BA (Hons) HISTORY WITH A PLACEMENT YEAR

Our academics are leading historians, and are hugely enthused by their research and experience. This translates directly into their excellent teaching and supervision. 

Teaching  

In the first year, you’ll learn key historical methods, how to critique effectively, and be able to take a long view on some of the most influential and important current debates today through a mixture of lectures and seminars. You will learn how to listen to and critique the ideas of others, as well as how to present and defend your own ideas. You’ll learn how to listen to and critique the ideas of others, as well as how to present your own ideas in a supportive, friendly environment.  

Independent Learning  

Making use of UEA’s state-of-the-art library facilities, you will explore the library and discover the wealth of physical and online resources available to enrich your studies. With guidance from your lecturers and seminar leaders, you will develop your skills in independent reading and research to help you finish the year equipped with the skills you need to continue your journey through your degree. 

Academic support 

Our History Key Skills programme is designed to help you make an effective and successful transition into university work. You will engage with targeted training sessions throughout your first year to help you develop key academic skills as you engage with these skills in your studies. 

Based in Student Support Services, our Learning Enhancement Team will also help you get the most out of your studies and ensure you’re achieving your full potential. Their support covers: 

• Study skills, including reading, note-taking and presentation skills 
• Written skills, including punctuation and grammatical accuracy 
• Academic writing, including how to reference 
• Research skills, including how to use the library 
• Critical thinking and understanding arguments 
• Revision, assessments and examination skills, including time management 
• If you have additional support needs due to disabilities such as sensory impairment, or learning difficulties such as dyslexia, please talk to Student Support Services about how they can help. Student Support assist, also, with all matters of personal wellbeing, and this is integral to the supportive learning environment we nurture at UEA. 

Teaching  

Lectures and seminars will enable you to build on the foundational knowledge and skills you acquired in the first year.  With a wide choice of modules from the Roman empire to the modern era that engage with social and cultural history, political and religious history, gender and landscape you can develop your own pathway and start to specialize in a particular area of your choice. You might also take a placement as part of a Humanities-wide module or learn a new foreign language.   

Independent Learning  

You’ll deepen your ability to read sources critically to analyze and evaluate them within context through independent study. You will gain the confidence to take more risks in your academic work, finishing the year with a real sense of how history influences our everyday.  

Academic Support 

You’ll continue to have access to all the training in study skills, academic writing, research, critical thinking, and tackling assessments that’s offered by our Learning Enhancement Team (described in Year 1 in more detail). And that team is just one part of our Student Support Services, who’ll continue to be there throughout your second year to nurture your studies, whether that’s by providing additional support for disabilities or by looking out for your wellbeing.  

You’ll spend your third year on a placement. You will be responsible for securing the placement, supported by UEA’s well-established connections throughout the UK and beyond. During your placement, you’ll be supported by a placement mentor, who will regularly monitor and review your progress with you, and you’ll have access to remote support from UEA, too, to make sure everything is going smoothly and that you’re getting the most of your experience. 

Teaching  

This is your opportunity to delve into specific topics that have sparked your imagination in the first two years. As part of a Special Subject, you will have the opportunity to explore your chosen topic through longer seminars in discussion with a specialist in the field. You will also have the opportunity to pursue a dissertation, working one-to-one with an expert in the field, or choose to take another advanced module.   

We believe one of the best ways to learn is by doing, so selected modules will include interesting and thought-provoking field trips or field work, where you’ll consider history in a real-world setting. The trips vary, but past trips have included: 

• The Field of Battle at Agincourt 
• Henry VII’s Chapel at Westminster Abbey 
• Norwich Castle Museum 
• Blickling Hall 
• Osborne House 
• Roman London 
• Churchill Archives, Cambridge 

Independent Learning  

You will bring together all the skills and confidence you have developed over the previous two years through independent research and critical analysis of documents as you master your field of study. The skills your have honed throughout your history degree, such as critical thinking, problem-solving, time management and organisational abilities will prove invaluable in any career path. 

Academic Support 

In your final year of study, our Student Support Services will be on hand to continue to help you flourish, whether that’s by providing ongoing support for your disabilities or by offering a timely session on research skills that enables you to sharpen your work on your dissertation (if you’ve chosen to do one).