Christ Church University offers both a Single Honours History programme and History as part of the Combined Honours programme. But whichever degree pathway you choose, the History team is dedicated to providing top quality teaching underpinned by a strong commitment to research.
At Level 4 (Year 1) of both History programmes, in addition to providing students with a grounding in themes relating to the three principal periodizations that make up Levels 5 and 6 (Years 2 and 3), namely medieval, early modern and modern, great emphasis is placed on developing and honing the key study skills students require to excel in the remainder of their degree. History at Christ Church has recently been praised by the Quality Assurance Agency for its innovative Level 4 curriculum and the way in which this is designed to build student self-confidence in the critical early phase of their undergraduate development.
All History modules at all levels are supported by the University's Virtual Learning Platform but Level 4 is when students receive the vital grounding in the web-based learning, web-based research and interactive e-study methods necessary to make full and effective use of this key learning resource during the remainder of their degree.
Having successfully completed Level 4, students can shape their History studies at Levels 5 and 6 (the years of their degree-proper) in a number of ways. A Single Honours candidate, for example, can choose to spend the bulk of their degree immersed in medieval and early modern history, or else in modern history, though the History programme is designed in such a way that Single Honours students will study at least one module outside of their preferred periodization (though they may also, if they wish, take modules across the whole span of medieval to modern). For combined honours students, given that they will be studying History in conjunction with their second subject, the choice of modules may be limited, but this does not prevent specialization in medieval/early modern and modern history.
Study Medieval and Early Modern History
The department has a considerable strength in medieval and early modern history and archaeology, especially of the British Isles and Ireland. Students who are interested in the pre-Modern world can take a majority of their modules at Levels 5 and 6 in medieval and early modern history. Courses cover the full span of European history between c.400 and 1700 and topics may include: Anglo-Saxon Archaeology; The Vikings; The Crusades; Britain and Ireland 1100-1300; The Wars of the Roses; Tudor and Stuart Women; English Social History 1450-1750; The British Civil Wars.
Study Modern History
At Levels 5 and 6 students interested in periods after 1700 can take a majority of their courses in modern history. Modules range at Level 5 from studies of social protest and popular politics in 18th-19th century Britain, and European history in the Age of Revolution (1789-1914), to modern Britain in the Age of Empire and Total War, the Europe of the Dictators, and the Cold War. At Level 6 modules range from studies of poverty in England in the Age of Industrialization, and the Irish and Ulster questions since 1886, to British foreign policy 1938-56 and War and Revolution in Vietnam. 1930-75.
Study History across the Ages
While catering for those student who wish to focus on medieval and early modern history, or else modern history, the undergraduate programme at Christ Church is flexible enough to accommodate a more varied approach to History and allows for module combinations at Levels 5 and 6 ranging from the Crusades to the Cold War.
Study History with Archaeology
The BA History with Archaeology programme is new at Canterbury Christ Church University and allows students to combine largely document-based history with a study of the material cultures of the past. Indeed, it is difficult to study the past, even the recent past, without some awareness of the material remains of past societies. Canterbury and East Kent are rich in material for the study of the prehistoric, Roman, Anglo-Saxon and Medieval periods and the teaching team on the programme have a wealth of practical experience in the Archaeology of Kent and the South East