History

At Bristol you will become part of our community of historians. You will work with a wide range of primary source materials and archives and engage with both classic and cutting-edge historical scholarship. As a large department, we are able to offer a broad and diverse curriculum and students take a mix of broad survey units, specialist option units, and independent research projects. With a large number of optional units at every level, we encourage our students to find and pursue their own passions. Original research inspires all our teaching and the degree programme culminates with students producing a substantial final-year dissertation on a topic of their choice.

Across your degree, you will be introduced to major themes in medieval, early modern, modern and contemporary history. Our department includes historians of Britain and Europe, the Americas, Africa, Asia, Australasia and even Antarctica. Small-group seminars are embedded at every stage of the degree to encourage deep analysis and debate around key sources, themes, and questions. Students will also attend lectures, workshops, and tutorials, where they can draw upon the rich expertise of our academic staff.

In recent years, first year optional topics have included:

Slavery

Modern Revolutions

Gender in the Modern World

Twentieth-century America

War and Society.

Whether you are interested in cultural history or political history, the very recent past or the pre-modern world, you will be able to explore the topics that inspire you and fire your imagination.