HistoryPolitics and Contemporary History

Your community, your University

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Contents

The department 3What makes us different 5History (BA Hons) 6Experience in the workplace 16International Exchange Partnerships 17Politics and Contemporary History (BA Hons) 18Our employability pledge 22About us and our research 24More information 26

The department

We hope that this brochure willgive you an insight into eachstrand of the undergraduateroutes of BA (Hons) Historyand BA (Hons) Politics andContemporary History, as wellas a real sense of the vitality andrelevance of our degrees.

When you come here, you will find the staffteam accessible, encouraging and friendly.The atmosphere of our department meansthat you can expect to be well supportedthroughout your studies both academicallyand socially. In the lifetime of the NationalStudent Survey, we have been consistentlyrated as one of the best departments in thecountry. The staff work hard to make surethat students are welcomed and supportedin their learning.

You will be challenged to develop yourintellectual and practical skills guided by ateam of experienced and well qualifiedteaching staff. All of our tutors haverecognised national and internationalresearch expertise and a huge enthusiasmfor their subject. As former students havecommented, this means that you cangenuinely feel that you are studying at thecutting edge of the most recentdevelopments in knowledge.

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What makes usdifferent• Sector-leading NSS results

• Research-led teaching at every level of our courses. Asformer students have commented, this means that youcan genuinely feel that you are studying at the cuttingedge of the most recent developments in knowledge.

• Home of the George Bell Research Institute

• Teaching partnership with the Weald and DownlandOpen Air Museum.

• International student exchanges with European andNorth American partners.

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95%Student Satisfaction

History (BA Hons)

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As a History student atChichester, you will study adynamic and challenging subject,explore diverse aspects of pastcultures and gain a richperspective on current issues.

Over the course of your degree, youwill develop your knowledge of British,European and international history. Inaddition, you will be introduced to all of theessential methodological skills that will enableyou to research in your own right. Forexample, course time is dedicated toresearch methods, including interviewingtechniques for oral history. Importantly, theunderlying practices of history are unpackedand debated. Our History degree is anexciting, challenging and stimulatingexperience for all. It looks at wars, revolutions,social, religious and gender issues that shapeour very identities.

A History degree is a great point of entry intothe world of work. Many of our students turntheir passion for the past into careers ashistory teachers. Some students choose todevelop their interests by working inmuseums, galleries or other heritage venues.Others apply the skills learned on the degreeto the world of media and public service.Courses on ‘History and the NationalCurriculum’ and ‘History and Heritage’ willhelp you prepare thoroughly for your nextstep in life. History at Chichester is thereforea good place to start a new career path. It isalso a place where you will feel part of ascholarly community in which ideas, cultures,peoples and places come to life throughenquiry, discussion and debate.

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Our History team consists of experiencedscholars who publish research, present papersat academic conferences and play a full part inthe international scholarly community.

The following information explores all of theMAIN THEMES that will be taught on thedegree. It provides an instant snapshot ofwhat you will be able to study with us.

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Late Medieval England and EuropeThe period between the twelfth and the mid-sixteenth centuries was one of dynamic socialand cultural change, in which England’srelations with its British and Europeanneighbours were varied but always crucial.

Most royal houses were linked by ties ofmarriage and honour - and sometimes offriendship - and clerics, knights, merchants,monarchs, pilgrims and other social groupstravelled widely across Britain and theContinent as a matter of course.

Medieval Europe was characterised by acommon language (Latin) and - through mostof the period – by a dominant religion. As aresult, the later Middle Ages were a time ofperhaps surprisingly sophisticatedcommunications. This facilitated a fertile andvibrant spread of pan-European culture, ideasand social structures, which this strand ofmodules offers you the chance to explore - aswell as the opportunity to analyse a civilisationvery different to our own.

Research Spotlight –Clothing the rural poor

Our senior lecturer, Dr. DanaeTankard, is working with the Wealdand Downland Open Air Museum ona seventeenth-century historic clothingproject, which is being exhibited at theMuseum.

Danae received RFF-funding (ResearchFunding Framework) for acollaborative project to make tworeplica seventeenth-century outfitsdrawing on her documentary researchon the clothing of the rural poor inseventeenth-century Sussex. Theproject will be documented in a shortfilm made by Darren Mapletoft, oneof our senior lecturers in Media.

Alongside her role at the University,Danae is a social historian at theMuseum, working closely with theMuseum’s Interpretation Departmentand its Historic Clothing Project.

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Early Modern Europe and theWider World, 1400-1800: From theRenaissance to the FrenchRevolutionThe early modern era was a momentous andturbulent epoch for Europe as Christendomsplintered and new states emerged such asSpain, the Dutch Republic, Prussia and Russia.Voyages of discovery to the Americas and theFar East, and revolutions in the arts, sciencesand religion, changed society and the way inwhich Europeans governed and thoughtabout themselves and the world aroundthem. Our own contemporary culture isscarcely imaginable without the intellectualand architectural achievements of theRenaissance, the religious turmoil andconfessional conflicts generated by theReformation, the political struggles andupheavals that destabilized seventeenth-century Britain, and the evolution in theeighteenth-century Enlightenment of populardemocracy, as then enshrined in theAmerican and French republicanconstitutions. Inventions like that ofgunpowder, magnifying lenses, printing andthe calculus encouraged these dramaticdevelopments. This strand of modules willtherefore allow you to study a pivotal periodin the making of the modern world.

Twentieth-Century Britain and EuropeThe twentieth century witnessed a period ofdramatic political and cultural change. Theexperience of total warfare, genocide andextremism irrevocably changed society inBritain and Europe. The century was alsomarked by social revolutions as the values andideals of individuals altered as a result of neweconomic conditions across the continent.Indeed, the consequences of these events arefar-reaching, to the extent that to understandcontemporary culture and politics in Europe,the history of the twentieth century must beconsidered. The modules provided will enableyou to access this significant history includingnew subjects such as the 1960s, popularculture, and social history.

Dr Hugo FreyReader in History

Hugo is a cultural and political historian. His research focuses on twentieth-centuryFrance and Francophone Europe withspecial emphasis on the politics of visualculture. He is well published and his 2008essay on Tintin prompted extensivedebate in the Belgian media. Hugo iscurrently researching how French,American and British cinema hasapproached the Second World War.

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War StudiesThe modern period has been shaped byconflict; the political, social and culturalresponses to war have significantly altered theideas and values of individuals, communitiesand wider societies. Therefore, the study ofthe experience, representation andremembrance of war, in a variety of contextswithin contemporary history, not only enablesan understanding of the past but allows aninsight into present-day conflicts. The coursesprovided within the area of War Studies willpresent you with a wide variety ofperspectives from military, social and culturalhistory within Britain, Europe and NorthAmerica to analyse the complex changeswrought by warfare.

Africa and the African DiasporaThe world’s second largest continent, thebirthplace of humanity and the cradle ofcivilization and yet Africa and Africans havetoo often been neglected in historical studies.This new subject area challenges Eurocentricviews of history that have placed Africa andAfricans on the periphery by focusing onAfricans and the African Diaspora as keyagents of historical change. You will focus onthe modern history of Africa but also thehistory of those of African descent outsidethe African continent based in Britain, theUnited States and the Caribbean.

Victorian BritainVictoria and Albert, Charles Dickens, theworkhouse, Florence Nightingale, child labour,the Crystal Palace, Charlotte Brontë, therailway, Charles Darwin: who were theVictorians and why has this era taken on sucha mythological quality? Does the age of steamreally have anything important to say to theage of the internet? In his famous critiqueEminent Victorians (1918) Lytton Stracheyargued that the fussy and repressed Victorianworld of ornate living rooms, stiff upper lipsand hypocritical morality was everything thatmodern British society should reject. Yet theperiod’s irrepressible sense of culturalsuperiority and self-confidence has beensubject to constant re-evaluation andreinvention by historians throughout thetwentieth and twenty-first centuries. Thisgroup of modules enables you to examineour continued fascination with VictorianStudies from a variety of critical socialperspectives: religion, class, gender, empire,slavery, sexuality and city life.

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The United States of America:Politics, Identity and CultureThe development of the United States ofAmerica as the world’s only super-power isarguably the dominant phenomenon of theearly twenty-first century. The modules onthis strand will enable you to place the USA inhistorical context. You will gain anunderstanding of the broad sweep ofAmerican history, from the fight forindependence to the divisions of the CivilWar, you will trace the constitutional historyof the nation from its foundation to the civilrights movement. You will also explore therise of Hollywood and the histories of USAfound in westerns and will analyse the impactof Jazz music, and discuss Vietnam Warmemories. You will examine the developmentof New York as an ‘American’ city through thehistory of immigration, political reform andsocial changes, and will map outcontemporary US intellectual debates.Popular culture will also support the module,with analyses ranging from sports culture(baseball) to the discussion of world-famousAmerican comic strips.

Theories and Methods in HistoryThe past does not present itself to us in aconvenient, ready-made package or shape.Instead, it is your main task to workimaginatively and conscientiously with yoursources, shaping the events of the past intomeaningful historical narratives.

All historians work with a set of underlyingassumptions about their sources which makea critical difference to the sorts of historiesthat get written. This theme of the Historyprogramme is explicitly concerned with thediverse ways in which historians go aboutshaping or writing up the past, in other wordsthe variety of theories and methods that theyuse. Not only will you study some of theforemost thinkers and writers of history inorder to understand their particular methodsin this group of modules, you will beencouraged to approach historical texts witha self-awareness and intellectual position ofyour own on the nature of history today.

Heritage and Public HistoryThis group of modules includes studies inlocal, public and oral histories and exploreshow and why archives, artefacts andmonuments are preserved and presented. Itallows you to appreciate the ways in which weinteract with the past, and offers you thechance to focus your studies through fieldtrips, meeting with experienced heritagepractitioners and undertaking independentproject work and site evaluations.

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Women’s and Gender HistoryWomen’s and gender history is one of themost rapid and dynamic growth areas in thediscipline of History. The recognition thatwomen have been omitted from thetraditional historical record has prompted awealth of diverse scholarship on women’seconomic, social and political strugglesthroughout the centuries in an attempt torecover female visibility in history.

This project has been further expanded bythose historians interested in looking morewidely at the cultural roles and identitiesascribed not just to women but to men aswell - we are all gendered. This theme in theprogramme introduces you to some of thisexciting material and its arguablytransformative potential for historicalresearch. The modules take a broadchronological and cross-cultural sweepthrough history, exploring the changingdefinitions of femininity and masculinity uponthe daily lives of women and men from themedieval to the modern periods.

Dr Sue MorganProfessor of Women’s and Gender History

Sue is an internationally-recognised authority onwomen’s and gender history, particularly itsrelationship to religious history.

She has been well published internationally andshe has chaired, co-hosted and contributed toseveral major international conferences. Sue hasalso served on the national committees of theWomen’s History Network and the EcclesiasticalHistory Society, has been a member of theAHRC Peer-review College since 2006 and is anactive member of the editorial boards ofWomen’s History Review, Gender and History,and Re-thinking History. Sue has also contributedand acted as a script adviser on Ian Hislop’s 2010BBC series ‘The Do-Gooders’.

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Heritage Studies work placement

On the BA (Hons) History youwill have the option in year twoto work with a sector-leadingmuseum, gallery or heritage site.This optional module is ideal ifyou want to develop a career inthe heritage sector.

For the duration of your six-week onsiteplacement, your are allocated a particular taskdesigned to benefit the work placementprovider and your studies.

Over the past few years, our students haveworked on such important and variedprojects as:

• Recording medieval and early-moderngraffiti in Chichester Cathedral

• Researching 18th-century bedrooms fordisplays at Petworth House

• Making educational powerpoints on 16th-century children’s games for the Mary RoseMuseum

• Designing leaflets on the Iron Age forButser Ancient Farm

• Planning interpretative strategies for thenew visitor centre at Bignor Roman Villa

• Designing displays on the Women’sAuxiliary Air Force (WAAF) and theSpecial Operations Executive (SOE) in theSecond World War for Tangmere AviationMuseum.

International ExchangePartnerships

We offer an extensive range ofstudy abroad opportunities. Youwill have the opportunity to takeone semester of your BA(Hons) History or your BA(Hons) Politics andContemporary Historyprogramme outside of the UK.

You will be able to benefit from Erasmusagreements with universities in:

• Finland (University of Eastern Finland)• Belgium (Catholic University of Leuven) • Germany (University of Würzburg).

In addition, our long-term associations withuniversity-partners in Canada and the UnitedStates of America mean that History atChichester is well placed to offer its you afurther international dimension to yourundergraduate experience. In 2010, two ofour students spent a fortnight at Franklin &Marshall, researching the thought of theFounding Father of the US Constitution andexploring the Watergate scandal. They werenamed Visiting Research Scholars andreceived full access to internet and libraryprivileges. But the experience comprised farmore than study. They were given a personaltour of the United States Capitol and theWatergate building, as well as experiencing aLancaster Barnstormers baseball game.

“My readings enabled me to form betteropinions, develop new ideas and add newdimensions to these ideas … Being able toresearch in this environment, with the supportthat was offered to me was an exceptionalexperience, that will be difficult to replicate.”Heather-Ann Dunlop, BA (Hons) History

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Politics and ContemporaryHistory (BA Hons)

Are you fascinated by modern/contemporary history or areyou a politics fanatic who thriveson understanding how decisionsare made, contested anddebated?

Explore the modern world, its society, peopleand the politics that shape it. You will analysepolitical concepts such as the state, ideologies,propaganda and communication, by situatingthem in historical context. You will discussmodern and contemporary historicalepisodes in light of what we know aboutpolitical processes, structures and models.

The geographical focus of the degree includesBritain, Europe, America and Africa. You willexplore themes such as political organizations;political parties, institutions, ideologies andtheories situated in recent historical context.Our staff research specialisms include War,Political Culture and Communication, Securityand Foreign Policy, British Politics and Culture,Migration and Society. On graduation, youwill be able to interpret the political worldand have good knowledge of the recent pastthat has shaped it. You will have skills inresearch, analysis, critical thinking andcommunication and will be well prepared forgraduate employment.

The following information explores all of theMAIN THEMES that will be taught on thedegree. It provides an instant snapshot ofwhat you will be able to study with us.

British Political Organization andthe Practice of PoliticsHow is civil society organized? What are thebasic organizations, institutions and practicesthat make up contemporary politics.

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Modules in this strand will explore the natureof British politics and you will encounter corethemes such as party structures, theconstitution, Parliament, leadership and theoffice of the Prime Minister, electionperformance and systems, as well as moreunusual issues such political extremism.

Political Concepts and Comparative ContextsYou will understand and grapple with politicsideas and then analyze how they have workedin context. The modules will introduce you toa variety of themes including: globalization,regionalism, nationalism, terrorism, andEuropean identity.

Democracy, Human Rights and SecurityStudents of politics are encouraged tounderstand relationships between domesticpolitics and international relations. The themeof democracy and its position in internationalrelations allows you to explore this themethrough a series of pertinent examples.

War StudiesThe modern period has been shaped byconflict; the political, social and culturalresponses to war have significantly altered theideas and values of individuals, communitiesand wider societies. Therefore, the study ofthe experience, representation andremembrance of war, in a variety of contextswithin contemporary history, not only enablesan understanding of the past but allows an

insight into present-day conflicts. The coursesprovided within the area of War Studies willpresent you with a wide variety ofperspectives from military, social and culturalhistory within Britain, Europe and NorthAmerica to analyse the complex changeswrought by warfare.

The United States of America: Politics, Identity and CultureThe development of the United States ofAmerica as the world’s only super-power isarguably the dominant phenomenon of theearly twenty-first century. Students enrollingon modules on this strand of teaching andlearning will be able to place the USA inhistorical context. They will gain anunderstanding of the broad sweep ofAmerican history, from the fight forindependence to the divisions of the CivilWar. They will trace the constitutional historyof the nation from its foundation to the civilrights movement. Students will also explorethe rise of Hollywood and the histories ofUSA found in ‘westerns’. They will analyse theimpact of Jazz music, and discuss VietnamWar memories. They will examine thedevelopment of New York as an ‘American’city through the history of immigration,political reform and social changes. They willmap out contemporary US intellectualdebates. Popular culture will also support themodule, with analyses ranging from sportsculture (baseball) to the discussion of world-famous American comic strips.

Dr Hakim Adi Reader in the History of Africaand the African Diaspora

His first book, West Africans in Britain 1900-1960was the first major work on the subject. Over thelast ten years he has given international keynoteaddresses and invited lectures at prominentuniversities across the world. Hakim is theAssociate Editor of The African and DiasporicCultural Studies Series and he has acted as adviserto several high profile museum exhibitions, as wellas publishing a short biography of Nelson Mandelaand 10 articles in peer-reviewed journals.

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Twentieth and Twenty-FirstCentury British and European HistoryThe twentieth century witnessed a period ofdramatic political and cultural change. Theexperience of total warfare, genocide andextremism irrevocably changed society inBritain and Europe. The century was alsomarked by social revolutions as the values andideals of individuals altered as a result of neweconomic conditions across the continent.Indeed, the consequences of these events arefar-reaching, to the extent that to understandcontemporary culture and politics in Europe,the history of the twentieth century must beconsidered. The modules provided will enableyou to access this significant history includingnew subjects such as the 1960s, popularculture, and social history.

Africa and the African DiasporaThe world’s second largest continent, thebirthplace of humanity and the cradle ofcivilization and yet Africa and Africans havetoo often been neglected in historical studies.These modules challenge Eurocentric viewsof history that have placed Africa andAfricans on the periphery by focusing onAfricans and the African Diaspora as keyagents of historical change. You will focus onthe modern history of Africa but also thehistory of those of African descent outsidethe African continent based in Britain, theUnited States and the Caribbean.

Our employability pledge

We understand the importanceof ensuring that you have theknowledge, skills and experienceto compete successfully intoday’s challenging jobs market.

In addition to the work placements andsector specific employability and enterprisemodules that many of you will haveembedded in your course, we havedeveloped a student and graduate internshipscheme.

Our commitment is to make sure thatstudents and graduates from all disciplineswho register on the programme, andsuccessfully complete the necessarypreparation, have the opportunity to applyfor carefully matched internships. *

This programme aims to ensure that you willgraduate with:• a focused high-quality CV• interview and selection centre

preparation• the ability to identify and articulate

transferable skills• experience of a recruitment process• substantive relevant work experience • workplace skills

As part of the programme we aim to:• provide a free matching service to

identify the needs and aspirations of bothgraduates and employers

• identify and promote short-term studentemployment opportunities with a focuson specific sectors

• ensure that there is a range ofopportunities to be provided includinginternships of both short and longduration.

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• sign-posting Chichester graduates toother universities’ internship schemes intheir home area, where available.

Possible Career Options• Law and civil service• Archival, library and museum work• Journalism• Teaching• Business• Heritage management• Tourism management• Postgraduate study• Public administration• Graduate recruitment programmes

* Gaining an internship is the result of acompetitive interview process with theprospective employer so an internship cannotbe guaranteed. The programme is intended toprovide a progressive work experience packagetailored both to your course and your careeraspirations on graduation.

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About us and our research

Our department is part of awider thriving research cultureat Chichester.

Every member of our department is acommitted and active researcher whopublishes regularly, writes textbooks,contributes to prestigious journals and speaksat conferences around the world.

Here is just a sample of our team’s recentresearch publications.

Sue Morgan(Edited) Women, Gender andReligious Cultures in Britain,1800-1940 (Routledge, 2011)

Amanda RichardsonThe Forest, Park and Palace ofClarendon, c.1200-c.1650(Archaeopress, 2005)

Sue MorganMasculinity and Spirituality inVictorian Culture(co-edited with A. Bradstock etal) (Macmillan, 2000)

Mark BryantPublished in C.C. Orr (ed)European Queenship: The Roleof The Consort1660-1815 (CambridgeUniversity Press, 2004)

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Hugo FreyLouis Malle (ManchesterUniversity Press, 2004)

Andrew ChandlerThe Church of England in theTwentieth Century: The ChurchCommissioners and the Politicsof Reform, 1948-1998(Boydell 2009)

Hugo FreyPublished in Bill Kidd and BrianMurdoch (eds)Memory and Memorials(Ashgate, 2004)

Hugo FreyWriting with Christopher Flood,published inJames Le Sueur (ed)The Decolonization Reader(Routledge, 2003)

Hugo FreyPublished in Yale French Studies(2008)

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More information

We welcome all applicantswith the followingqualifications:

Entry requirements

Typical Offer (Individual offers may vary):

HistoryA levels: ABB – BBCAccess: Pass with 15 level 3 credits worth ofunits at MeritInternational Baccalaureate: 30 points

Politics and Contemporary HistoryA levels: ABB – BBCAccess: Pass with 15 level 3 credits worth ofunits at MeritInternational Baccalaureate: 30 points

A successful completion of a mature studentnon-standard entry process (for eithercourse). For this pathway please apply directlyto:

Dr Hugo Frey, Head of Department, Email: h.frey@chi.ac.uk

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For further information, please contact• Laura Beard, History Administrator

Tel: +44 (0)1243 816162Email: l.beard@chi.ac.uk

• Dr Hugo Frey, Head of DepartmentTel: +44 (0)1243 816200Email: h.frey@chi.ac.uk

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