German mandatory modules
Post-A level pathway
- German 1
- Introduction to German Studies
Beginners' pathway
- German 1:Beginners
- Introduction to German Studies
University Park Campus, Nottingham, UK
Qualification | Entry Requirements | Start Date | UCAS code | Duration | Fees |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
BA Jt Hons | ABB | September 2024 | RV21 | 4 years full-time | £9,250 per year |
Qualification | Entry Requirements | Start Date | UCAS code | Duration | Fees |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
BA Jt Hons | ABB | September 2024 | RV21 | 4 years full-time | £9,250 per year |
Including 5 at Higher Level in History, and 5 at Higher Level or 6 at Standard Level (B programme) in German for the post-IB pathway.
No language qualification required for the beginners' pathway.
6.5 (no less than 6.0 in each element) English language requirementsAs well as IELTS (listed above), we also accept other English language qualifications. This includes TOEFL iBT, Pearson PTE, GCSE, IB and O level English. Check our English language policies and equivalencies for further details. For presessional English or one-year foundation courses, you must take IELTS for UKVI to meet visa regulations. If you need support to meet the required level, you may be able to attend a Presessional English for Academic Purposes (PEAP) course. Our Centre for English Language Education is accredited by the British Council for the teaching of English in the UK. If you successfully complete your presessional course to the required level, you can then progress to your degree course. This means that you won't need to retake IELTS or equivalent. |
Check our country-specific information for guidance on qualifications from your country
A level
GCSE
English grade 4 (C)
All candidates are considered on an individual basis and we accept a broad range of qualifications. The entrance requirements below apply to 2024 entry.
Please note: Applicants whose backgrounds or personal circumstances have impacted their academic performance may receive a reduced offer. Please see our contextual admissions policy for more information.
We recognise that applicants have a wealth of different experiences and follow a variety of pathways into higher education.
Consequently we treat all applicants with alternative qualifications (besides A-levels and the International Baccalaureate) on an individual basis, and we gladly accept students with a whole range of less conventional qualifications including:
This list is not exhaustive. The entry requirements for alternative qualifications can be quite specific; for example you may need to take certain modules and achieve a specified grade in those modules. Please contact us to discuss the transferability of your qualification. Please see the alternative qualifications page for more information.
RQF BTEC Nationals
Access to HE Diploma
International students must have valid UK immigration permissions for any courses or study period where teaching takes place in the UK. Student route visas can be issued for eligible students studying full-time courses. The University of Nottingham does not sponsor a student visa for students studying part-time courses. The Standard Visitor visa route is not appropriate in all cases. Please contact the university’s Visa and Immigration team if you need advice about your visa options.
At the University of Nottingham, we have a valuable community of mature students and we appreciate their contribution to the wider student population. You can find lots of useful information on the mature students webpage.
A level
GCSE
English grade 4 (C)
Including 5 at Higher Level in History, and 5 at Higher Level or 6 at Standard Level (B programme) in German for the post-IB pathway.
No language qualification required for the beginners' pathway.
All candidates are considered on an individual basis and we accept a broad range of qualifications. The entrance requirements below apply to 2024 entry.
Please note: Applicants whose backgrounds or personal circumstances have impacted their academic performance may receive a reduced offer. Please see our contextual admissions policy for more information.
We recognise that applicants have a wealth of different experiences and follow a variety of pathways into higher education.
Consequently we treat all applicants with alternative qualifications (besides A-levels and the International Baccalaureate) on an individual basis, and we gladly accept students with a whole range of less conventional qualifications including:
This list is not exhaustive. The entry requirements for alternative qualifications can be quite specific; for example you may need to take certain modules and achieve a specified grade in those modules. Please contact us to discuss the transferability of your qualification. Please see the alternative qualifications page for more information.
RQF BTEC Nationals
Access to HE Diploma
We recognise the potential of talented students from all backgrounds. We make contextual offers to students whose personal circumstances may have restricted achievement at school or college. These offers are usually one grade lower than the advertised entry requirements. To qualify for a contextual offer, you must have Home/UK fee status and meet specific criteria – check if you’re eligible.
If you have already achieved your EPQ at Grade A you will automatically be offered one grade lower in a non-mandatory A level subject.
If you are still studying for your EPQ you will receive the standard course offer, with a condition of one grade lower in a non-mandatory A level subject if you achieve an A grade in your EPQ.
If you have faced educational barriers and are predicted BCC at A Level, you may be eligible for our Foundation Year. You may progress to a range of direct entry degrees in the arts and humanities.
At the University of Nottingham, we have a valuable community of mature students and we appreciate their contribution to the wider student population. You can find lots of useful information on the mature students webpage.
On this course, subject to you meeting the relevant requirements, your third academic year will be spent in Germany or Austria doing one of the following:
For more information, see your year abroad options.
Please note: In order to undertake a compulsory year abroad, you will need to achieve the relevant academic requirements as set by the University and meet the selection criteria of both the University and the partner institution. The partner institution is under no obligation to accept you even if you do meet the relevant criteria.
The Cultures, Languages and Area Studies (CLAS) Work Placements and Employability Programme provides the opportunity to gain first hand practical experience and to network with a wide range of employers.
Please note: In order to undertake a placement, you will need to achieve the relevant academic requirements as set by the University and meet any requirements specified by the placement host. There is no guarantee that you will be able to undertake a placement or internship as part of your course.
Please be aware that study abroad, compulsory year abroad, optional placements/internships and integrated year in industry opportunities may change at any time for a number of reasons, including curriculum developments, changes to arrangements with partner universities or placement/industry hosts, travel restrictions or other circumstances outside of the university’s control. Every effort will be made to update this information as quickly as possible should a change occur.
On this course, subject to you meeting the relevant requirements, your third academic year will be spent in Germany or Austria doing one of the following:
For more information, see your year abroad options.
Please note: In order to undertake a compulsory year abroad, you will need to achieve the relevant academic requirements as set by the University and meet the selection criteria of both the University and the partner institution. The partner institution is under no obligation to accept you even if you do meet the relevant criteria.
The Cultures, Languages and Area Studies (CLAS) Work Placements and Employability Programme provides the opportunity to gain first hand practical experience and to network with a wide range of employers.
Please note: In order to undertake a placement, you will need to achieve the relevant academic requirements as set by the University and meet any requirements specified by the placement host. There is no guarantee that you will be able to undertake a placement or internship as part of your course.
Please be aware that study abroad, compulsory year abroad, optional placements/internships and integrated year in industry opportunities may change at any time for a number of reasons, including curriculum developments, changes to arrangements with partner universities or placement/industry hosts, travel restrictions or other circumstances outside of the university’s control. Every effort will be made to update this information as quickly as possible should a change occur.
*For full details including fees for part-time students and reduced fees during your time studying abroad or on placement (where applicable), see our fees page.
If you are a student from the EU, EEA or Switzerland, you may be asked to complete a fee status questionnaire and your answers will be assessed using guidance issued by the UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA) .
All students will need at least one device to approve security access requests via Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA). We also recommend students have a suitable laptop to work both on and off-campus. For more information, please check the equipment advice.
Books
You'll be able to access most of the books you’ll need through our libraries, though you may wish to buy your own copies of core texts. A limited number of modules have compulsory texts which you are required to buy. We recommend that you budget £100 per year for books, but this figure will vary according to which modules you take. The Blackwell's bookshop on campus offers a year-round price match against any of the main retailers (e.g. Amazon, Waterstones, WH Smith). They also offer second-hand books, as students from previous years sell their copies back to the bookshop.
Year Abroad - Reduced fees (subject to change)
As a year abroad student, you will pay reduced fees. For students spending their year abroad in 2023 this was set at:
Costs incurred during the year abroad
These vary from country to country, but always include:
Depending on the country visited you may also have to pay for:
There are a number of sources of funding:
Your access to funding depends on:
You may be able to work or teach during your year abroad. This will be dependent on your course and country-specific regulations. Often students receive a small salary or stipend for these work placements. Working or teaching is not permitted in all countries. More information on your third year abroad.
Volunteering and placements
For volunteering and placements e.g. work experience and teaching in schools, you will need to pay for transport and refreshments.
Optional field trips
Field trips allow you to engage with source materials on a personal level and to develop different perspectives. They are optional and costs to you vary according to the trip; some require you to arrange your own travel, refreshments and entry fees, while some are some are wholly subsidised.
Faculty of Arts Alumni Scholarships
Our Alumni Scholarships are funding opportunities gifted by some of our alumni who want to help support the next generation through higher education. These scholarships provide eligible students with financial contributions toward essential living costs. Find out more about eligibility and how to apply.
International students
We offer a range of international undergraduate scholarships for high-achieving international scholars who can put their Nottingham degree to great use in their careers.
All students will need at least one device to approve security access requests via Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA). We also recommend students have a suitable laptop to work both on and off-campus. For more information, please check the equipment advice.
Books
You'll be able to access most of the books you’ll need through our libraries, though you may wish to buy your own copies of core texts. A limited number of modules have compulsory texts which you are required to buy. We recommend that you budget £100 per year for books, but this figure will vary according to which modules you take. The Blackwell's bookshop on campus offers a year-round price match against any of the main retailers (e.g. Amazon, Waterstones, WH Smith). They also offer second-hand books, as students from previous years sell their copies back to the bookshop.
Year Abroad - Reduced fees (subject to change)
As a year abroad student, you will pay reduced fees. For students spending their year abroad in 2023 this was set at:
Costs incurred during the year abroad
These vary from country to country, but always include:
Depending on the country visited you may also have to pay for:
There are a number of sources of funding:
Your access to funding depends on:
You may be able to work or teach during your year abroad. This will be dependent on your course and country-specific regulations. Often students receive a small salary or stipend for these work placements. Working or teaching is not permitted in all countries. More information on your third year abroad.
Volunteering and placements
For volunteering and placements e.g. work experience and teaching in schools, you will need to pay for transport and refreshments.
Optional field trips
Field trips allow you to engage with source materials on a personal level and to develop different perspectives. They are optional and costs to you vary according to the trip; some require you to arrange your own travel, refreshments and entry fees, while some are some are wholly subsidised.
Faculty of Arts Alumni Scholarships
Our Alumni Scholarships are funding opportunities gifted by some of our alumni who want to help support the next generation through higher education. These scholarships provide eligible students with financial contributions toward essential living costs. Find out more about eligibility and how to apply.
Home students*
Over one third of our UK students receive our means-tested core bursary, worth up to £1,000 a year. Full details can be found on our financial support pages.
* A 'home' student is one who meets certain UK residence criteria. These are the same criteria as apply to eligibility for home funding from Student Finance.
If you’re passionate about history but also dream of spending time in Germany and becoming fluent in the language – how do you choose which degree to study? We say, choose both!
This joint honours course allows you to combine your curiosity for human experience with your love of communicating in another language.
With History modules ranging from ‘Media in Germany’ to ‘Travel and adventure in the Medieval World’ and German modules taking you from ‘German Colonialism’ to ‘Mythology in German Literature’ – you’re able to truly personalise this degree around your personal interests or career aspirations.
Many of our students say the year abroad is their course highlight. Not only do you have the opportunity to fully immerse yourself in the German language and culture, but spending time abroad can make you more independent and confident.
If you’re passionate about history but also dream of spending time in Germany and becoming fluent in the language – how do you choose which degree to study? We say, choose both!
This joint honours course allows you to combine your curiosity for human experience with your love of communicating in another language.
With History modules ranging from ‘Media in Germany’ to ‘Travel and adventure in the Medieval World’ and German modules taking you from ‘German Colonialism’ to ‘Mythology in German Literature’ – you’re able to truly personalise this degree around your personal interests or career aspirations.
Many of our students say the year abroad is their course highlight. Not only do you have the opportunity to fully immerse yourself in the German language and culture, but spending time abroad can make you more independent and confident. Taking yourself out of your comfort zone won’t only benefit your degree, it’ll shape the person you are to become.
Learn more about the departments you shall be studying in Modern Languages and Cultures, and History
Important information
This online prospectus has been drafted in advance of the academic year to which it applies. Every effort has been made to ensure that the information is accurate at the time of publishing, but changes (for example to course content) are likely to occur given the interval between publishing and commencement of the course. It is therefore very important to check this website for any updates before you apply for the course where there has been an interval between you reading this website and applying.
Mandatory
Year 1
German 1
Mandatory
Year 1
German 1: Beginners
Mandatory
Year 1
Introduction to German Studies
Optional
Year 1
Deutschland Heute
Optional
Year 1
Hitler and the Third Reich
Optional
Year 1
Sex, Gender and Society in Modern Germany
Optional
Year 1
Language Meaning, Variation and Change
Optional
Year 1
From Dictatorship to Democracy
Optional
Year 1
Learning History
Optional
Year 1
Making of Modern Asia
Optional
Year 1
Roads to Modernity: An Introduction to Modern History 1750-1945
Optional
Year 1
The Contemporary World since 1945
Optional
Year 1
Roads to Modernity: An Introduction to Modern History 1750-1945 (Part 2)
Optional
Year 1
The Contemporary World Since 1945 (Part 2)
Optional
Year 1
Making the Middle Ages 500-1500
Optional
Year 1
History of Philosophy
Mandatory
Year 2
German 2
Mandatory
Year 2
German 2 - Beginners
Mandatory
Year 2
Leben und Arbeiten in Deutschland: Introduction to Contemporary Germany
Optional
Year 2
Life and Demise of the GDR
Optional
Year 2
The Language of German Media - Linguistic and Journalistic Perspectives
Optional
Year 2
Introduction to Literary Translation
Optional
Year 2
Reason and its Rivals: From Kant to Freud
Optional
Year 2
National Socialist Germany
Optional
Year 2
Contemporary Translation Studies
Optional
Year 2
From Dictatorship to Democracy
Optional
Year 2
History of German language from early beginnings to the present day
Optional
Year 2
Sex, Gender and Society in Modern Germany
Optional
Year 2
Exploring the German Archive: Ideology and State in Newspaper Cuttings and Family Papers
Optional
Year 2
German National Socialism (1933-1945): Hitler and the Third Reich
Optional
Year 2
Consumers & Citizens: Society & Culture in 18th Century England
Optional
Year 2
Central European History: From Revolution to War, 1848-1914
Optional
Year 2
British Foreign Policy and the Origins of the World Wars, 1895-1939
Optional
Year 2
Communities, Crime and Punishment in England c.1500-1800
Optional
Year 2
The Victorians: Life, Thought and Culture
Optional
Year 2
The Second World War and Social Change in Britain, 1939-1951: Went The Day Well?
Optional
Year 2
The Rise of Modern China
Optional
Year 2
Liberating Africa: Decolonisation, Development and the Cold War, 1919-1994
Optional
Year 2
Heroes and Villains in the Middle Ages
Optional
Year 2
The Stranger Next Door: Jews and Christians in the Middle Ages
Optional
Year 2
Sex, Lies and Gossip? Women of Medieval England
Optional
Year 2
International History of the Middle East and North Africa 1918-1995
Optional
Year 2
Imagining 'Britain': Decolonising Tolkien et al
Optional
Year 2
Kingship in Crisis: Politics, People and Power in Late-medieval England
Optional
Year 2
Sexuality in Early Medieval Europe
Optional
Year 2
Environmental History: Nature and the Western World, 1800-2000
Optional
Year 2
Race, Rights and Propaganda: The Politics of Race and Identity in the Cold War Era, 1945-1990
Optional
Year 2
Soviet State and Society
Optional
Year 2
The Venetian Republic, 1450-1575
Optional
Year 2
European Fascisms, 1900-1945
Optional
Year 2
De-industrialisation: A Social and Cultural History, c.1970-1990
Optional
Year 2
The British Empire from Emancipation to the Boer War
Optional
Year 2
Rule and Resistance in Colonial India, c.1757-1857
Optional
Year 2
Poverty, Disease and Disability: Britain, 1795-1930
Optional
Year 2
Travel and Adventure in the Medieval World
Optional
Year 2
Politics and Protest: The Last Hundred Years of Music History
Optional
Year 2
Rethinking the Tudors: Monarchy, Society and Religion in England, 1485-1603
Optional
Year 2
The politics of memory in postwar Western Europe
Optional
Year 2
Commodities, Consumption and Connections the Global World of Things 1500-1800
Optional
Year 2
Gender, Empire, Selfhood: Transgender History in Global Context
Optional
Year 2
America's Borders: Culture at the Limits
Optional
Year 2
African American History and Culture
Optional
Year 2
Business in American Culture
Optional
Year 2
The American Pop Century
Optional
Year 2
American Radicalism
Optional
Year 2
The US and the World in the American Century: US Foreign Policy 1898-2008
Optional
Year 2
History of American Capitalism
Optional
Year 2
The CIA and US Foreign Policy 1945-2012
Optional
Year 2
Work placement
Mandatory
Year 3
Year abroad
Mandatory
Year 4
German 3
Optional
Year 4
Mythology in German Literature
Optional
Year 4
Vergangenheitsbewältigung und Nationale Identität: Geschichte und Gedächtnis nach dem Holocaust
Optional
Year 4
German Colonialism: History, Literature, Memory
Optional
Year 4
Communicating and Teaching Languages for Undergraduate Ambassadors
Optional
Year 4
Twentieth Century German Theatre: From Avant-garde to Virtual World
Optional
Year 4
Translating Culture: Cultural Issues in Translating between English and German
Optional
Year 4
German Studies: Dissertation
Optional
Year 4
Culture, Society and Politics in 20th Century Russia
Optional
Year 4
Global Histories of Labour and Capital Perspectives from India
Optional
Year 4
The British Civil Wars c.1639-1652
Optional
Year 4
Sex and Society in Britain Since 1900
Optional
Year 4
Alternatives to War: Articulating Peace since 1815
Optional
Year 4
Windrush and the (Re)Making of a Nation: Myth and Memory
Optional
Year 4
Early Medieval England in the Age of Bede
Optional
Year 4
Faith and Fire: Popular Religion in Late Medieval England
Optional
Year 4
The Black Death
Optional
Year 4
Life During Wartime: Crisis, Decline and Transformation in 1970s America
Optional
Year 4
After the Golden Age: The West in the 1970s & 1980s
Optional
Year 4
British Culture in the Age of Mass Production, 1920-1950
Optional
Year 4
From Revelation to ISIS: Apocalyptic Thought from the 1st to 21st Century
Optional
Year 4
Transnationalising Italy: A History of Modern Italy in a Transnational Perspective
Optional
Year 4
The Celtic Fringe: Scotland and Ireland, c.1066-1603
Optional
Year 4
Recent Queer Writing
Optional
Year 4
The 1960s and the West, 1958-1974
Optional
Year 4
The Reign of Richard II
Optional
Year 4
Russia in Revolution 1905-21
Optional
Year 4
The African Atlantic and the British Slave Trade c.1600-1897
Optional
Year 4
European Politics and Society, 1848-1914
Optional
Year 4
'World wasting itself in blood': Europe and the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648)
Optional
Year 4
The Politics of Thatcherism, 1975-1992
Optional
Year 4
Rebels Against Empire: Anticolonialism and British Imperialism in the Mid-20th Century
Optional
Year 4
Voices from North Africa: Resistance, Decolonisation and State-Building in the Twentieth Century
Optional
Year 4
From Serf to Proletarian: The Russian Peasantry 1825-1932
Optional
Year 4
Life during wartime: crisis, decline and transformation in 1970s america
Optional
Year 4
The Agony and the Ecstasy: Drugs for Pleasure and Pain in the History of Medicine
Optional
Year 4
Italy and the Second World War
Optional
Year 4
The Silk Road: cultural interactions and perceptions
Optional
Year 4
Mapping the Humanities
Optional
Year 4
The Turbulent Friar: Martin Luther and the Origins of Protestantism
Optional
Year 4
Cultures of Power and the Power of Culture in Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany
Optional
Year 4
China: from Revolution to Socialism
Optional
Year 4
Saving Europe: Atrocity and Humanitarianism across the twentieth century
Optional
Year 4
US Foreign Policy, 1989 - present
Optional
Year 4
Popular Music Cultures and Countercultures
Optional
Year 4
Sexuality in American History
Optional
Year 4
Britain in the Later Roman Empire (c. 250-450)
Optional
Year 4
Troubled Empire: The Projection of American Global Power from Pearl Harbor to Covid-19
Optional
Year 4
Heritage and the media
The above is a sample of the typical modules we offer, but is not intended to be construed or relied on as a definitive list of what might be available in any given year. This content was last updated on Tuesday 3 October 2023.
German mandatory modules
Post-A level pathway
Beginners' pathway
German mandatory modules
Post-A level pathway
Beginners' pathway
This year is spent abroad. You can do one of:
For more information, see: Year abroad options in the School of Cultures, Languages and Area Studies
Designed for students with an A level in German, this module will build on the skills you already have and get you started on your exciting journey towards degree-level German.
We'll be using structured course materials and textbooks but believe it's important to use as many 'real life' examples as possible, so we'll be looking at magazines, websites and television programmes as well.
In class you'll work on all the key language skills: reading comprehension, grammar, listening exercises, speaking skills, translation exercises and writing texts such as essays and summaries.
At the end of the module you'll have made significant progress with understanding written and spoken German in a variety of contexts. You'll also be able to write essays on a contemporary social issue and conduct a discussion of an academic topic in German.
This is where it all begins. Designed for absolute beginners (those with GCSE German are also welcome), this module is going to get you started on your exciting journey towards German fluency.
From the very first session, you'll be immersed in the German language. We use a structured course following a textbook but believe it's important to use as much 'real life' material as possible, so we'll be looking at real German articles and websites right from the beginning.
In class you'll work on all the key language skills: reading comprehension, grammar, listening exercises, speaking skills, and writing short texts such as emails and essays.
At the end of the module you'll have made significant progress with understanding written German in a variety of everyday contexts, and you'll also be able to engage in social conversation.
This is the core module for first-year students of German. We look at the history of German and introduce you to the linguistic study of the language. We also explore a range of themes and styles in German literature linked to key areas of German and Austrian culture (such as gender relations, migration and race).
Further topics address the study of German film, and German history with a focus on recent history since German reunification in 1990. The module gives you an insight into the different areas we teach and also the skills to explore these areas in more depth in subsequent modules.
This module studies the development of Germany (including the former German Democratic Republic) since the Second World War. We will focus particularly on the political, economic and social changes after reunification; political institutions in contemporary Germany; current debates in German society, education and media; and aspects of German culture.
Although the Third Reich is very well researched, it still raises many questions: How could Adolf Hitler gain so much power? How could a whole nation ‘fall’ for the Nazi ideology? Why the Jews? In this module we will discuss and research Nazi politics as well as its society and culture. We will consider propaganda, the press, youth and women’s organisations, as well as the role of films, art and literature. Theoretical writings on fascist ideology will provide us with relevant background knowledge and we will work with original German materials such as documents, newspapers, photos, posters, films and speeches.
We'll examine three key periods in the history of German-speaking lands:
Drawing on a range of political, theoretical and literary texts alongside visual material, we'll consider the relationship between social and economic developments, gender roles and concepts of masculinity and femininity.
This module introduces you to the functional aspects of language. We focus primarily on the relationships between language and society and cover areas such as historical and stylistic change; social and regional diversity; as well as concepts drawn from semantics and linguistic pragmatics.
This module offers an introduction to the study of the political and historical development of West German democracy between the end of the Second World War and the unification of the two German states in 1989-90. We will focus on the development of the core institutions of state, economy and society that shaped democratic culture in the Bonn Republic in both the domestic and international political contexts.
We will examine three broad historical phases of development over the period:
Through the module, we will examine the development of the main political parties and wider political culture in response to changes in the domestic and international context, assess the durability and flexibility of core institutions of state and society and evaluate the role played by the ongoing engagement with the aftermath of the National Socialist regime in reconfiguring conceptions of western democracy in the Bonn Republic.
Learn the skills you need to make the most of studying history.
This module aims to bridge the transition from school to university study, preparing you for more advanced work in your second year.
We will:
This module is worth 20 credits.
"It’s very much a skills-based module. It was so useful. I had a long break from finishing sixth form in May, to starting uni in September – I thought 'how on Earth do I write an essay? What is this thing called referencing?!' The module took those worries away." – Emily Oxbury, History and Politics BA
Journey through 200 years of modern Asian history.
We explore the themes of imperialism, nationalism, political economy and democracy to build a broad understanding of some key elements in the making of modern Asia. We then focus on some local contexts, so for example, after covering imperialism, we take a closer look at Japanese imperialism in Korea, British colonialism in Burma, etc.
When looking at nationalism, we consider the emergence of ‘official nationalism’ in Thailand and Japan, and more popular nationalisms emerging from liberation struggles. On political economy, we compare and contrast Taiwan and China to illustrate the different trajectories of market, plan and command rational economies (relatively speaking).
For democracy, we consider whether Asian culture warrants an authoritarian form of ‘Asian democracy’ and whether or not democracy can be ‘built’ and engineered as though it were simply a bridge over water.
This module is worth 10 credits.
Explore a chronology of modern history, from 1750 to 1945.
We concentrate on:
This module is worth 20 credits.
Analyse the key developments in world affairs after the Second World War.
We will consider:
This module is worth 20 credits.
The second semester will look more broadly at economic, social and cultural issues, such as industrialisation, urbanisation, changing artistic forms and ideological transformations in order to consider the nature of modernity. You will spend three hours in lectures and seminars each week.
This module addresses some of the major developments in international affairs since 1945, including international events – the origins, development and culmination of the Cold War, decolonisation and the end of empire, global movements for national, sexual or racial liberation – and national or regional histories, especially in Europe and North America, Africa, and East Asia.
Whilst interested in high politics, it also addresses social movements, ideological change, and cultural developments. In doing so, it considers the political, social and cultural forces which have shaped the post-1945 world and which continue to inform our own contemporary times.
Discover medieval European history from 500-1500.
We offer an exploration of the major forces which were instrumental in shaping the politics, society and culture in Europe, considering the last currents in historical research.
Through a series of thematically linked lectures and seminars, you will be introduced to key factors determining changes in the European experience, as well as important continuities linking the period as a whole.
We will consider:
You will spend three hours in lectures and seminars each week.
This module is worth 20 credits.
Philosophy develops, confronts and destroys previous thinking. It reinforces the status quo and acts as a foundation for revolution. It's a product of its time and helps to shape the future.
Together we'll become familiar with some of the main philosophical ideas and thinkers that have shaped philosophy. And you'll come to understand how and why these ideas arose and developed in response to wider contexts and movements.
Influential thinkers might include:
Particular topics might include:
You won't be taught whether any of these thinkers and thoughts were right. But by the end of the module you'll be able to recognise and judge for yourself the strengths and weaknesses of arguments on both sides of each philosophical issue.
This module is worth 20 credits.
This module will build on the German language and cultural skills you developed in year one and get you started on your exciting journey towards degree-level German. We're going to take you to the next level and by the end of this module you'll be ready to spend time living in a German-speaking country.
We'll focus on getting you confident in your German reading, writing, listening and speaking abilities. In addition, we will develop translation skills into and out of the target language. In class we'll keep your studies interesting and relevant by using a variety of contemporary texts, including journalistic articles, videos, clips from TV programmes and news items.
Now that you've gained good German language skills by completing Beginners' German, we're going to take you to the next level. By the end of this course, you'll be ready to spend time living in a German-speaking country.
Working at a steady pace, we'll focus on getting you confident in your German reading, writing, listening and speaking abilities, encouraging you to push yourselves to gain the best German skills possible.
In class we'll keep your studies interesting and relevant by using a variety of contemporary texts, including journalistic articles, poems and short stories, videos, clips from TV programmes and news items.
This module is aimed at students on our intensive beginners’ pathway. The module will use a range of authentic and adapted German sources to combine language learning with an introduction to some aspects of contemporary German society, focusing on elements which are particularly relevant for the year abroad. We will practise working with the types of texts that are particularly useful for students preparing for the year abroad, as well as text genres which you will encounter during your time in Germany and Austria (e.g. application letters, CVs, how to approach an interview). Classes will also help you to develop your understanding of key aspects of contemporary German society.
This module investigates GDR society over four decades of communist rule and considers social changes in Eastern Germany after the demise of the GDR. We will examine the principles of communist ideology that the Socialist Unity Party attempted to legitimise as the only viable alternative to fascism. We will also look at how people negotiated their lives within officially imposed ideological structures. Finally we will look at how a new kind of “public authority” during the Wende period in the GDR triggered the disintegration of communist power structures.
This module investigates the specific language used by the German media from linguistic and journalistic perspectives. You will learn about the distinctive pragmatic and semantic features of the language used on radio, on television and in the print media. This linguistic analysis then enables us to explore how journalists attract their target audience.
We will look at various text types and media genres including news and advertisements, as well as analyse the differences between media-specific language and the language used in society at large. In this context you will not only learn how journalists write for different media and genres, but also about the ethics of journalistic writing and how ethical concerns affect the language of the media.
The module provides an introduction to literary translation from German into English. We will analyse key issues of cultural difference and historical distance by comparing different translations of the same original text. As part of the assessment for the module you will compose your own translation of a literary text of your choice and summarise your translation strategy. Class discussions and the translation work you undertake for this module will help you to improve your understanding of the linguistic and cultural differences between English and German, develop enhanced translation skills, and gain insights into literary texts.
In this module we will examine a selection of approaches to modernity, beginning with Kant’s assertion of individual reason as the founding stone of enlightened social organisation. We will move on to examine how Marx and Engels, Nietzsche and Freud all interrogated Kant’s position in their work. Our discussions will touch on the nature of the individual subject, the role of culture, as well as competing ideas of the status of reality as based in social conditions, or the product of the will, drives, or ideology.
This module focuses on the social, economic and political-ideological structures which shaped domestic and foreign policy between 1933 and 1945. We will begin by examining the process through which Weimar democracy was overthrown and the structures of dictatorship imposed. We will then turn to the social, economic and ideological factors which shaped the transformation of Germany into a Volks-gemeinschaft before examining the development of Nazi foreign policy and the genesis of the Holocaust. Throughout the module we will consider political, social, economic and ideological factors in shaping Nazi policy at home and abroad.
Explore possible career avenues and gain practical experience in this interesting module which will show you how to apply your language learning to translation.
You'll gain a good understanding of the key concepts of translation theory, including equivalence, text type and skopos alongside linguistic theories such as register and relevance.
With these theories under your belt, you'll be guided through their application to your own translations. We'll work on the translation of a variety of texts to help you strengthen and embed your new skills.
This module offers an introduction to the study of the political and historical development of West German democracy between the end of the Second World War and the unification of the two German states in 1989-90. We will focus on the development of the core institutions of state, economy and society that shaped democratic culture in the Bonn Republic in both the domestic and international political contexts.
We will examine three broad historical phases of development over the period:
Through the module, we will examine the development of the main political parties and wider political culture in response to changes in the domestic and international context, assess the durability and flexibility of core institutions of state and society and evaluate the role played by the ongoing engagement with the aftermath of the National Socialist regime in reconfiguring conceptions of western democracy in the Bonn Republic.
This module will introduce you to the history of the German language and its relationship to other Germanic languages such as English and Dutch, from the earliest linguistic evidence up to the present day.
We will investigate the major sound changes that distinguish German and other Germanic languages from the rest of the Indo-European language family (which includes French, Greek, and many other European languages, as well as Sanskrit). We will then look at the process by which German evolved in comparison to its Germanic neighbours, ultimately emerging as a separate standardized language in the 17th century. We will also look at how the language is developing today, especially obvious in the borrowings from many other languages and in the innovations that have emerged in "computer mediated communication".
By the end of the module, you will be able to explain how German developed over time to become the language it is today, what the similarities and differences are between German and the other Germanic languages, and you will also be aware of some current developments.
We'll examine three key periods in the history of German-speaking lands:
Drawing on a range of political, theoretical and literary texts alongside visual material, we'll consider the relationship between social and economic developments, gender roles and concepts of masculinity and femininity.
This module gives students the unique opportunity to gain insights into German history covering the Nazi regime (1933-1945), the post-war period, and the time of the GDR and FRG between (1946-1989) by working with previously unexplored German newspaper material and manuscripts from the university’s Manuscripts and Special Collections. In addition, students will gain valuable and sought-after work experience by being introduced by our expert librarian and archivist into key skills in archives, libraries and museums which are transferable to the heritage, tourism and leisure sectors.
Samples of material for this module are (these might be added to or altered): content from two archival collections of personal papers of two German-speaking Jewish expellees from Austria, Dr Bernard Steinitz and Albert Tugendhat, as well as the following special collections of publications: the Newspaper Cuttings Archive of the British Military Government in Berlin, the German School Books Collection, the Magdeburg Public Library Collection, and periodicals such as the women’s magazine Für Dich. For their assessed work, students will work closely with material of their choice, closely analysing its language, form, historical background and situatedness in the political context of the time. Expert guidance in working with the authentic predominantly German material will be given by staff from the Manuscripts and Special Collection and academics from the Department of German Studies. Theoretical texts on German history and politics, autobiographical writing, school education and the role of archives will provide further context for this module.
The module also offers a foundation for further academic engagement and career options, e.g. by providing topics and material for students’ final year dissertation in German, or by increase the employability of students for the year abroad or as graduates in the UK.
This module explores the period of National Socialism in Germany (1933-1945). After an outline of the historical context of this period we will critically view the ideology and politics of the time with particular focus on society and culture.
We will evaluate original sources (in translation) such as posters, speeches, newspapers and films. Theoretical writings on select topics such as propaganda, leader cult, media, childhood, womanhood and 'the other' will assist our critical analysis.
This thematic module examines the social and cultural world of eighteenth century England in the period when it enters the modern world. Areas for consideration include:
This module aims to encourage students to develop a detailed understanding of the major political, social and economic developments in Central Europe between 1848 and 1914. They should become aware of the main historiographical debates concerning the region and the Habsburg Monarchy in particular.
As a result of their historical studies and analytical thinking, students should enhance and develop a range of intellectual and transferable skills.
Discover British foreign policy, from the last years of the Victorian Era to the German invasion of Poland in 1939.
We focus on the policy of British governments, giving an historical analysis of the main developments in their relationship with the wider world. This includes:
We also discuss the wider background factors which influenced British policy, touching on Imperial defence, financial limitations and the influence of public opinion.
This module is worth 20 credits.
This module will survey and analyse how perceptions of law and order, and attitudes to crime and punishment changed in England during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries – ostensibly in response to huge increase in criminal activity. The module will discuss the wider background factors behind these changes, as well as relevant historiographical debates about them. The major topics to be explored include:
The module mixes intellectual, cultural and social history to produce an overview of cultural trends in Britain between c. 1830 and 1901. Key themes include:
This module surveys and analyses social change in Britain during and after the Second World War, up to the end of the Attlee’s Labour government in 1951. Key issues include:
This module covers the history of China from the 1840s, through to the establishment of the People's Republic in 1949. It looks at social, cultural, political and economic developments in this period from a variety of angles and approaches.
The module focuses in particular on the ways in which Chinese society responded to the arrival of 'modernity' in the form of the Western powers and Japan throughout the period in question, but also how different groups in China tried to remould or redefine China as a 'modern' nation-state and society.
The purpose of this module is to examine current debates in the historiography about the end of the European empires in African and the emergence of a new political system of independent states. Topics which will feature particularly strongly are
The module compares and contrasts key historical, legendary and fictional figures to examine the development of western medieval values and ideologies such as monasticism, chivalry and kingship. It explores how individuals shaped ideal types and how they themselves strove to match medieval archetypes. The binary oppositions between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ are explored through study of the ‘bad king’, and the creation of villains such as the Jew. You will spend four hours per week in lectures and seminars.
The module explores the diversity of ways in which Jews and Christians interacted in middle Ages, seeking to offer alternative views to these of Jews as mere victims in a religious struggle or of economic envy. We will study the complex economic interconnections between the two groups, considering the new approaches to the role of Jewish moneylending and international trade and its connections with structures of power in both communities. The module will also investigate crucial ideas on anti- Semitism and anti-Judaism and will look into case studies of intolerance and conflict between Jews and Christians. Themes to study here are the massacres of Jews in the Rhineland during the First Crusade, the persecution of Jews during the Black Death and the construction of Blood libel and ritual murder accusations. The module will also examine the internal life of the Jewish communities of Western Europe looking at communal organisation and leadership. We will consider differences amongst Jewish communities in different locations of the medieval European landscape in their understanding of Jewish Law and tradition, as well as in their own patterns of interaction with the Christian political and religious authorities in different locations. At the same time, we will explore the common cultural and religious characteristics and the creation of extensive national and supranational Jewish networks. Finally, we will evaluate the historiography on the subject and the changing of perspectives on the history of the Jews in Europe, analysing the debates arisen amongst scholars with their own ideologies, methods and approaches.
Later medieval England was a patriarchal society. Women were considered of great importance because of their roles as mothers. However, medieval women were also considered to be more passionate and sexual than men; they were considered wile and guileful and it was thought that they spent much of their time gossiping. Using a wide range of translated medieval sources this course will pose questions about how English women overcame and operated within these stereotypical preconceptions. It will examine women in terms of progression through their life cycle from daughters under the protection of their fathers, to the work available to single women, to married women and the law – mothers under the ‘protection’ of their husbands – and then to widows and the increased opportunities available to these women. In doing so, it will examine a number of aspects of medieval women’s lives from female piety to women and work, medieval attitudes to women and sex and the gendered medieval understanding of power and authority. The course will allow students to recover much of the essence of medieval life. Were later medieval English women merely disadvantaged or were they actively downtrodden within a patriarchal society? Further, it considers the extent to which the foundations of modern gender inequalities were established in the middle ages.
The module offers a knowledge of key developments in the Middle East and North Africa between the collapse of the Ottoman empire and the emergence of a politicised version of Islam. Students should familiarise themselves with the key historical debates surrounding, for example, the relative impact of regional and international factors and begin to work with some primary documentary material relating to political and diplomatic developments. They will also be encouraged to use primary source material from the region and to consider the role which historical events have played in framing current problems in the Middle East and North Africa.
This module examines the myths and legends of the ‘British’ Isles as written about by twentieth-century authors such as JRR Tolkien in Lord of the Rings, the Hobbit, and the Silmarillion, and by CS Lewis in The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe Series.
You will explore the historiography of British myth-making and whether Tolkien and Lewis were retelling, reinventing or fabricating British mythology. Students will also be invited to explore the foundation of British myths known colloquially within the term ‘The Matter of Britain.’
The module will begin with defining the difference between myths, legends and history and explore issues of chivalry, nobility and ethnicity in Arthurian legends. Students will be encouraged to decolonise these myths, re-interpreting whether they are fantasies, or an exoticisation of something else, such as ethnic groups and gendered politics.
Later parts of this module will explore the myth-making and rituals detailed in the extensive works of antiquarian writers.
Have you ever wondered what makes a ‘good’ or ‘bad’ king?
We investigate late medieval kingship, the dynamics of politics and power, and the reasons why royal authority was challenged.
You will examine the history of late-medieval England, from the mid-13th to late-15th century, when a series of political crises rocked the English monarchy.
We focus on the political events of the period, especially the times of crisis when the monarchy faced opposition or even usurpation. This includes:
England didn’t exist in isolation, however. You’ll also explore its relations with Scotland and Wales, considering how English power was imposed on subject populations, and how they resisted. Case studies include Robert Bruce and Own Glyn Dwr.
This module is worth 20 credits.
This module deals with an important, but long neglected, aspect of life in the early medieval West - sexual behaviour and attitudes to human sexuality. Key issues include:
Discover the environmental history of the Western World over the past two centuries. The great nature-people stories that have shaped who we are today.
You will examine the history of environmental ideas and our changing and complex attitudes to animals and nature, alongside the history of human impacts on the environment. We will use the USA, Australia, New Zealand and Great Britain as case studies. Ultimately, we ask, can environmental history save the world in the 21st century?
Topics include:
This module is a must for anyone wanting to pursue a career in the environmental sector.
This module is worth 20 credits
The Cold War was a conflict defined as much by intellectual and cultural struggle as by conventional military means or diplomatic relations. Cultural concepts such as race and identity were by no means immune from this, but heavily disputed and contested during the Cold War era, playing a decisive role in shaping the foreign relations of the United States, Soviet Union and other powers during this transformative period. This module examines how the United States and Soviet Union dealt with issues of race and identity during the Cold War years, confronting racial questions, challenges and liberation movements from both within their own borders (and each other’s) and in several theatres of superpower conflict – including the Middle East, East Asia and post-colonial Africa - and often viewing them through highly racialised lenses. It also considers how other powers - notably Britain, South Africa and newly-independent African and Asian nations - grappled with issues of race and identity as they sought to understand and work within a new, post-colonial Cold War world. This module aims to provide students with a new and deeper understanding of the relationship between the Cold War world and the politics of race, and an appreciation of the interconnectedness of the domestic and international in Cold War-era foreign relations.
This module examines political, social and economic transformations in the Soviet Union from the October Revolution of 1917 to Gorbachev’s attempted reforms and the collapse of the state in 1991. You will look at Russia both from the top down (state-building strategies; leadership and regime change; economic and social policy formulation and implementation) and from the bottom up (societal developments and the changing structures and practices of everyday life). You will usually spend three hours in lectures and seminars each week.
This module explores the nature of the Venetian Republic in the later fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. It examines the constitution, and administrative and judicial system, its imperial and military organisation, but will above all focus on the city and its inhabitants. The module will examine the enormous cultural dynamism of the city (especially the visual arts from the Bellini to Tintoretto and Veronese), changing urban fabric, the role of ritual and ceremony, the position of the Church, and class and gender.
Examine the rise of fascist movements in interwar Europe, following the First World War.
We focus in particular on the cases of Italy and Germany and also look at other cases for comparison (i.e. Spain, Britain, France, and Romania). This in order to understand why certain movements were more popular than others and able to seize power.
We will examine:
We will also analyse the practice of the Fascist and National Socialist governments in power, comparing these with particular reference to repression and attempts to build ‘consent’, gendered policies on ‘race’, and expansion through conquest.
The module ends by considering the Axis and genocide during the Second World War.
This module is worth 20 credits.
In the 1970s and 1980s, momentous economic changes swept through traditional industrial regions across the West, turning proud heartlands into rustbelts in less than a generation. As the lights went out in shipyards, steelworks, coal mines and manufacturing plants, a way of life was destroyed for millions of manual workers and their families, with profound repercussions on identities, communities and urban topographies. This module examines the social and cultural impact of de-industrialisation in the north of England, the German Ruhr basin, and the American Midwest, using a wealth of diverse primary sources, from government records to popular music, to tease out what it meant to live through a period of tumultuous socio-economic change. The module takes thematic approaches, exploring topics including:
This module examines the history of the British Empire from the end of the slave trade in 1833-4 to the Second Anglo-Boer War in 1899-1902. The module is divided into three major geographic and chronological sections. In the first part of the course, we will discuss the British Caribbean, with a particular focus on the transition from slavery and the period of instability in the decades that followed. In the second part, we will focus on India and the changeover from East India Company rule to the direct administration by the British government in the wake of the Indian Mutiny (aka “the Sepoy Rebellion”). In the final section, we will discuss Britain’s participation in the “Scramble for Africa” and the rise of “popular imperialism” with the 2nd Anglo-Boer War. The final, pre-revision class meeting will also discuss the metropolitan aspects of empire, examining London’s status as “the Imperial Metropolis.
This module introduces the history of the British imperial expansion in India from the mid eighteenth century, through to the Rebellion in 1857. It covers:
This module explores the role of the poverty, disease and disability in shaping lives between 1795 and 1930, and how these intersected with ideas of and attitudes to health and welfare. It also examines representations of poverty, disease and disability in museums and on TV.
Themes include:
The module looks at peoples and places in the period c.1150-c.1250 from the perspective of travel. It shifts the focus of Christian/Muslim/Jewish/Mongol interactions from the more traditional medieval narratives of conflict, crusade and conquest, to those of Trade, Pilgrimage, Exploration and Mission. The introductory classes look at medieval travel and what people in the world with the Mediterranean at its centre knew, and thought they knew, about the rest of the World, including far-flung places that only a few people had ever ‘seen’. The lecture and seminar topics include introduce Travel Writing, Monsters, Maps, Crusades, Merchants, Pilgrims, Explorers, Envoys, Missionaries, and Assassins. Examples are drawn from Jewish, Muslim and Christian experience.
Music has always been a constant backdrop to social and political life; but has it not also been much more than a backdrop, instead actively shaping and changing lives and events? This module delves deeper into the role that music has played in key political moments and protests across the last hundred years. Setting a diverse range of musical case studies, from folk, hip-hop and pop, to jazz, musicals and art music, within specific historical contexts—such as fascism, 1968, Thatcherism and the ‘War on Terror’—the module explores the crucial but often overlooked role that music has played at pivotal moments in recent history. Reassessments for this module will consist of a single coursework assessment.
In doing this course you will develop: an understanding of the role that music has played in modern history; an ability to critically discuss a broad range of music within diverse historical contexts; a critical awareness of issues of musical meaning, music in society and cultural history; an ability to handle both musical and historical primary sources in an integrated way.
The Tudor period was one of the most transformative in English history. It began on the battlefield, as Henry VII wrestled the crown from the hands of the much-maligned Richard III, and ended with the death of Elizabeth I, the first queen to successfully rule England without a male counterpart. The intervening period witnessed a break with the papacy that fundamentally altered the religious and political make-up of the realm, and saw royal authority become increasingly absolute under a monarchy who were now also the heads of the church. All this left England a fundamentally different place in 1603 than it had been in 1485. Given the attention the Tudors have received in popular culture, and in the school curriculum, there are few students of English history who know nothing of the period. Thus, this module aims to expand on and challenge this knowledge to bring to life a clearer picture of how monarchy, power and religion operated in sixteenth-century England. Topics include:
1. Introduction to the module and its themes.
2. Henry VII: Forging a Dynasty, 1485-1509.
3. Henry VIII (1): War and Peace, 1509-25.
4. Henry VIII (2): The ‘Great Cause’ and the Break from Rome, 1525-35.
5. Henry VIII (3): The Later years, 1535-47.
6. Edward VI: A Boy for a King, 1547-53.
7. Mary I: England’s Catholic Queen, 1553-58.
8. Elizabeth I (1): The Establishment of a (female) Regime.
9. Elizabeth I (2): A Warrior Queen.
10. Elizabeth I (3): The ‘Second Reign’.
11. Conclusions: Remembering the Tudors.
Why has Germany undergone a process of Denazification while General Franco is still revered by large segments of Spanish society? Why do Portugal’s political elite refuse to engage with the country’s colonial past? Did General Franco single out Catalans for repression after winning the Spanish Civil War? And are Brexiteers (dis)honouring the recent past by establishing parallelisms between resistance to Nazism and Brexit?
This module aims to answer these questions by examining the politicisation of memory and the rise of far-right movements in Europe from a transnational perspective. Students will explore how the past has been manipulated to serve present political purposes by focusing on a number of case studies: the UK, Germany, Spain (including Catalonia), and Portugal. The first three lectures/seminars will familiarise students with relevant theoretical frameworks. Building on this body of knowledge, students will then explore how collective memories of the Second World War have been manipulated to influence the Brexit debate, how a recent narrative of victimhood has emerged in Germany, the reappraisal of General Franco’s regime by Catalan independence movements, the toxic political legacy of Portugal’s difficulty in dealing with its colonial heritage, and Spain’s painful coming to terms with its recent dictatorial past.
This module will has three core aims:
The early modern period witnessed the birth of commodity culture and the transformation of the relationship between people and their material world.
Expanding global trade networks and early colonial encounters brought a range of exotic products into early modern homes, including spices, sugar, tea, tobacco, cotton, porcelain and mahogany, while the rise of capitalism and industrialisation revolutionised the manufacture and availability of necessities and luxuries across the social spectrum.
The richness of this ‘new world of goods’ had profound consequences, transforming patterns of consumption, introducing new understandings of scientific knowledge and cultural production, and reshaping social identities and relationships based on class, gender and race.
This module takes advantage of a sweep of new interdisciplinary perspectives across a range of subject areas, including social, economic and cultural history, archaeology, anthropology and art history, which have focused on the role and significance of early modern ‘things’.
You will gain a grounding of central themes in early modern history, as well as a deeper understanding of the importance of looking at early modern Europe as part of a globalising world. You will explore a range of textual sources including wills and inventories, account books, letters and diaries which tell us about expanding global connections, what people consumed and how they thought about their objects.
This module is worth 20 credits.
Discover the history of people whose lives, bodies and identities cannot be neatly fitted into the categories of ‘male’ or ‘female’ that are predominant in the world today.
The module explores how European imperial expansion impacted societies that were not structured around a binary model of gender. Examples of these societies include the ‘hijra’ in India, ‘fa'afāfine’ in Samoa, and ‘niizh manidoowag’, ‘winkt’ and ‘nàdleehé’ (often referred to collectively as ‘two spirit’) in North America, as well as European people who lived lives outside of the gender binary.
We will focus on the period between 1750 and 1870, offering a contextual overview of the regions under study, their interconnections, and the theoretical and methodological problems of thinking about gender history in global and imperial contexts and in relationship to ideas of sex, sexuality and gender.
This module offers a hemispheric approach to North America by focusing on the history and culture of two significant borderlands regions, the Canada-US border and the Mexico-US border,as well as providing a general introduction to border theory and comparative approaches to the borderlands.
The module adopts a multi- and interdisciplinary approach to the border as a place, culture and concept and moves from the colonial period into the twenty-first century. We will analyse a diverse range of historical, literary and cultural texts (testimony, fiction, poetry,drama, film, television, art, architecture, music and performance) and engage a series of critical debates about the nature of cultural and ethnic encounter, race, nation and empire.
This module examines African American history and culture from slavery to the present through a series of case studies that highlight forms of cultural advocacy and resistance and thus indicate how African Americans have sustained themselves individually and collectively within a racist, yet liberal society. These will illustrate the resilience of African American culture via music, literature, art and material culture. Examples may include the persistence of African elements in slave culture, the emergence of new artistic forms in art, religion and music during the segregation era, and the range and complexity of African American engagement with US public culture since the 1960s across art, literature and popular culture. Weekly topics might include material culture in the Gullah region of South Carolina; or the growth of urban black churches in the North during the period of the Great Migration highlighted by the development of Gospel choirs and radio preaching.
This module introduces students to the conflicting views about business that can be heard echoing through American literature and culture in the last two centuries. These views are evident when literature and culture directly represent the business culture-its executives, managers and employees, or the physical and mental conditions of employment and entrepreneurship; they are also evident in the narrative unconscious of works appreciated for qualities other than their treatment of business. This module aims to try and understand not only what drives American culture's preoccupation with business, but also to study the various strategies used as literature and culture represents what the module calls the discourses of business: the way that business as a theme is written and talked about in the United States by presidents, by social critics, by journalists, and by writers and other cultural producers; the way that the historical accumulation of this collective input has fashioned a set of rules that govern the way successive generations can think about business; the way that specialised and professionalised languages of business become tropes and metaphors to be used outside of a strictly business environment. The module examines these discourses in a variety of representational forms from the mid-nineteenth century through to the present day: shorts stories and novels; newspapers, magazines and illustrations; speeches, autobiographies and memoirs; film and television.
This module surveys the history of American popular music in the 20th century, focusing on the major genres and exploring the artistic, cultural and political issues they raise. In addition to examining the music’s aesthetic qualities genre by genre, the focus will be on key developments within the music industry, on the ways in which commercial and technological changes have influenced the production and consumption of music, and on the ways in which musicians and audiences use pop music to engage with American culture and society. We’ll spend quite a bit of time listening to and analysing music, but you do not need any specialist musical expertise or knowledge to take the module.
American radicals have been dismissed as impractical, wild-eyed, and subversive - even "un-American"- although many of their most visionary aims have been realized. This module will consider these paradoxes, beginning with the American Revolution in the late 18th century. 19th century subjects will include the abolitionists, early feminism, utopian socialism, anarchism, and farmer populism. 20thcentury subjects will include the Socialist Party in the 1910s, the Communist Party and the anti-Stalinist left in the 1930s, opponents of the Cold War, the 1960s New Left, Black Power militancy, and more recent radicalisms, including the gay liberation movement, women's liberation, and resistance to corporate globalisation.
How can we understand the evolution of America's relationship with the wider world? What interests have been behind the execution of American power?
This module offers a critical introduction to understanding America's place in the world. From the war of 1898, to the conflicts of the early 21st century, we examine how America's involvement abroad has changed over time.
Through historical and political analyses of US foreign relations, we will look at the themes that have shaped America's increasing influence in global affairs.
We consider:
We will also explore contemporary trends in the history of US foreign policy, including race, gender, emotions, and religion.
This module is worth 20 credits.
This module will examine the economic and business (and to some extent labour) histories of the United States from the colonial era to the present.
We will ask key questions such as:
Covered topics will include colonial mercantilism, the market revolution, the emergence of factory production, slavery, technological development, banking and finance, mid-twentieth-century regulatory capitalism, and neo-liberalism in recent decades.
The module examines the contribution made by the CIA to US foreign policy from the Cold War to the ‘war on terror’. The course begins by examining the role of a secret intelligence agency in a democratic state and the functions and duties it is given. It considers the origins and purpose of the CIA in the early Cold War and how the role of the CIA evolved subsequently; how different Presidents viewed the Agency; the extent to which intelligence influenced the formation of policy during the Cold War; the successes and failures of covert operations and their wider significance in Cold War strategy; the extent to which the CIA was able to adapt to a post-Soviet world; and finally, the impact that the ‘war on terror’ has had on the CIA.
A single coursework assessment will replace all failed assessment components at the reassessment stage.
Students should acquire knowledge of the place of intelligence services within the bureaucracy of the US government in both historical and contemporary contexts as well as the different functions of the CIA. They should acquire a keen awareness for the ‘covert’ side of policy operations as well as the ‘overt’ and be able to critically evaluate both the covert operations of the CIA and the broader strategy of which they were a part. Through seminar discussions, presentations and essays, students should develop an understanding of the historiography of the CIA and develop their analytical skills as well as enhance their written and oral communication skills.
Combine our in-depth sector knowledge with the Careers and Employability Service skills development experience to get noticed when applying for jobs and during interviews.
From constructing an outstanding CV to practicing graduate level interview skills we'll build on your existing abilities.
You'll also get something concrete to talk about through a multi-week work placement. This will be tailored as far as possible to your subject and career aspirations.
This sort of attention to detail is what makes Nottingham graduates some of the most sought after in the job market.
This module is worth 20 credits.
Subject to you meeting the relevant requirements, your third year will be spent studying at one of our partner institutions.
Please note
In order to undertake a year abroad, you will need to achieve the relevant academic requirements as set by the University and meet the selection criteria of both the University and the partner institution. The partner institution is under no obligation to accept you even if you do meet the relevant criteria. If you do not secure a year abroad opportunity, you will be transferred to the version of the course without the year abroad element, and you will complete all years of study at University of Nottingham, UK.
Important information
Please be aware that study abroad, compulsory year abroad, optional placements/internships and integrated year in industry opportunities may change at any time for a number of reasons, including curriculum developments, changes to arrangements with partner universities or placement/industry hosts, travel restrictions or other circumstances outside of the university’s control. Every effort will be made to update this information as quickly as possible should a change occur.
This advanced module will be your final step towards fluency. We'll continue to improve your four key language skills of reading, listening, writing and speaking through class discussions and the use of relevant texts such as complex newspaper articles, detailed radio and TV programmes and increasingly sophisticated fiction.
You'll also study translation and work towards professional standards giving you a solid grounding for a career or further studies in translation.
Literature uses ancient mythology as a rich source to describe powerful emotions, cunning politics or psychological drama. This module will explore how selected German writers engage with the myth of Medea, the powerful wife of Jason, who - according to the Classical myth - kills the sons she loves to hurt Jason.
We will look at how the myth is used, changed and reinvented in texts written between 1926 and 1998. We will consider theoretical writings on mythology and also look at the the Medea myth in paintings, film, theatre and music.
This module will examine historical, political and philosophical approaches to the concept of national identity between divided and post-unification Germany, concentrating on the changing relationships between the articulation of conventional patriotism and self-critical reflection on National Socialism.
Although Germany only had overseas colonies between 1884 and 1918, German, Austrian and Swiss involvement in European colonial history permeates literature and culture to the present day.
This module uses short novels, stories and poems written between 1800 and the present to look at a range of themes in German postcolonial studies: for example, the exotic fascination with Africa; slavery and Afro-German history; anti-colonialism and nostalgia for Germany’s lost empire; political anti-imperialism and anti-racism; the German writing of African immigrants; and the rise since the 1990s of a critical postcolonial memory of Germany’s often forgotten colonial history.
In this module students learn to devise and develop projects and teaching methods appropriate to engage the age and ability group they are working with. The module enables students to gain confidence in communicating their subject, develop strong organisational and interpersonal skills, and to understand how to address the needs of individuals.
This module looks at how German-language theatre has responded to the challenge of new forms of media. We will draw on theoretical writings on the theatre and will reflect on such issues as agency and identity, the nature of historical material, the status of the audience and the challenge of new technologies. We will read five formally innovative plays from 1927 to 2000 - one called ‘Offending the Audience’, another in which 10,000 feet of film footage were used in the premiere, one a harrowing portrayal of the events of Holocaust, and one a reality TV-style live soap opera, put on over seven weeks in its premiere.
This module examines the problems inherent in translating source-culturally significant materials. Cultural transfer is considered in both directions (English-German and German-English).
The module focuses on two areas of cultural transfer: in literature and in TV and film scripts. The module is assessed in English.
This module involves in-depth study of a topic in German Studies, and will normally relate to a second year German module. Teaching will consist of regular individual consultations with a designated tutor. Possible topics could include linguistics (e.g. the use of Anglicisms in German), German cinema, German history, theatre, literature, gender studies, Heimat. The dissertation may be 10 or 20 credits, depending on what is most appropriate for the student’s individual programme of study. A 10 credit dissertation is 4,000 words in length, and a 20 credit dissertation is 7,000 words. Dissertations may be written in English or in German.
In the early 20th century, Russia embarked on one of the most momentous experiments in history – to transform not only global political structures and social relations, but human nature itself.
Fundamental to the revolutionary project was the creation of a new culture, which would construct and promote new visions of the desired present and ideal future. Through culture, individuals would learn to think of themselves, their relations with others, and their relations with the world in new ways.
On this module, you will:
Through grappling with these sources, you will discover new ways of understanding how culture and politics interact and shape one another. This is a vital skill for engaging critically with political and media discourses in the current age of ‘fake news’ and ‘virtual reality’.
This module is aimed at anyone interested in modern Russian history, in the significance of culture in political change, and the role of politics in constructing culture.
This module is worth 40 credits.
This module will focus on the histories of labour and capital and will explain how these two histories have shaped the modern world, particularly South Asia. It will approach a given topic from a global angle and then will illustrate it through specific western and non-western examples. It covers the following themes:
This module surveys and analyses political, religious, social, cultural and military changes during the civil wars fought across the British Isles and the British Atlantic between 1639 and 1652. The major topics to be explored include:
This module is an examination of the links between sexuality, intimate life, identity, politics, society, power and the state in Britain since 1900. It also examines the theoretical approaches to the study of sexuality and analyse sexuality as a category of historical analysis.
Key themes include
Module convener: Dr Harry Cocks
International history is dominated by wars; historians and international relations scholars focus with an almost obsessive zeal on the causes and consequences of conflict. The intermittent periods of peace are rarely scrutinised, other than to assess the imperfections of peace treaties and thus extrapolate the seeds of future wars. This module offers a corrective to this tendency, taking as its focus the multifarious efforts that have been made since 1815 to substitute peace for war. These include diplomatic efforts (e.g. post-war conferences, legalistic mechanisms such as the UN, arms control protocols, etc.), and those advanced by non-state actors (e.g. national and transnational peace movements, anti-war protests, etc.). Taking a broad definition of the term peace , and focusing predominantly (though not exclusively) on Britain, this module revisits some of the pivotal episodes of the 19th and 20th centuries, exposing and interrogating the often complex relationship between war and peace that emerged, and thus arriving at an alternative history of the period.
In a series of weekly seminars this module takes a critical look at the historical construction and ascendance of the Empire Windrush, and the Windrush Generation, to national prominence in the UK, deconstructing the largely mythological narrative that currently persists around this symbolic historical epoch of Black arrival in Britain in 1948. Focused largely on four significant moments of invention from 1948 to the present, the aim of the module is to equip students with a much broader view of the British Empire that brings into focus a complex and long historical picture of encounter, inbound and outbound migration preceding and in this postwar moment, as well as the conflict and civil disobedience that is obscured by the somewhat quaint story of arrival captured in the Windrush narrative.
Students will interrogate and evaluate a range of primary historical sources from the archive, including a range of oral histories, as well as the historiographical debates surrounding the Windrush in order to understand how national histories are constructed and the purposes they serve. A range of digital assets and digital history skills and methodologies will be embedded across the module – giving students the opportunity to develop their own digital archive related to the historical themes of the module.
The discovery of the Staffordshire Hoard forced historians to re-evaluate Early Medieval England and ask new questions about this crucial formative stage of history. The items discovered are almost exclusively connected to warfare, yet many show evidence of very high levels of craftsmanship, reflecting the fact that this period was one characterised by brutal and relentless fighting whilst at the same time maintaining an extraordinarily rich culture.
The history of this era of conversions, conflicts and cultural renaissances is documented primarily by Bede (c. 673-735), whose career at the monastery at Wearmouth and Jarrow culminated with the production of the first synthetic history of the English (the Ecclesiastical History of the English People). Bede’s writings are complemented by copious archaeological evidence, most famously through artefacts such as the Franks Casket and Sutton Hoo Helmet, monumental stone crosses at Ruthwell and Bewcastle, and fabulous manuscripts like the Lindisfarne, and Lichfield Gospels. Students will utilise these sources, plus a wide variety of other items of textual and non-textual evidence to explore the cultures of the early English kingdoms.
The first semester will focus on the era of conversion documented in the Ecclesiastical History, and the second will consist of a detailed analysis of Bede’s wider body of work. Finally, students will critically evaluate the terminology attached to this period and familiarise themselves with recent debates about the term ‘Anglo-Saxon’.
This module explores religious ‘faith’ in England from c. 1215 to the beginning of the Reformation in 1534.
The English church made great efforts in this period to consolidate Christianity amongst the masses through wide-reaching programmes of instruction, regulation and devotion. However, historians disagree as to how successful the church was in its efforts.
The module investigates the relationship between ‘official’ and ‘unofficial’ religion and examines how the church sought to maintain its authority in matters of faith. It asks how people responded and the degree to which they fashioned their own religious practices and beliefs. It also considers the violent repression by church and crown of those deemed ‘heretics’.
It looks at the condemned teachings of the Oxford academic John Wycliffe and the significance of those who followed his ideas, known as Lollards.
Module convener: Dr Rob Lutton
In 1348 the Black Death arrived in England. By 1350 the disease had killed half of the English population. The module concentrates upon the stories of the epidemics' survivors and what they did to adapt to a world turned upside down by plague. It examines the impact of this unprecedented human disaster upon the society and culture of England between 1348 and 1520. It examines four particular groups of survivors:
The module explores English society through translated medieval sources. Themes include:
Once dismissed as the “Me Decade” (Tom Wolfe), or a time when “it seemed like nothing happened” (Peter Carroll), the 1970s have enjoyed something of a renaissance in recent American historical scholarship. This module introduces students to the narratives of crisis and decline that defined the 1970s and which helped make the decade such a transformative period in American life - recasting the United States and its society, politics and culture in significant and far-reaching ways - whilst encouraging students to think critically about those narratives and their utility for subsequent processes of political, socio-economic and cultural change. We will explore developments such as the growth of identity politics and the cult of the individual, debates over American foreign policy abroad and social policy at home, the rise of populist conservatism, the market and neo-liberalism, anxieties over the city, the environment and the political system, and a broader political and cultural power shift from Rustbelt to Sunbelt, as we seek to understand why the 1970s are now regarded as the decade “that brought us modern life - for better or worse” (David Frum).
In the historiography, the 1970s and 1980s are often referred to as a ‘landslide’ (E. Hobsbawm) or a ‘time of troubles’ (A. Marwick) for the West, which, it is argued, followed upon the ‘Golden Age’ of material affluence and cultural liberalisation that characterised the post-war period. At the same time, historical scholarship is only just beginning to make inroads into a field that has been extensively documented by cultural critics, the media and the social sciences. The module will engage critically with the dominant conceptualisation of the 1970s and 1980s as crisis decades and ask about the contribution that Contemporary History can make to our understanding of the period. It focuses on the UK and W-Germany as case studies, but will also look at developments in the West more broadly, exploring economic, social and cultural change as well as continuity. It takes thematic approaches, analysing topics including:
The module explores the cultural transformations in Britain brought on by the shift to a Fordist economy (roughly covering the period 1920-50), and the social and cultural contestations that resulted. It takes chronological and thematic approaches, and topics may include:
The need to infuse the present moment with apocalyptic meaning is an important theme in the history of ideas. Concerns about the day of judgement, Antichrist, the millennium and the end of time have a significant impact upon many different individuals and societies throughout history, finding expression in literature, architecture and a wide variety of artistic media. In some cases, apocalyptic anxiety directly influenced the actions of kings, emperors, ecclesiastical leaders and religious communities. Students will uncover systems of belief about the end of history and trace the impact of such traditions upon states, societies and religious institutions.
The module looks at the history of modern Italy (19th-21 century) from a transnational framework in order to illuminate different facets of the connections between Italy and the wider world. The module makes use of the methodological innovations of a transnational approach to put emphasis on movement, interaction, connections and exchange. It examines key moments and developments in the history of modern Italy by addressing the connections and circulations (of ideas, people, and goods) that cross borders.
Both Scotland and Ireland were neighbours to the medieval ‘superpower’ that was England, which throughout this period was not only economically more powerful than either Scotland or Ireland, but which was politically and militarily aggressive towards its neighbours.
This module will address how Scotland and Ireland fared with their troublesome neighbour. How Scotland and Ireland responded to English aggression will offer students the opportunity to explore and engage with the contrasting outcomes for both countries.
This module explores lesbian, gay, transgender and queer writing, focusing especially on the search for agency and the representation of gender and sexuality in selected contemporary texts. The majority of writers studied will be Canadian, although some American examples will also be included. The module is multi-generic, engaging with forms including novels, short fiction, life writing, poetry, drama and graphic narratives. Topics for discussion will include:
Representative authors for study may include James Baldwin, Jane Rule, Dionne Brand, Dorothy Allison, Shyam Selvadurai, Tomson Highway, Leslie Feinberg, and Ivan Coyote.
Typically this special subject module surveys and analyses social and cultural change in the West during the `long Sixties' from the late 1950s to the mid-1970s.
Key issues include:
The first half of the module is an in-depth chronological survey of the domestic history of England from the Good Parliament of 1376 to the deposition of Richard II in 1399. We will investigate how the royal family and their friends - a colourful and sometimes scandalous group - struggled to rule the country with the aid of such government instruments as show trials, intimidation, legal advice, murder and poll-taxes.
The remaining part of the module considers England's relations with its neighbours and the impact of Lollardy on society and the Church in this period.
This module surveys and analyses Russia’s development between the 1905 revolution and the end of the civil war in 1921.
The module focuses on key features of this period, including:
Themes include:
Module convener: Dr Sarah Badcock
Students will be introduced to the role and functioning of the British in the Atlantic slave trade in the early-modern period. The module will cover aspects such as the importance of the slave trade to the British economy, the functioning of the slave trade in Africa itself and around the Atlantic, the 'West India Interest', abolition of the slave trade in 1807, and memorialisation of the trade today. Please note that this module does not deal with slavery.
This module charts the development of the British slave trade throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries to its official end in 1807. Students should have some understanding of the key historiographical debates surrounding the slave trade and abolition and some of its long-term consequences, and through this to develop the intellectual and transferable skills outlined below.
This module investigates the development of politics and society in the crucial period leading up to WWI. In general, it was an era of liberal dominance in Europe s political landscape, though this can be disputed. The main focus will be the rise and fall of liberal politics across Europe in the period 1848-1914. A major theme will be the interaction between ideas and actions. Particular attention will be devoted to the intellectual foundations of European politics, the legacy of the 1848 revolutions, the drafting of constitutions, bills of rights and a suitable legal framework, the difficulty in building a liberal nation-state, the place of religion in society, the rising power of nationalism and the concrete reforms introduced throughout the period. The emphasis will be on how politics functioned in practice, within its own context, taking into account the possibilities and strictures of the time. Extensive use will be made of original source materials and comparative analysis will also be encouraged.
The purpose of this module is to encourage students to develop a detailed knowledge of primary evidence and recent historical debates in the Thirty- Years’War addressed at three levels: as a war of religion, as a clash of interests between the imperial crown and German territorial princes, and as a human catastrophe of monumental proportions. Although its drama unfolded primarily in the territory of the Holy Roman Empire, the war drew in such diverse participants as Britain, France, Denmark, Sweden and Spain. In pursuit of self-seeking political goals, they formed unlikely alliances and created obstacles to the conflict’s resolution. However, the outcome of the war was to ensure the survival of Protestantism in Central Europe as well as to provide a stable political and religious status quo that lasted into the modern age. The module discusses the Thirty Years’War by drawing on various historiographical traditions that represent the views of major international players.
The module will engage with the social and political changes that took place in 1980s Britain. It will be concerned with the following themes:
This module will investigate the lives and ideas of early to mid-20th century critics of British imperialism. The emphasis will be on critiques that emerged from outside the British isles, with a focus on four regions in particular: the Caribbean, East Africa, the Middle East and India. However, there will also be some investigation of the connections between anti-colonial activism in the British Isles and beyond.
More specific topics include:
With regard to methodology, particular priority will be accorded to primary source material, including philosophical writings, articles, campaigning pamphlets, letters, diaries and memoirs of anticolonial activists.
This module focuses on the impact of colonialism and its aftermath on North Africa, identifying how the societies from the region were affected by and how they reacted to European control and what sort of states and societies they sought to establish in the aftermath of colonialism. Emphasis will be given to political developments, but the cultural, economic and social dimensions of the period will also be examined.
The module will begin with an exploration of the theme of resistance. Here, key ideas in the colonial politics of the region will be examined, typically including topics such as nationalism, economic exploitation, conflict, and the impact of external actors.
The second theme to investigate is that of decolonisation. Two case studies will be highlighted: the Suez Crisis and the Algerian War of Independence. Key ideas to explore are British and French policy in North Africa in the post-war period, Anglo-Egyptian/ French-Algerian negotiations, the growth of Arab nationalism, nationalisation and the impact of American policy. The broader impact of Suez and the Algerian War in the West and the wider world will also be considered.
The module will conclude with a discussion of the theme of state-building and its implication for analysis of the politics of the region. The focus will be on the question of what sort of states and societies the new independent countries of North Africa sought to establish in the aftermath of colonialism.
The aim of the module is to explore key events that have shaped the colonial and post-colonial history of North Africa in the 20th century, such as the Suez Crisis, but the module will also offer an opportunity to analyse how narratives of foreign policy and international history are constructed from primary source material. It will make use of memoirs, autobiographies, diaries and government records, as well as some cultural items such as novels, poetry, films, songs, posters, newsreels and cartoons, to achieve this objective. Additionally, students will be encouraged to consider the wider historiographical debates and develop their own based on their reading of primary and secondary material. The broad aim is to offer a rich sense of the specific context in which resistance, decolonisation, and state-building took place at particular times and in particular locations in North Africa.
This module assesses the development of the Russian peasantry in the period 1825 to 1932, within the broader context of comparative literature on the peasantry. This period encompasses events from the revolt of the Decembrists, and the emancipation of the serfs, through revolution to Lenin's years in power.
Key themes for the module include:
You will gain:
Once dismissed as the “Me Decade” (Tom Wolfe), or a time when “it seemed like nothing happened” (Peter Carroll), the 1970s have enjoyed something of a renaissance in recent American historical scholarship. This module introduces students to the narratives of crisis and decline that defined the 1970s and which helped make the decade such a transformative period in American life - recasting the United States and its society, politics and culture in significant and far-reaching ways - whilst encouraging students to think critically about those narratives and their utility for subsequent processes of political, socio-economic and cultural change. We will explore developments such as the growth of identity politics and the cult of the individual, debates over American foreign policy abroad and social policy at home, the rise of populist conservatism, the market and neo-liberalism, anxieties over the city, the environment and the political system, and a broader political and cultural power shift from Rustbelt to Sunbelt, as we seek to understand why the 1970s are now regarded as the decade “that brought us modern life - for better or worse” (David Frum).
This module introduces students to the social and cultural history of drugs, principally in terms of how they were promoted and received within the West, referring mostly to the period since 1900.
It examines not only certain key developments within the history of mainstream pharmacology, but also at the way (now) illegal narcotics originally entered the market place, often as medicines. It focuses upon the way polarised cultural opinions about drugs evolved, with attention particularly paid to the contingencies of geographical location and historical period.
Seminars introduce drug therapies and the controversies surrounding them, with the aim of highlighting wider social interests— including the power of the state, drug companies, religious organisations and the influence of public opinion.
In this module, you’ll explore the basic narrative of Italy’s involvement in international relations and military conflict from 1922, but especially during the Second World War.
Using a range of sources, you will understand, assess and evaluate competing historical interpretations of the experiences of Italians during the Second World War. You will use this critical analysis to form your own independent judgement of this period.
We also look at how popular culture, such as novels and films, has impacted engagement with history and shaped our view of the past.
This is a discipline-bridging cross-campus module, involving colleagues from across the School of Humanities.
The Silk Road will be presented as a range of archaeological, historical and scientific themes. Broad cultural themes will be balanced with the presentation of specific case studies, such as:
Scientific techniques for the analysis of materials, and their role in the interpretation of trade and exchange along the Silk Roads, will also be considered. This could be between, for example, China, central Asia, Scandinavia and the Middle East.
This module is worth 20 credits.
This module introduces map-making for the Arts and Humanities. You will be introduced to the field of spatial humanities and will learn how to carry out spatial analyses of humanities datasets and present their findings to a high standard.
You’ll be introduced to the key principles of spatial analysis and digital cartography using open-source Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software. We will also explore the broad and exciting applications of spatial analysis.
We will also work with you to help you understand the role of GIS in digital humanities, the role of this in research and practice more widely, and the employability value of GIS as a skill.
This module provides an in-depth introduction to recent debates in the career and thought of Martin Luther (1483–1546), commonly credited as the ‘father of the Reformation’ in Europe.
It focuses on the evolution of Luther from an exemplary monk and loyal son of the Roman Catholic Church to a rebel, shaker of foundations, and the man ultimately responsible for the split of Western Christendom into a number of confessionalised churches from the sixteenth century onward.
We will cover issues such as the system of Catholic religious belief, the structure of ecclesiastical authority in the Roman Church, and political affairs in sixteenth-century Germany.
This module is worth 20 credits.
In the two decades after the First World War, two modern western European countries, Italy and Germany, were transformed from liberal, parliamentary democracies into fascist dictatorships. Historians have offered detailed accounts of the political machinations that made this transition possible. Yet recent historical research has been led by different questions: what reconciled so many ‘ordinary people’ to the anti-democratic, illiberal and increasingly murderous policies upon which these regimes embarked? This course explores how fascism transformed ordinary life, and how culture was employed to translate fascist ideas into lived experience.
This module focuses on China from the founding of the People's Republic through the pre-reform era (1949-1978), examining how China was organized and governed as well as changes in rural and urban society, the family, the economy and the Chinese workplace under the socialist period (1949-1978). Major topics covered include:
Europe’s twentieth century, infamous for war, displacement, and genocide, was also an era of unprecedented humanitarian response interlinking Europe and the wider world. This module will offer a new perspective on modern European history by presenting the globalisation of Europe through a humanitarian lens, thereby enabling students to understand shifting borders, far-ranging diasporas, and the impact of seemingly small and isolated incidents on the world. The module’s lectures will provide context to global events and the creation of agencies, while the seminars will focus on a range of case studies that are both within Europe and tie Europe through humanitarian responses to the wider world. Themes of nationalism and identity, alongside ethnic cleansing and displacement run throughout the module and will emphasise how they in turn lead to wider global changes, such as the shift from philanthropy to organised care (and paternalism), to ideas about ‘population control’ and citizenship. Using a plethora of primary materials from welfare workers and refugees, alongside newspapers, cartoons, propaganda posters, newsreels, and oral histories, students will encounter a multitude of actors and voices across twentieth-century Europe while also questioning the absence of others in the historical record. Potential topics may include the Armenian genocide, the Holocaust, the establishment of Save the Children and UN relief organisations, and humanitarian responses to Poland’s Solidarity movement and the 1995 Srebrenica Massacre.
Explore US foreign policy in the post-Cold War period.
You will examine the historical narratives of American international relations, considering the drivers behind the foreign policies of Presidents George H W Bush, Bill Clinton, George W Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump.
More specifically, we will consider:
You'll spend around three hours per week in lectures and seminars on this module.
This module is worth 20 credits.
This module examines the role played by American popular music in countercultural movements. We focus on the ways in which marginalised, subordinate or dissenting social groups have used popular music as a vehicle for self-definition and for re-negotiating their relationship to the social, economic and cultural mainstream. We explore how the mainstream has responded to music countercultures in ways that range from repression to co-optation and analyse how the music and the movements have been represented and reflected on in fiction, film, poetry, journalism and theory. Among the key moments examined are the folk revival and the 1930s Popular Front, rock 'n' roll and desegregation in the 1950s, rock music and the 1960s counterculture, and postmodernism and identity politics in the music of the MTV age.
From the Puritans to Playboy, sexuality has been a focal point in the culture, politics, and society of the United States. This module will examine Americans' differing attitudes over time toward sexuality. Representative topics covered may include marriage and adultery, homosexuality and heterosexuality, nudity, abortion, birth control, prostitution, free love, and rape.
This module examines Britain in the later-Roman Empire. It is a fascinating period of prosperity, integration, and sophistication. Yet it is also marked by rebellion, civil war, and the sundering of the links that had bound Britain to the continent so deeply for so long.
We will cover from the crisis that marked the middle years of the 3rd century, to the disappearance of Roman power in the early 5th, and the rapid economic collapse and social transformation that followed.
You will take an interdisciplinary approach, combining archaeological and historical evidence, and will be expected to familiarise yourself with a wide range of evidence.
We will examine:
You will also consider the integration of different types of source material, thinking about Britain’s place in the wider world in a broader context.
This module is worth 20 credits.
This module will challenge students to critically engage with the period that Henry Luce referred to as the “American Century”. It will cover a range of case studies between Luce’s injunction and the subsequent US entry into World War Two in 1941 and the recent twin-crises marked by the 2008 Great Recession and the Covid-19 global pandemic. In doing so, it will prompt students to consider both the projection of American power on a global scale after 1941 and the considerable challenges that this project faced. Incorporating a series of focused case studies and reflections on the wider contexts relating to them, it will give students first-hand experience of weighing up the practical challenges US policymakers faced and the way that historians have subsequently assessed their efforts and understood their actions.
The aim of this module is to teach practical skills in media engagement and management through lectures and workshops, running in parallel with examining how archaeological data are used in media narratives through seminars.
The seminars will use a case study approach and staff will draw on their own experience with different forms of media, such as TV, radio, podcasts, print and social media.
In the media engagement sessions we will teach skills such as: identifying a story, writing press releases, the importance of meaningful images, running a press conference, interviewing/ being interviewed, and writing article copy. We will also consider the differences between print and social media, and the importance of being succinct – a key skill!
Students will be able to choose the topic that they work on for their assessment, but all will engage in the in-class exercises. These will include scenarios such as being journalists at a press conference, and needing to write up the story that comes out of it. They will then submit these as part of their portfolio.
20 credits in the Spring semester.
When you begin studying at university, you will probably find that you cover material much more quickly than you did while studying for your A levels. The key to success is preparing well for classes and then taking the ideas you encounter further in your own time.
Lectures – provide an overview of what you are studying, using a variety of audio and visual materials to support your learning.
Seminars and workshops – give you the chance to explore and interact with the material presented in lectures in a friendly and informal environment. You will be taught in a smaller group of students, with discussion focusing on a text or topic you've previously prepared.
Workshops are more practical, perhaps through exploring texts, working with digital materials, or developing presentations.
Tutorials – individual and small-group tutorials let you explore your work with your module tutor, perhaps discussing plans for an essay or presentation, or following up on an area of a module which has interested you.
eLearning – our virtual-learning system, Moodle, offers 24-hour access to teaching materials and resources.
All new undergraduate students can opt into our peer mentoring scheme. Your peer mentor will help you settle into life at Nottingham, provide advice on the transition to university-level study and help you access support if needed.
The majority of the language teaching you will experience on this degree will be led by native speakers.
Class sizes vary depending on topic and type. A weekly lecture on a core module may have 50-60 students attending while a specialised seminar may only contain 10 students.
Our staff know that studying complex subjects can sometimes seem challenging (they've all been where you are!). Their contributions to high quality teaching and learning are recognised through our annual Lord Dearing Awards. View the full list of recipients.
You will be assessed by a wide variety of methods, consisting mainly of coursework and exams, but you may also be tasked with commentaries, dissertations, group work, in-class tests, portfolios and presentations.
Each module has its own methods of assessment and we strive to make these as varied as possible so that everyone can perform to the best of their abilities. When choosing optional modules, you will be able to see how the module is assessed in advance.
As well as scheduled teaching you’ll carry out extensive independent reading and research. A typical 20 credit module involves between three and four hours of lectures and seminars per week. You would ideally spend 8-10 hours doing preparation work.
Class sizes vary depending on topic and type. A weekly lecture on a core module may have 50-60 students attending while a specialised seminar may only contain 10 students.
Studying languages can open up a world of opportunities. From banking to charities and from teaching to MI5, businesses and organisations across the globe seek to employ language specialists.
During this degree you’ll be able to choose from a wide range of modules, allowing you to tailor your studies around personal interests. In doing so you’ll start to identify potential career paths and begin to discover your areas of professional interest.
In addition to language skills, you’ll develop transferable skills highly sought after by employers such as confident communication skills, strict attention to detail and the ability to work within different cultures and organisational styles.
Combining language studies with history will help you develop critical reasoning skills, becoming an innovative problem solver able to communicate effectively.
Find out more about careers of Modern Language students
78.8% of undergraduates from the Faculty of Arts secured graduate level employment or further study within 15 months of graduation. The average annual starting salary for these graduates was £23,974.
HESA Graduate Outcomes (2017 to 2021 cohorts). The Graduate Outcomes % is calculated using The Guardian University Guide methodology. The average annual salary is based on graduates working full-time within the UK.
Studying for a degree at the University of Nottingham will provide you with the type of skills and experiences that will prove invaluable in any career, whichever direction you decide to take.
Throughout your time with us, our Careers and Employability Service can work with you to improve your employability skills even further; assisting with job or course applications, searching for appropriate work experience placements and hosting events to bring you closer to a wide range of prospective employers.
Have a look at our careers page for an overview of all the employability support and opportunities that we provide to current students.
The University of Nottingham is consistently named as one of the most targeted universities by Britain’s leading graduate employers (Ranked in the top ten in The Graduate Market in 2013-2020, High Fliers Research).
University Park Campus covers 300 acres, with green spaces, wildlife, period buildings and modern facilities. It is one of the UK's most beautiful and sustainable campuses, winning a national Green Flag award every year since 2003.
My [language] studies have helped me to develop excellent communication skills, as well as helping me to hone my reading, writing, listening and speaking skills for both my target languages. I have also become a much more resilient learner, being able to persevere when things start to get tough and independently solve issues where possible.
Charlotte Allwood
French and Contemporary Chinese Studies BA
Faculty of Arts
4 years full-time
Qualification
BA Hons
Entry requirements
ABB
UCAS code
R220
Faculty of Arts
5 years full-time
Qualification
BA Hons
Entry requirements
BCC
UCAS code
R22F
Faculty of Arts
3 years full-time
Qualification
BA Hons
Entry requirements
AAB
UCAS code
V100
Faculty of Social Sciences
4 years full-time
Qualification
BA Hons
Entry requirements
A*AA
UCAS code
L1R2
Our webpages contain detailed information about all processes in your student journey. Check them out alongside our student enquiry centre to find the information you need. If you’re still struggling, head to our help page where you can find details of how to contact us in-person and online.