

History

History degrees generally offer a very wide range of modules, starting with foundational courses in the first year, and then progressing to more specialized options.
Studying history is not just about memorizing the facts of historical events. It also involves analyzing the overall impact of historic occurrences, trends and artifacts on the world – for example, how various revolutions and civil wars have shaped particular countries’ governments into what they are now, or how a strain of belief has developed to influence contemporary thinking
Digging deeper into subject interests can help you in a number of ways:
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Confirm whether this is (or isn't) something you would be interested in enough to want to study it at university either as the focus of your degree or a minor/elective
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Give you some inspiration to use when creating your questions and topics for IA's (coursework) and your Extended Essay
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Provide you with content for your university application writing in the future, enabling you to reflect on the things you've been doing to explore your interests in a way that is academically relevant to the course or institution you are applying for.
Useful Resources
Oxford University Research Blog | Blog | The University of Oxford's Blog on their current research. It includes articles on a huge range of topics but particularly relevant to the current global challenges. | Click Here > | |
University of Nottingham e-resources | Blog | Video | Recorded Lecture | The University of Nottingham have a number of resources for students to explore degrees you could study at university. The resources include videos, taster lectures and blogs. Use the menu to select the areas you are interested in to see what they have to offer. | Click Here > | |
Guns, germs and steel: a short history of everybody for the last 13,000 years, by Jared Diamond | Book | Why has human history unfolded so differently across the globe? And what can it teach us about our current crisis?
Jared Diamond puts the case that geography and biogeography, not race, moulded the contrasting fates of Europeans, Asians, Native Americans, sub-Saharan Africans, and aboriginal Australians.
An ambitious synthesis of history, biology, ecology and linguistics, Guns, Germs and Steel is a ground-breaking and humane work of popular science that can provide expert insight into our modern world. | St. Clares Library L12 909 DIA | |
The Evolution of Everything : how new ideas emerge, by Matt Ridley | Book | We are taught that the world is a top-down place. Acclaimed author Matt Ridley shows just how wrong this is in his compelling new book. This is more often wrong than right. 'The Evolution of Everything' is about bottom-up order and its enemy, the top-down twitch, the endless fascination human beings have for design rather than evolution, for direction rather than emergence. | St. Clare's Library at shelf location L 23 500 RID | |
Summer Schools in Europe | Events | The most complete directory of summer courses in Europe. It includes courses for high school, undergraduate and graduate students, so ensure you read the descriptions to find options right for you. | Click Here > | |
Research from the University of Bristol | Journal Articles | Website | Explore cutting edge research from the different faculties and departments from the University of Bristol, including free access to their published journal articles. | Click Here > | |
Coursera | Online Course | Coursera is an online platform for distance learning. They have a range of free courses delivered by universities. Search in this section to find courses of interest to you, often these are courses you can follow at your own pace. | Click Here > | |
EdX | Online Course | The X Series courses on the EdX platform are free online courses delivered by universities and aimed at helping you explore areas of interest. | Click Here > | |
FutureLearn | Online Course | FutureLearn is a free online platform where universities from around the globe host FREE online courses you can undertake in your areas of interest. Browse courses by categories or use the search bar to find courses relevant to your interests | Click Here > | |
Subject Insight Series: History | Online Course | Do you enjoy history but feel unsure whether it's the degree for you? Our online course will give you an insight into the subject to help you make the right decision for you. | Click Here > | |
Asian Studies Centre | Podcast | The Asian Studies Centre was founded in 1982 at St Antony's College and is primarily a co-ordinating organisation which exists to bring together specialists from a wide variety of different disciplines. Geographically, the Centre predominantly covers South, Southeast and East Asia. The Asian Studies Centre works closely with scholars in the Oriental Institute, the Oxford China Centre, the Contemporary South Asian Studies Programme and the Nissan Institute of Japanese Studies (in premises at St Antony's). The Asian Studies Centre is host to the Taiwan Studies Programme, Modern Burmese Studies Programme, the South Asian History Seminar Series and the Southeast Asian Studies Seminar Series. | Click Here > | |
Oxford Martin School: Public Lectures and Seminars | Podcast | Recorded Lecture | Public Lectures and Seminars from the Oxford Martin School, University of Oxford. The Oxford Martin School brings together the best minds from different fields to tackle the most pressing issues of the 21st century. | Click Here > | |
Oxford Transitional Justice Research Seminars | Podcast | Recorded Lecture | Oxford Transitional Justice Research (OTJR) is an inter-disciplinary network of more than 100 Oxford staff and students working broadly on issues of transition in societies recovering from mass conflict and/or repressive rule. OTJR is dedicated to producing high-quality scholarship that connects intimately to practical and policy questions in transitional justice, focusing on the following themes: Prosecutions, Truth Commissions, Local and traditional practices, Compensation and reparations, Theoretical and philosophical debates in transitional justice, Institutional reform and Archives of tribunal and other transitional justice materials. The OTJR seminar programme is held weekly and reflects these aims. | Click Here > | |
TORCH | The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities | Podcast | Recorded Lecture | The University of Oxford is home to an impressive range and depth of research activities in the Humanities. TORCH | The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities is a major new initiative that seeks to build on this heritage and to stimulate and support research that transcends disciplinary and institutional boundaries. Here we feature some of the networks and programmes, as well as recordings of events, and offer insights into the research that they make possible. | Click Here > | |
University of Southampton Podcast Library | Podcast | Recorded Lecture | A library of the Lifelong Learning Talks and Study Days from the University of Southampton. They cover a wide range of topics but are organised by topic and easy to browse. | Click Here > | |
Does the night have a history? | Taster lecture from the University of Nottingham | Recorded Lecture | The night occupies half of our lives, but we know little about its history. We'll explore how Bombay workers in colonial India experienced the industrialised night and how India’s first night schools transformed the night into aspiration for the labouring poor. | Click Here > | |
England's hidden history | Black History Month Talk | Recorded Lecture | Among the glamour and intrigue that surrounds the Tudor period is the untold story of people of African descent who lived and worked throughout England – not as slaves but as members of society. | Click Here > | |
Game of Kings and Queens | A History Taster Lecture from the University of Nottingham | Recorded Lecture | History is neither ‘better’ nor ‘worse’ than today. It can however help us understand how we got here, why we got here, and perhaps what we can do next. | Click Here > | |
Making the Past Serve the Present: the Silk Road and China's Quest for Imperial Rejuvenation | Recorded Lecture | A Lecture from the Royal Society for Asian Affairs from Jan 2021 | Click Here > | |
The Cuban Missile Crisis | History Taster Lecture | Recorded Lecture | Dr Robert Hornsby, an academic in the School of History at the University of Leeds, delivers a lecture on the Cuban Missile Crisis, October 1962. | Click Here > | |
The Continuing Windrush Scandal | Talk from March 2021 | Video | Talk by journalist and author Amelia Gentleman three years on from the government apology for the Windrush scandal, yet justice remains elusive for so many of those who were affected. | Click Here > | |
Springboard | Video | These videos bring you cutting-edge research from Oxford's graduate students on a wide range of topics - from climate change and colonialism, to microbiomes and mathematical logic. Each video offers an introduction to a new topic, plus lots of activities and further resources to explore. When you click on a topic, you will be asked a few questions and then you will be able to play the video you've chosen. | Click Here > | |
ExeTalks | Video | Recorded Lecture | ExeTalks are a chance to discover some of the fascinating research undertaken at the University of Exeter. | Click Here | |
Royal Society for Asian Affairs You | Video | Webinar | Recorded Lecture | A collection of webinars and recorded lectures from the UK Royal Society for Asian Affairs | Click Here > | |
University of Swansea Webinars | Webinar | Video | This is a collection of recordings from the University of Swansea's subject taster webinar series which they run at various times throughout the year. Browse through to find topics relevant to your interests. | Click Here > | |
HE+ | Website | Podcast | Blog | Video | The HE+ website has supercurricular resources created and written by Cambridge students and academics including challenging activities, engaging videos, reflective questions and much more. | Click Here > | |
LIS Learning Hub | Website | Webinar | Recorded Lecture | Blog | Podcast | This is an open source area full of webinars, articles, videos, short reads, mini-lectures, podcasts and more from the London Interdiscipinary school. | Click Here > | |
Zooniverse - Real Science Online | Work Experience | Website | Online Crowd Science Projects that you can contribute to | Click Here > |
Relevant Posts from the Careers Blog
A Historian's Toolkit - Examining the nature and purpose of history, the process of historical enquiry & the critical evaluation of sources
Wednesday 9th October 2024 14:00-14:45 (UK Time) What is it? This session will explore insights into how historians approach their work,...
October 10, 2022 at 9:02:14 AM