Thank you for your interest in our new History Joint Honours Degree Programmes that have been introduced in October 2009.
The information on the University Online Catalogue and on the University undergraduate Prospectus outlines some key features of the History component of these programmes: we cover Modern and Contemporary History; we offer many varieties of doing history; and students have the opportunity of combining History with a foreign language.
Please also check History’s Modular Structure, which includes Modules in History. Please also watch our History Video on YouTube!
And finally, take a look the Indicative Reading List of First Year Modules.
Professor Chris Szejnmann
Year One introduces students to basic skills and ideas in a “What is History?” course. There will also be survey courses on the history of Modern Europe and the World. In Year Two students can choose specialised modules that reflect the research specialism of staff. There will also be a course focusing on new approaches to researching, teaching and learning history. Year Three will offer optional modules based on primary documents as well as the opportunity to write a dissertation.
Information about the non-history side Programmes is available on the University’s Online UG Prospectus. For Politics and International Relations see the programmes offered by the Dept. of Politics, History and International Relations (PHIR); for English see the existing Joint Honours Degree in English & Sport Science; and for Geography see Geography modules on the Single, Joint and Combined Honours programmes.
A unique feature of these new History Programmes will be the opportunity to take credited language options in German, French or Spanish as well as Mandarin as part of History. The Dept. of Politics, History and International Relations runs the University’s Learning Resource Centre and has a long tradition of language teaching. Whilst most History departments in the UK have dropped language components, we think that the option of studying a foreign language has great benefits. Students will be able to read primary sources in a foreign language and might benefit if they want to go on to postgraduate study; students will acquire a better understanding and appreciation of foreign cultures; and finally, language skills are a great asset in the eyes of employers.
Even if you are not studying a foreign language as part of your degree, we are trying to make it possible that you have the option to spend one semester at a University abroad. We are trying to organise exchanges with Universities that offer comparable History, Politics, International Relations or English programmes taught in English.
*Please note that this does not apply for History & Geography
The expertise of History is built around the teaching and interests of a core team of specially appointed staff: A leading expert on the history of Modern Germany, especially Nazism and the Holocaust, Chris Szejnmann was appointed Professor of Modern History in 2008. He was soon joined by Dr Marcus Collins, who took up a Lectureship in Modern British History. Dr Collins researches permissiveness, national identity, gender, sexuality, historiography and the experience of modernity in twentieth-century Britain. Dr Siobhan Lambert-Hurley joined us from Nottingham Trent University to take up a Lectureship in Modern History in September 2009. Dr Lambert-Hurley’s main areas of research are the history of women, gender and Islam in modern South Asia. Dr Thoralf Klein, who was hired in 2010, specializes in the history of Modern China, focusing especially on China’s interactions with the world at large and on Chinese religions. In summer 2011 we will appoint another Lectureship in Modern History.
In their teaching and research, the core team are joined by other faculty from the Department as well as research staff to cover a wide range of regions and topics. For an overview of existing expertise, please click here.
The launch of these History Programmes has been backed up by substantial investments in library resources, including the acquisition of substantial primary source collections, online collections/databases, subscriptions for e-journal collections, and relevant history journals.
All staff teaching on the programme are experienced University teachers who are experts in their fields with major publications to their names. Teaching is research-led and based on a variety of methods for effective delivery. We are serious about teaching innovation and explore a range of e-learning opportunities to enhance student engagement, assessment and feedback to students (Audience Response System, Lecture Capturing, Video Presentations and Feedback, Podcasts, History Timeline).
The teaching of History offers a number of distinctive features: “What is History?” in Year 1 follows “Introduction to Academic Studies” and provides a challenging introduction to the subject. “History for the 21st Century” in Year 2 is an original attempt to engage with and to rethink the meaning and purpose of history in the rapidly changing society we live in. The Primary Source Options in Year 3 allow Joint Honours students to engage with the subject in a way that is normally reserved for single honour students. The joint-honours programme provides students with an opportunity to acquire or develop foreign language skills and/or the possibility of studying abroad in an English-language partner institution (this does not apply for History & Geography).
I hope you agree that we are creating extremely exciting and challenging History Programmes!
Please do not hesitate to contact me with any further queries at C.W.Szejnmann@lboro.ac.uk, or ring the departmental office at 01509 222991.
Best wishes, Chris Szejnmann
Professor of History, Dept. of Politics, History and International Relations
University of Loughborough
|
