BA in History
Queen's University Belfast
Key Information
Campus location
Belfast, United Kingdom
Languages
English
Study format
On-Campus
Duration
3 years
Pace
Full time
Tuition fees
GBP 18,800 / per year *
Application deadline
Request info
Earliest start date
Request info
* international fee
Introduction
History is the best way of understanding the world around us. What is gender, race, class, religion, the state, empire, and capitalism? What is the USA, China, the United Kingdom, and Ireland? What is NATO and the EU? Our historians explain the modern world by reaching back to the Roman Empire, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the Reformation and the great modern revolutions across all of Europe, North America, Africa, and Asia. From their first year, we trust our students to make choices and range widely across all these histories to understand where we have come from. And from the beginning of your degree, you will be taught in small groups by expert historians. Our range in time and space, our trust in you to explore and make good choices, and our small group teaching from the first year of the degree, mark us out among our peer universities.
History Degree Highlights
History at Queen’s has been placed in the QS World University Rankings' top 200 History departments in the world for 2019.
Global Opportunities
The History programme offers students opportunities to travel and study at universities in Europe and North America. Short-term (two weeks) and longer-term (up to one academic year) exchanges are on offer.
Possible examples include:
- George Washington University (Washington DC, USA)
- Aarhus Universitet (Denmark)
- College of Charleston (South Carolina, USA)
- Institut d’Etudes Politques de Bordeaux (France)
- University of Oslo (Norway)
- Universiteit Utrecht (Netherlands)
- Vanderbilt University (Nashville, Tennessee, USA)
Field trips may also be offered in particular years or as part of certain modules.
Industry Links
- Several modules include links with local collaborative partners, which provide students with opportunities to network with experts in the field or to gain experience in particular industries prior to graduation. Internships have also been developed to allow students the opportunity to carry out work experience in history-related fields.
Career Development
- The 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF) confirmed that History at Queen’s is producing world-leading or internationally excellent research, placing Queen’s 21st out of 83 among the top UK history departments overall. The School hosts many research seminars, conferences and lectures, including the annual highlight of the Wiles lecture series.
World Class Facilities
Top Ranking: History at Queen’s has been placed in the QS World University Rankings' top 200 History departments in the world for 2019.
The School also boasts the following:
- The Centre for Public History
- The Senator George J Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice
- Institute of Cognition and Culture
- Institute of Irish Studies
- Two International Summer Schools (the Irish Studies Summer School; and the Conflict Transformation and Social Justice Summer School)
Student Experience
History is the best way of understanding our world.
At Queen’s, we have a wide-ranging curriculum, that attends to problems like racism traditionally neglected by British and Irish universities.
- From year 1, you will be taught in small groups by real historians. You will not be one of 300 students in a lecture theatre, coming face-to-face only with PhD students. Studying at Queen’s also means you play an active role in making your own curriculum; we trust you to move through our curriculum and make your own choices.
- Queen's teaches History from the Ancient World to the present day and across four continents. This depth and breadth an unusual strength, and we trust our students to find their own way through this very wide range of histories. The National Student Survey demonstrates that our students find both the History programme and university experience excellent. In 2019, History had an overall student satisfaction score of 91% in the 2019 National Student Survey.
- Year after year, our history students tell the National Student Survey that they are more than 90% satisfied with their teaching.
Admissions
Scholarships and Funding
How do I fund my study?
There are different tuition fees and student financial support arrangements for students from Northern Ireland, those from England, Scotland and Wales (Great Britain), and those from the rest of the European Union.
Scholarships
Each year, we offer a range of scholarships and prizes for new students.
International Scholarships
Curriculum
Course Structure
Stage 1
Core Modules
- History and Historians
- Exploring History 1
- History and Society
- Exploring History 2
Stage 2
Modules at Level 2 are generally survey modules seeking to convey a sense of the principal events, trends and developments in a particular country or region over a fairly long time span:
Examples include:
- Alexander the Great
- Europe Between the Wars
- Nineteenth-Century Ireland
- The American South, 1619-1865
- Cabinets of Curiosity: Museums of Past and Present
Stage 3
Dissertation (compulsory)
Plus a choice of four modules. Plus a choice of four modules. These modules are closely related to the research interests of the historians teaching them, and place greater emphasis on primary source analysis than previously.
- The Ancient City
- The Rise of Christianity
- Kings, Courts, and Cultures in Carolingian Europe
- The Peasants’ Revolt, 1381
- Evangelical Protestantism in Ulster
- The American Civil War and Reconstruction
- Working-Class Communities in the United Kingdom
- The Irish Revolution
- Thatcher’s Britain
Note: that this is not an exclusive list and these options are subject to staff availability.
Learning and Teaching
Examples of the opportunities provided for learning on this course are:
- E-Learning technologies
Staff regularly incorporate e-learning technologies into their teaching to aid student learning. - Group Project
Group projects across all levels can be formative or summative. - Lectures
Lectures are usually delivered face-to-face, although occasionally lectures will be provided online. Lecture aids might include handouts, audio/visual clips, and slideshows. Film screenings are also a feature of some modules. - Self-directed study
The History program requires self-directed study, through reading secondary sources and identifying, locating, and analyzing primary sources. Self-directed study is important across all levels and guidance is provided by staff. - Seminars/tutorials
The seminar/tutorial has an important place in the History program. These small-group classes are generally student-focused, with an emphasis on discussion of historical problems through analysis of primary and secondary sources, peer engagement, and active participation.
Assessment
Details of assessments associated with this course are outlined below:
A variety of assessment methods is used, including written examination, coursework essays submitted during or at the end of the semester, group projects, oral presentations by individual students or collaborative groups, video-logs, discussion forums, tutorial activities, and dissertations.
Feedback
Examples of feedback provided on this course are outlined below:
Written feedback is provided on all coursework normally within two weeks of submission. Feedback is made available electronically. Members of staff will also arrange to meet with students individually to discuss their academic progress.
Program Tuition Fee
Career Opportunities
Studying for a History degree at Queen‘s will assist students in developing the core skills and employment-related experiences that are valued by graduate employers. Our modules are designed to enhance skills such as research, workload planning and management, presentational expertise, fluent literacy, close analysis, and the synthesis of competing arguments or evidence.
Graduates in History from QUB pursue careers in areas such as:
- Marketing
- Journalism
- Broadcasting
- Research
- Heritage
- museum sector
- education
- the Civil Service
- banking
- accountancy
- public relations
- Local government itself.
Professional Opportunities
A survey of graduates six months after graduation reveals that Queen’s graduates from History have recently gone into a range of careers, including Recruitment Consultant; Trainee Accountant; Army Officer Cadet; Insurance Advisor; Management Trainee; Political Researcher; Fraud Officer; Business Development Officer; Business Associate; Auditor; Technology Consulting Associate; Arts Development Manager; Legal Assistant; Trainee Teacher; Rugby Coach; and Project Support Analyst.
Degree plus award for extra-curricular skills
In addition to your degree programme, at Queen's you can have the opportunity to gain wider life, academic and employability skills. For example, placements, voluntary work, clubs, societies, sports and lots more. So not only do you graduate with a degree recognized from a world leading university, you'll have practical national and international experience plus a wider exposure to life overall. We call this Degree Plus. It's what makes studying at Queen's University Belfast special.
Student Testimonials
English Language Requirements
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