History and Politics

Address some of the contemporary world's most pressing problems and explore their roots in the past.

Discover a thousand years of history whilst experiencing all the specialist areas on offer; our expertise covers a wide and diverse range of regions, from Europe and Africa to America, South Asia and the Middle East, and periods, from the Crusades to the 1960s, slavery in America to Tudor monarchy, and Cold War Berlin to medieval magic. Modules cover subjects such as magic, witchcraft and heresy, fascism and communism, gender and culture, and politics and colonialism. We will teach you the skills you need to study and research history through an individual project of your choice. We take an individual approach to our students' learning, which is reflected in our 90% satisfaction score for the teaching on our courses in the National Student Survey 2017.

By studying politics, you will acquire a strong grounding in the fundamental elements of the subject such as political ideas and democratic processes. You can study a wide range of modules covering topics such as British government and politics, European political integration, and political thinking. 80% of our research impact was rated world leading or internationally excellent in the latest Research Excellence Framework (2014), which feeds directly into your learning and, in 2017, we achieved a student satisfaction score of 92% for our teaching in the National Student Survey.

We teach in small interactive seminar groups, encouraging discussion and debate with staff and fellow students. We place a great deal of importance on employability skills in both sides of your degree, and some modules offer students short work placements and act as an introduction to possible career paths.

There is the option to apply to study abroad on this joint degree and we have links with universities in Turkey, theNetherlands; the USA and Australia.

Placements are highly encouraged and through our links with the Careers Centre you can source potential employers and help with CVs and letters of application. We also have close links with the University’s Institute of Education, Museum of Rural English Life (MERL) and Special Collections (archives), and with external organisations such as Cliveden House, English Heritage, Reading Museum, Reading Borough Library and the Berkshire Record Office.

In history in the second year, we offer opportunities for short group placements in museums and heritage organisations and for third years, two optional modules provide placements of 10 working days in local archives and secondary schools. In politics you can undertake a two-week placement as part of a module on "British government and politics" and gain first-hand experience working with an MP, charity, pressure group, local councillor or media organisation.

**Careers**

98% of our undergraduate students in the Department of Politics and International Relations are in work or further study within six months of graduation (DLHE Survey 2015-16).

Throughout your degree you will complete career and skills related modules, encouraging you to think about what career you would like and the skills you need. If you would like a career in teaching, or in archives or records management, try our optional third-year modules, "History education" and "Discovering archives and collections". We have had a high success rate from students who have completed "History education", with many of our graduates gaining places for Initial Teacher Training.

As a history and politics graduate you will have a broad range of transferable skills, including the ability to think clearly and critically, to communicate with confidence and work effectively both individually and as part of a team. Recent employers have included The British Museum, The Football Association, The House of Commons, Marks and Spencer, MI5, Morgan Stanley and Siemens Financial Services.