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Address some of the contemporary world's most pressing problems and explore their roots in the past with our BA History and Politics.
Discover a thousand years of history while experiencing all the specialist areas on offer at the University of Reading. The Department of History'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.
We have been ranked 9th in the UK by research intensity for Politics and International Studies and 80% of our research impact is recognised to be world leading or internationally excellent (Times Higher Education Institutions Ranked by Subject, 2014, based on its analysis of REF 2014 - Politics and International Studies).
By studying politics, you will acquire a strong grounding in the fundamental elements of the subject such as political ideas and democratic processes. You can study a wide range of specialist core and optional modules, which cover topics such as British government and politics, European political integration, and political thinking.
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.
You have the option to apply to study abroad on this joint degree. Some of the universities we have links with include University of Maastricht, Netherlands; University of Georgia, USA; and Monash University, Melbourne, Australia. The University also offers all students the chance to learn a modern language alongside their core subjects.
Placement
Placements are a prominent feature of our degree course and are 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 Rural English 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.
Whilst studying Politics you can 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.