History at University

c.c.rozier@durham.ac.ukwww.dur.ac.uk/history/postgraduate/current/charlierozier/Blog: rozierhistorian.wordpress.com

Charlie Rozier(Durham University Institute for Medieval and Renaissance Studies)

Why History?

1: Personal Interest?2: Career Prospects?

Skills Learned through History (Cardiff University)

- How to read critically and think independently

- How to gather, organise, and interpret evidence

- How to analyse and assess a wide variety of viewpoints and complex situations

- How to construct a logical and well-supported argument

- How to communicate effectively in written work and oral presentations

- How to organise and manage your time and assignments

- How to work independently and as part of a group

What is it like?

Learning Activities include:• Going to lectures• ‘Private Study’ (Reading and note-taking on

your own in the library, or at home in your room)

• Going to Tutorials or Seminars (classes with a teacher present)

What is it like? Sample Timetable

Research-led TeachingMost universities teach through ‘Research-Led Teaching.

This means:Students constructing their own knowledge, by being shown how to research for themselves and being given the means by which to do so, including:

• Introductory lectures outlining previous historical arguments and problems surrounding the topic• Reading-lists and guides to resources/sources which help to address these leading issues• Tutorials or Seminars, in which students talk about what they have read, and collectively discover new interpretations and answers (led by a Tutor).

Sample Curriculum at Durham University

http://www.dur.ac.uk/history/undergraduate/

(Click link to play the video)

Learning Environments

Some first-year History courses from Durham University

• New Heaven, New Earth: Latin Christendom and the World, 1000-1300 A.D.• The Birth of Western Society, 300-1050 A.D.• Reformation Europe• Politics, Information and Culture in Stuart Britain, 1603-1714• Monarchy and Religion in the British world since 1660 • Tensions of Empire: British Imperialism, 1763-1963• Britain as an Economic Superpower, 1750-1914• Enslavement, Exclusion, Assimilation: the Great Racial Dilemma in Nineteenth-

Century America • Introduction to Chinese History • Soviet Revolution• The Making of Modern Africa

What do History Students do afterwards?

AllyTaught English in

Japan (2006-11) before travelling home overland via Central Asia and Russia. Now teaches Japanese in London

What do History Students do afterwards?

ErinWorks for a Marketing

company in London

What do History Students do afterwards?

NedStudied fine art in

Cornwall, now runs his own gardening

business

What do History Students do afterwards?

FrancoWorks for his local

Conservative MP, aiming for a career in

politics

What do History Students do afterwards?

LauraAlso taught English in

Japan. Worked for an English-language

newspaper in Tokyo, before returning to

London to work for an on-line fashion

magazine

What do History Students do afterwards?

ChloéReturned to France to

study journalism, now working for a

computer gaming magazine with occasional TV appearances!

What do History Students do afterwards? Statistics

Source: www.prospects.ac.uk

What do History Students do afterwards? Statistics

Source: www.prospects.ac.uk

How do I get on to a History course?

1: Shop around! Not all universities offer the same types of courses and modules. Choose one that you are most interested in.

2: Visit, visit, visit! You only really know what a place will be like once you go (don’t trust the idyllic prospectuses!)

3: Stand out: make the University want you by showing why you are different, and why you want it more than any other applicants

History at University

c.c.rozier@durham.ac.ukwww.dur.ac.uk/history/postgraduate/current/charlierozier/Blog: http://rozierhistorian.wordpress.com

Charlie Rozier(Durham University Institute for Medieval and Renaissance Studies)