate and Planning
  • Spanish
  • Speech and Language Therapy
  • Surveying and Construction
  • Teaching
  • Theatre

Subjects U-Z

  • Wildlife Conservation
  • Zoology

Subjects A-C

  • Agriculture
  • Ancient History
  • Animal Sciences
  • Archaeology
  • Architecture
  • Art
  • Biological Sciences
  • Biomedical Sciences
  • Business (Post-Experience)
  • Business and Management (Pre-Experience)
  • Chemistry
  • Classics and Ancient History
  • Climate Science
  • Computer Science
  • Construction Management and Engineering
  • Consumer Behaviour
  • Creative Enterprise

Subjects D-G

  • Data Science
  • Economics
  • Education
  • Energy and Environmental Engineering
  • Engineering
  • English Language and Applied Linguistics
  • English Literature
  • Environmental Science
  • Film, Theatre and Television
  • Finance
  • Food and Nutritional Sciences
  • Geography and Environmental Science
  • Graphic Design

Subjects H-P

  • Healthcare
  • History
  • Information Management and Digital Business
  • Information Technology
  • International Development and Applied Economics
  • Languages and Cultures
  • Law
  • Linguistics
  • Management
  • Medieval History
  • Meteorology and Climate
  • Microbiology
  • Nutritional Sciences
  • Pharmacy
  • Philosophy
  • Physician Associate
  • Politics and International Relations
  • Project Management
  • Psychology
  • Public Policy

Subjects Q-Z

  • Real Estate and Planning
  • Social Policy
  • Speech and Language Therapy
  • Strategic Studies
  • Teaching
  • Theatre
  • Typography and Graphic Communication
  • War and Peace Studies
  • Zoology

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