VQ43 - BA Hons Viking Studies

The BA in Viking Studies involves looking at the period 700-1200 AD. It is an interdisciplinary degree, which means that you will look at the Viking Age from different angles through the disciplines of English, History and Archaeology. You will therefore be sharing classes with students from all these Schools and departments. The course lays equal emphasis on the study of a variety of sources, which come from texts as well as archaeological remains.

Throughout your degree, you will take core modules on the languages and literature, history and archaeology of the Viking Age, plus optional modules drawn from each of these three subject areas. Some of your modules may include practical components and you will have opportunity to go on field trips, both of which can be an exciting way of learning.

 

First Year

In your first year of study, you will have 90 credits of compulsory modules and 30 credits of optional modules. You will take introductory modules in historical and archaeological methodology, as well as an introduction to the language and literary culture of England in the first millennium.  

 

Second Year

We have an established exchange programme and you are invited to spend a semester of your second year studying abroad at the Centre for Viking and Medieval Studies, University of Oslo or at the University of Århus in Denmark, or our Universitsa 21 partner at Lund in Sweden. 

 

Final Year

Your third year will include writing a dissertation in an area of your choice (English, History or Archaeology), as well as the study of core and optional modules across all three areas.

 

Nottingham Viking and Medieval Community

Nottingham has a vibrant medieval community and you may wish to make the most of seminars and public lectures. You will be confronted with cutting-edge research in your lectures and seminars, but special lectures will give you a chance to hear other important people in the field.

The Centre for the Study of the Viking Age hosts a regular series of Norse and Viking Seminars and the Institute for Medieval Research also organises lectures on a regular basis.

 

Suggested Reading

Here are some titles that you may find useful in preparation for the course:

• Else Roesdahl, The Vikings (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1998)
• James Graham-Campbell and David M. Wilson (eds.), The Viking World (London: Frances Lincoln, 2001)
• Gwyn Jones, A History of the Vikings (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001)

 

Back to top

Back to BA Courses