BA (Hons) History

Level One

Problems of Historical Interpretation I: The English Civil War

This unit considers a variety of interpretations of the war and evaluates these in the light of available evidence.

The Social History of Medicine

Students will place the development of nineteenth and twentieth century welfare and medical provision within its social and economic context.

American Histories I and American Histories II (American Studies Module)

These two modules provide an introduction to some of the key aspects, problems and debates in American history from the first European settlements in the seventeenth century through the latter part of the twentieth century.

Reform and Revolution

The socio-economic and political transformations of the ‘long’ nineteenth century in Europe are used to introduce students to terminology and concepts underlying much of historical analysis.

Representing the Past

Explores the ways in which the past has been and is represented in twentieth- and twenty-first-century Britain, examining how it has been preserved, displayed and reconstructed, and why.

Communication Skills

The aim of this unit is to equip students with the skills necessary to communicate in an academic environment.

Research Methods / Project Management

Inquiry will start from an A-level text extract on how Hitler came to office. The explanation(s) of the text will then be compared to others and students will be asked to develop a research project in self-selecting groups trying to ascertain which of these explanations may be more accurate. The module thus introduces students to self-directed research and project management.

Level Two

New Directions in History

Students are encouraged to think critically and creatively about History has developed within the academy, as a particular branch of knowledge and as a discipline with its own rules and procedures.

Career Planning and Independent Study Preparation

This vital unit provides a framework for career planning and preparing for the world of work. It also provides the opportunity for students to develop management skills needed for independent study which is a compulsory part of level 3.

Level 2 History options

Students select 6 of the following options, at least one of which must be a ‘Sources and Methods’ module.

• The Family in Pre-industrial Society looks at a number of ways in which historians have studied the family in Britain between c.1500 and 1800.
• Environmental History considers the history of human interaction with the environment and nature as well as how economic, cultural and social change has shaped the natural world. 
• Radical Cultures 1750-1830 explores the relationship between politics and culture during a period when political ideas and their expression underwent rapid change. (Sources & Methods unit)
• Themes in Regional and Local History gives students the opportunity to develop an understanding of some key issues and discussions on the definition and practice of local and regional history.
• From Revolution to New Republic explores the transformation of the United States from a set of thirteen colonies to an independent republic. Topics considered include: the causes of the Revolution, the governance of the new republic, the place of the new republic in the world, the experiences of excluded groups (loyalists, native Americans, African Americans).
• Constructing National Identities will undertake a brief examination of the political concept of nationalism before emphasis will be switched to the cultural forms in which national identity has been constructed and expressed. 
• Pressing for Change? Nineteenth Century Journalism in Britain examines the development of the press in the ‘long’ nineteenth century. Specifically, the module explores changing relationships between the press, its growing readership and its various regulators.
• Problems of Historical Interpretation: The Third Reich module introduces students to some of the controversies in the interpretation of the Third Reich and to the historical, theoretical and political implications of these debates. 
• Themes in Regional and Local History allows students to develop an understanding of some key issues and discussions on the definition and practice of local and regional history.

Sources & Methods unit

• Representation of History: Multimedia provides students with the opportunity to consider recent debates concerning the nature of history and the way in which it is presented in the form of ‘public history’. It also allows students to present history in the form of a computer based multimedia application/presentation.
• The Medieval City will form an in-depth study of cities in England roughly between 1066 and 1485. Where possible, the focus will be on Lincoln itself as a case study, and students will be encouraged to make use of the records held by the city and the cathedral. 
• Reporting the Twentieth Century begins by examining the coverage of royalty, war, sport and home lives which have preoccupied journalists during the twentieth century. The module then considers the technological changes which have transformed the face of journalism during the past hundred years. 
• The Birth of the Modern Age? British Politics 1885-1914 tests the claim that the period from the 1880s to the First World War was an ‘Age of Transition’, which witnessed the birth of modern British politics. Through an analysis of this argument, students are introduced to some of the major developments in British political history in this period.

Level Three

Independent Study (Semesters A and B)

At final level, every student on the BA (Hons) History degree programme at the University of Lincoln has to produce an independent study. This is an extended piece of work that gives them the opportunity to demonstrate they have acquired the skills to undertake historical inquiry and analysis through examining an appropriate topic of particular interest.

Level 3 History Options

Students take at least one ‘Sources and Methods’ module and at least one ‘Concepts and Debates’ module from the following options. Note not all units will be available every year.

• The Middle Class in Urban Britain 1780-1900 will examine how the urban form reflected and constructed nineteenth century middle class identities. (Concepts & Debates)
• Imperial Britain: Britain and Empire c.1850-1968 considers some of the central issues which characterised the relationship between Britain and its Empire from the mid-nineteenth century, the high point of imperial confidence, to the introduction of the second Race Relations Act. (Concepts & Debates)
• History and Computing provides students with an introduction to the practical application of IT skills to historical research, as well as a critical appraisal of its potential and limitations. (Sources & Methods)
• Coal, Culture and Community, 1842-1985 examines the relationship between the coal industry & the communities which developed around it. It explores the period from the exclusion of women workers underground in 1842 to the end of the 1984-5 Miners’ Strike. (Sources & Methods)
• American Dreams, American Nightmares this module uses a sequence of literary texts as key sources on American history from the antebellum period to the era of the muckrakers. Authors and themes considered include: Stowe on slavery; Bierce on the civil war; Tourgee on Reconstruction; Twain and Adams on gilded age politics; Sinclair on immigration.
• Representations of the First World War examines some of the many representations of the First World War which developed in Europe and the British Empire in the twentieth century. A variety of different media will be considered including film, fiction, poetry and sculpture.
• Weimar Culture and Society will investigate the relationship between ideological and political struggles and cultural production. The focus will be on ‘high culture’ texts such as novels and films, as these tend to be more easily available in translation or with subtitles in English.
• Culture and Society in Medieval Europe (double option) will focus on the period 1000 to 1400, and will introduce students to a range of key topics. The aim of the module is to enhance students’ appreciation of the specific historical context of cultural and social systems by placing key trends in medieval history against the background of a religious cultural world view. 
• The European Union since 1945 module will focus on the process of economic and political integration, which has taken place in Western Europe since 1945. The emphasis will be placed on the global forces which have shaped, and are still shaping, this process of integration. 
• Russia 1861-1945. One of the primary objectives of this module is to further develop skills of interpretive analysis acquired at levels 1 and 2. Students are asked to apply these skills to competing narratives portraying Russian history in the late nineteenth and the first half of the twentieth centuries. (Concepts & Debates)
• The Social Construction of Sexuality 1780-1930 challenges the notion that sexuality is ‘natural’ behaviour. Through the examination of literary sources, the module will investigate how, during the period under scrutiny, sexuality has been constructed (and re-constructed). (Concepts & Debates)
• Film and History will consider film as a cultural artefact which can be used as primary source for the exploration of social tensions, fears, anxieties and changing values of a society. As the focus will be on the Western as a genre, the question will also be asked as to how these concerns shape representations of the past. (Sources & Methods)
• Oral History Project (double option) allows students to develop an understanding of the techniques and methodologies of oral history, and to put these into effect through carrying out and writing up their own oral history projects. In this way they are able to collect and evaluate their own archival materials as well as working with existing sources collected by more experienced researchers. (Sources & Methods)
• ‘Victory Culture’: America during the Cold War examines some of the key social, political, economic, and diplomatic developments in the United States between 1945-1990. The key theme of the module is the rise, fall and resurgence of American triumphalism—a narrative of triumph against all odds—between Hiroshima and the Gulf War.
• China and the West 1793-1911 examines concepts of cultural identity and belief by exploring western contacts with China during the period 1793-1911, a well-documented era of unusually intense cultural conflict and change. The focus will be on specific documented events that exemplify key aspects of cultural conflict and change.
• British Youth Culture 1950-1980 will consider the complexities and contradictions of youth culture in Britain between c1950 and c1980. Consideration will be given to the social, political and economic forces which brought about cultural change in the post-war period. The module will then consider the way in which youth culture and a variety of youth sub-cultures manifested themselves through behaviour, music, literature, film, fashion, recreational drugs, politics and sexuality.
• Ireland: The Politics of Home Rule explores the political relations between Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom which have been cross-cut by a number of traditions – Nationalism, Liberalism, Unionism and Republicanism for instance. This module examines some of the complexities in the struggles between these movements over the period from the 1860s to the 1920s.

This programme of study helps you to develop transferable skills which employers find highly desirable including: collecting, analysing and interpreting data; constructing arguments and advancing them through discussion; and understanding theoretical models and being able to question and criticise them.

These skills prepare our graduates for careers in teaching, the civil service, law, accountancy, librarianship, museum work, arts administration, personnel, marketing, the media and postgraduate study.

The student managed History Society organises events, visits and visiting speakers. Faculty research seminars includes visiting historians and presentations by history lecturers of their own research.

This course aims to introduce you to both a range of periods and places in History, and to the skills and concepts needed to study History successfully. There are no general survey courses, but instead a number of more focused modules integrating skills with case studies and aiming to get you thinking and acting like historians and independent learners. Everyone studies the same modules at level one but thereafter there are increasing numbers of options to choose between.

We are looking for people who are passionate about History, and are willing to explore unfamiliar approaches and areas of History. You need to be able to think for yourself, and approach texts analytically. We do support students in the development of these skills but it will be helpful if you have some experience of them, and are keen to develop them further.

Within the programme, we use a variety of assessment forms – from traditional essays and examinations to presentations, critical book reviews and projects. Our aim is to provide you with a wide variety of high-level skills which will enhance your employability at the end of your degree studies.

By the end of the course you will have been challenged and stimulated by in-depth historical research. You will have experienced different kinds of History, and been able to develop your own interests. Our aim is to produce graduates who are employable, but also benefit from their historical knowledge and skills as citizens and members of a variety of communities, and who will sustain an interest in History throughout their lives.

For further information and funding your studey please see our Fees & Funding pages.

Fees and Funding