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History BA (Hons)

On this modern history course you will explore, debate and evaluate the key events and ideas that have shaped our world.

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Block teaching designed around you

You deserve a positive teaching and learning experience, where you feel part of a supportive and nurturing community. That’s why most students will enjoy an innovative approach to learning using block teaching, where you will study one module at a time. You’ll benefit from regular assessments - rather than lots of exams at the end of the year - and a simple timetable that allows you to engage with your subject and enjoy other aspects of university life such as sports, societies, meeting friends and discovering your new city. By studying with the same peers and tutor for each block, you’ll build friendships and a sense of belonging.

Read more about block teaching

Overview

Watch: Lecturer in History Dr Christopher Zembe and Senior Lecturer Sophie Brockmann speak about how research feeds into the History BA course at DMU, ensuring students are learning the most relevant ideas and theories.

Exploring primarily modern and contemporary history, our course is diverse, international in focus and innovative. Reflecting the globalised world we live in, the curriculum covers a wide range of European and non-European histories and examines topics such as colonialism, decolonisation, immigration, ethnic minorities and gender.

This course will hone your ability to absorb, communicate and critically analyse complex information. As you progress through the course, we’ll challenge you with more in-depth explorations and you can deepen your own historical interests. You’ll be supported by a passionate teaching team who are leading experts in their fields and provide a dynamic learning environment with a variety teaching and assessment methods.

You will learn about British, South Asian, European, African and North and South American history and also discover unique specialist topics such as history of photography and history of sport and leisure. You can also select a route through this degree in English Literature or Education.

Key features

  • Develop a wide range of transferable skills by learning how to research and communicate complex information effectively. Our graduates use these skills to forge successful careers across various professions including teaching, the law, marketing and the heritage and museum sector.
  • Specialise in distinctive areas such as photographic history, history of sport and leisure, war and conflict, migration, ethnicity and racism.
  • You can select a route through this degree in English Literature or Education. These carefully chosen routes will complement and enrich your understanding of your main subject, alongside broadening your skillset to give you a wider range of career paths available upon graduation
  • Learn from academics with international reputations who utilise innovative teaching methods to deliver a lively learning experience, which is enhanced by lectures from visiting guest speakers.
  • Boost your career prospects through placement and internship opportunities – our students have gained valuable skills at a large regional newspaper, the award-winning King Richard III visitor centre in Leicester, as well as teaching in Spain.
  • Benefit from organised visits to archives and museums such as National Archives in London. You can also access DMU’s own historical collections, such as the Stephen Lawrence Papers, the Ski Club of GB archive and the Kodak collection, held at the Kimberlin Library.
  • Benefit from Education 2030, where a simplified ‘block learning’ timetable means you will study one subject at a time and have more time to engage with your learning, receive faster feedback and enjoy a better study-life balance.

Socials

Follow us on X@dmuhistory, on Instagram @historyatdmu and on TikTok @demontfort_history.


More courses like this

History, Politics and International Relations BA (Hons)

History with Mandarin BA (Hons)

News stories

DMU professor elected a Fellow of the British Academy for her pioneering research

  • UK
  • EU/International

Institution code: D26

UCAS course code: V100

Duration: Three years full-time, four years full-time with a placement. Six years part-time.

Fees and funding: 

2024/25 tuition fees for UK students: £9,250

Find out more about tuition fees and available funding.

Additional costs: Here at DMU we provide excellent learning resources, including the Kimberlin Library and specialist workshops and studios. However, you should be aware that sometimes you may incur additional costs for this programme.

Contact us: For more information, call us on +44 (0)116 2 50 60 70.

Duration: Three years full-time, four years with placement.

Fees and funding: 

2024/25 tuition fees for international students: £15,750

Additional costs: Here at DMU we provide excellent learning resources, including the Kimberlin Library and specialist workshops and studios. However, you should be aware that sometimes you may incur additional costs for this programme.

Contact us: For more information, call us on +44 (0)116 2 50 60 70.

Entry criteria

Typical entry requirements

  • 112 points from at least 2 A levels or
  • BTEC Extended Diploma DMM or
  • International Baccalaureate: 26+ Points or
  • T Levels Merit

Plus five GCSEs grades 9-4 including English Language or Literature at grade 4 or above.

  • Pass Access with 30 level 3 credits at Merit and GCSE English (Language or Literature) at grade 4 or above.

We will normally require students to have had a break from education from full-time education before undertaking the Access course.

  • We also accept the BTEC First Diploma plus two GCSEs including English Language or Literature at grade 4 or above

Interview required: No

English language requirements

If English is not your first language an IELTS score of 6.0 overall with 5.5 in each band (or equivalent) when you start the course is essential.

English language tuition, delivered by our British Council-accredited Centre for English Language Learning, is available both before and throughout the course if you need it.

 

Structure and assessment

 

Course modules

Teaching and assessments

First year

  • Block 1: Modern Britain Since 1800
  • Block 2: Empire, nation and revolution in the 19th century
  • Block 3: Global Cities OR can select to study one route from the list below:
    • Education Route – Childhood, Social Justice and Education
    • English Literature Route – Introduction to Drama: Shakespeare
  • Block 4: Ideology, War and Society in the 20th century

Second year

  • Block 1: Global Cold War
  • Block 2: Multicultural Societies in History
  • Block 3: Humans and the Natural World OR continue with the route selected in the first year:
    • Education Route – Preparing for Professional Practice
    • English Literature Route – Text Technologies
  • Block 4: Investigating the Past

Third year

  • Block 1: Culture, Society and Conflict
  • Block 2: Independence Movements
  • Block 3: The World on Display OR continue with the route selected in the first year:
    • Education Route: Reflection on Practice: Teaching and Learning
    • English Literature Route: World Englishes: On the Page and Beyond
  • Year long: Dissertation

Overview

Our teaching is interactive, informal and enjoyable. We encourage you to develop your own thoughts, ideas and viewpoints and you will build the skills you need to be effective in both historical study and the modern workplace.

The modules are all designed to improve your skills as an effective historian from analysis and research to reasoning and evaluation. They are also constructed to help you develop aptitudes and characteristics that will improve your employability for a wide range of careers.

You will be taught by experts in their field, the people who are writing the books you are reading. Our history staff are renowned nationally and internationally for the quality of their teaching and research. We work hard to ensure that the student experience is lively, dynamic and stimulating, and regular guest lecturers and speakers address both curriculum-related topics and topics of broader historical interest.

There is a varied mix of assessment including: work in pairs and in groups, primary source analysis, presentations, portfolios, podcasts and/ or videos, essay writing, timed essays, and individual project work culminating in a dissertation. The assessments are designed to build on each other as you progress in your studies and you will have opportunities to receive feedback on your work throughout. With a variety of different assessment methods, you can build on your individual strengths as well as develop a range of skills in creativity, project management, team work, verbal communication, writing for a variety of audiences and the use of different technologies.

Contact hours

You will be taught through a combination of lectures, tutorials, seminars, group work and self-directed study. In your first year you will normally attend around 9 hours of timetabled taught sessions (lectures and tutorials) each week, and we expect you to undertake at least 28 further hours of independent study to complete project work and research.

 

Facilities and features

Library and learning zones

On campus, the main Kimberlin Library offers a space where you can work, study and access a vast range of print materials, with computer stations, laptops, plasma screens and assistive technology also available. 

As well as providing a physical space in which to work, we offer online tools to support your studies, and our extensive online collection of resources accessible from our Library website, e-books, specialised databases and electronic journals and films which can be remotely accessed from anywhere you choose. 

We will support you to confidently use a huge range of learning technologies, including the Virtual Learning Environment, Collaborate Ultra, DMU Replay, MS Teams, Turnitin and more. Alongside this, you can access LinkedIn Learning and learn how to use Microsoft 365, and study support software such as mind mapping and note-taking through our new Digital Student Skills Hub. 

The library staff offer additional support to students, including help with academic writing, research strategies, literature searching, reference management and assistive technology. There is also a ‘Just Ask’ service for help and advice, live LibChat, online workshops, tutorials and drop-ins available from our Learning Services, and weekly library live chat sessions that give you the chance to ask the library teams for help.

More flexible ways to learn

We offer an equitable and inclusive approach to learning and teaching for all our students. Known as the Universal Design for Learning (UDL), our teaching approach has been recognised as sector leading. UDL means we offer a wide variety of support, facilities and technology to all students, including those with disabilities and specific learning differences.

Just one of the ways we do this is by using ‘DMU Replay’ – a technology providing all students with anytime access to audio and/or visual material of lectures. This means students can revise taught material in a way that suits them best, whether it's replaying a recording of a class or adapting written material shared in class using specialist software.

Campus Centre

The home of  De Montfort Students' Union, (DSU) our Campus Centre offers a welcoming and lively hub for student life. Conveniently located at the heart of campus, it includes a convenience store, a Subway and a Starbucks. Here you can find the DSU-owned charitable accommodation service Sulets and DSU’s shop, SUpplies, selling art supplies, stationery and clothing, and printing and binding services. The building is also home to the DSU officer team. 

Opportunities and careers

Find the people who will open doors for you

DMU's award-winning careers service provides guaranteed work experience opportunities DMU Careers Team
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Placements

This course gives you the option to enhance and build your professional skills to progress within your chosen career, through a placement. Our dedicated team offers a range of careers resources and opportunities so you can start planning your future.

Students Kayleigh Cardy and Cory Hancock secured year-long placements as English language teaching assistants in Spain though DMU’s Erasmus+ programme. Kayleigh said: “It’s been so much more than a placement. I’ve travelled, I’ve learnt about a whole new culture and I’ve grown as a person. It’s highlighted what I can achieve when I set my mind to something and I feel better prepared for my final year of university as I’m more independent and confident.”

Students on the #DMUglobal trip to New York

DMU Global

This is our innovative international experience programme which aims to enrich your studies and expand your cultural horizons – helping you to become a global graduate, equipped to meet the needs of employers across the world.

Through DMU Global you can take advantage of a wide range of opportunities including on-campus and UK activities, overseas study, internships, faculty-led field trips and volunteering, as well as Erasmus+ and international exchanges.

Students on this course have learnt about Jewish immigrant life in New York, discovered Danish heritage in Copenhagen and explored the legacies of authoritarian rule in Berlin.

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Graduate careers

Employability skills are embedded in the curriculum to prepare you for a range of careers both related to History and in wider industries. Our graduates have gone on to forge successful careers in various professions, such as in teaching, law, public relations, marketing, journalism, civil service and the heritage and museum sectors, including roles such as:

  • Deputy Manager at the National Waterways Museum
  • Communication and Marketing Executive at Cambridge University Press
  • Associate at multinational law firm Eversheds Sutherland
  • Head of History at a high school 

Graduates also have the opportunity to undertake further studies such as Sports History and Culture MA at DMU.

Recent graduate, Jessica, is now undertaking a PhD at DMU. She said: “The staff were clearly enthusiastic about their subjects and it felt like a vibrant department to be part of. I felt supported by my personal tutor and subject tutors; they were always there to ask about further reading or something I wasn't clear on, as well as individual support.”

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