King's College London

History BA at King’s is taught by one of the biggest history departments in the UK, with expertise covering every continent and all time periods since 300 AD. Our diverse syllabus and wide range of optional modules give you the freedom to shape your history degree to suit your passions and interests.

You will gain an in-depth understanding of societies ranging from medieval Europe and the Middle East to contemporary Latin America. In your final year, you'll write a dissertation, where you will answer your own research question by delving into primary sources and giving a fresh perspective on a moment in history.

The course gives you a foundational understanding of world history and equips you with the transferrable skills and resources required to analyse and communicate, conduct your own research as a historian, and prepare yourself for work and life beyond university.

Throughout this degree in History, you will study people and places from across the world over the last 1800 years and develop critical and independent thinking skills. You’ll graduate with a highly sophisticated understanding of the world we live in now and with a set of advanced analytical and communication skills that present excellent career prospects.

The depth and breadth of expertise within the history department means that you’ll get to study all time periods from 300 AD until the present.

The first year of your BA History will give you a core foundational understanding of the history of the world. You’ll start thinking thematically about the big issues of world history during each time period, such as state formation, industrialisation, and revolution, and differences between various societies. You’ll research these by considering the most significant transformations that occurred and exploring the major forces of the time.

You’ll begin your studies by exploring the medieval world with an innovative module that takes a comparative approach to a wide range of topics. The curriculum uses diverse perspectives to incorporate previously neglected histories from across the world into a new mainstream understanding of the medieval world. Looking beyond elitist Western histories, this module looks at topics such as large-scale population movements and the transformation from big state structures to small state successors in the medieval period.

The History BA covers the early modern era of 1500 - 1800 through the prism of four key themes: migration, trade and empire; states, power and religion; lives; and knowledge and culture. You will explore topics such as transatlantic slavery, sex and gender, the development of the modern state, and the enlightenments.

You will also learn about the making of the modern world, with one module covering 1780 - 1900 and another that focuses on 1900 to the present. You’ll study the idea of modernity while considering themes that include war and empire, the material world, politics and revolution, and societies and cultures.

The global sweep of the BA History will equip you with transferable skills that include analysis, communication, presentation, teamwork, collaboration, discussion, understanding, leadership, empathy, and more.

The second year of your degree in history comprises two required modules on history and memory, which ask you to think about the place of history in the present. This part of the history course will see you head out into London to reflect on history in public spaces. For example, you could visit Soho while you reflect on the history of queer London, head to Windrush Square as you think about migration, or visit any number of the capital’s cultural institutions that will be on your doorstep.

For the rest of your second year, you’ll have the freedom to carve your own pathway by choosing to study particular themes, regions, or time ranges. You’ll get to choose one 30-credit module asking you to focus on a region, from the United States to South Asia, The Middle East, Latin America and beyond.

You’ll also choose four optional modules from a varied shortlist that is likely to cover topics such as the medieval Mongols and Turks, the US-Mexico borderlands, imperial Britain, globalisation, and beyond.

The final year of your BA History challenges you to think more deeply and broadly about historical developments. You’ll elect to study a specialised topic through primary source materials and write your research dissertation on a related theme. For example, you may choose topics such as Romans and Barbarians, Caribbean intellectual history, the history of feminism and women’s political thought, the experience of power in Nigeria, democracy and dictatorship in Latin America, and British imperial policy and decolonisation, amongst many others.

You will also enhance your comparative and theoretical perspectives by taking a thematic special subject. The list of options may include themes such as crime and punishment, media, rights, war, nations, bodies, God, and wealth.

While studying your chosen specialist subject extensively, you’ll get the freedom to conceive of your dream dissertation. Under the guidance of a supervisor who’s an expert in the area, it’s your chance to answer the research question you find most exciting. Your research methods will be further enhanced by taking two high-level skills modules, with options ranging from digital, economic or environmental history, to microhistory, big data, oral history, material culture and archival studies.

As a History BA student, you will have the opportunity to study abroad for a semester. You’ll also benefit from invitations to extracurricular activities such as guest lectures and other social events.