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Programme code | 1HIST001U |
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Programme type | Single Honours |
Programme director(s) |
Sam Hitchmough
|
Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
School/department | Department of History (Historical Studies) |
Teaching institution | University of Bristol |
Awarding institution | University of Bristol |
Relevant QAA subject benchmark groups | History (2022) (benchmark statement) |
Mode of study | Full Time |
Programme length | 3 years (full time) |
This section sets out why studying this programme is important, both in terms of inspiring you as an individual and in considering the challenges we face. It describes how this degree programme contributes to:
•To inspire and enable students to develop a broadly based and deepening understanding of the past as an issue of importance in its own right
•To provide students with an appreciation of the complexity and diversity of past conditions, events and mentalities across a range of cultures, and a familiarity with the range of approaches adopted by historians
•To enable students to develop their capabilities as historians to the highest potential levels in an active, challenging and internationally recognised research environment which facilitates the development of high-order critical, analytical and presentational skills, and provides the optimum context for a research training
•To attract students of the highest academic potential from a widening range of educational, social, and ethnic backgrounds
•To enable students, through the study of history, to achieve personal fulfilment through their own intellectual growth and acquire the life-long learning skills more fully to understand themselves and the world around them and thus contribute positively to society.
•To enable students to reflect on the nature of history as a discipline and appreciate its current relevance
The learning outcome statements shown below for your programme have been developed with reference to relevant national subject benchmarks (where they exist), national qualification descriptors (see the Framework for Higher Education Qualifications) and professional body requirements.
Teaching, learning and assessment strategies are listed to show how you will be able to achieve and demonstrate the learning outcomes.
This programme provides opportunities for you to develop and demonstrate knowledge and understanding, qualities, skills and other attributes in the following areas:
Programme Intended Learning Outcomes | Learning/teaching methods and strategies |
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Acquisition of historical knowledge and skills through lectures, seminars, tutorials, specially constructed historical skills units, directed reading and individual formative feedback. Independent research is fostered through supervised Projects connected to the Specials at each level of the programme and a Dissertation at level H. (B25, B26) |
Methods of assessment (formative and summative) | |
Range of essay writing skills (long and short). (B31) 10,000-word dissertation (B33) Student presentations Examinations (2hr unseen and 24hr seen) (B31) |
Programme Intended Learning Outcomes | Learning/teaching methods and strategies |
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|
Skills are acquired, practised and refined through participation in lectures and, in particular, engagement in seminars, written work of various lengths, and individual written and oral feedback from tutors. |
Methods of assessment (formative and summative) | |
All units are assessed by written coursework which requires the demonstration of a combination of these skills. Student presentations. 2 hour unseen and 24 hour unseen examinations. |
Programme Intended Learning Outcomes | Learning/teaching methods and strategies |
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|
Written communication skills are acquired, refined and practiced through the production of essays/Projects/Dissertation, and individual written and oral feedback from tutors. Seminars and tutorials are used to develop oral communication by requiring students to engage in class discussions and to make oral presentations. Specially devised skills units at levels C and I. |
Methods of assessment (formative and summative) | |
Some units require oral class presentations to a satisfactory standard to gain CPs. The ability to locate and access sources is required in all written work. |
This section describes what is expected from you at each level of your programme. This illustrates increasing intellectual standards as you progress through the programme. These levels are mapped against the national level descriptors published by the Quality Assurance Agency.
Level C/4 - Certificate |
Students are expected to acquire the foundations on which to develop appropriate expertise in line with the aims and objectives of the programme. They will acquire familiarity with the main themes and concepts of historical study in three main fields (drawn from medieval, early modern, modern British & European and world history). Through the skills unit (Approaching the Past) students will be introduced to the methodology of historical enquiry and through the Special Topic, will be introduced to key issues in historical research. Students will be introduced to the defining features, terminology and conventions of historical scholarship and, in their Project will take the first steps towards independent research. Here the expectation is that their work may require substantial direction and guidance on the development of study skills from tutors. |
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Level I/5 - Intermediate |
In Year 2 students are expected to expand the range and depth of their knowledge in core areas of the discipline, develop their capacity to evaluate material using a variety of critical perspectives, and develop their written and oral communication skills. Students will have the opportunity to consolidate what they have learned in year one and to use their knowledge, understanding and skills to evaluate critically and formulate evidence-based arguments. Students will extend their analytical skills and their ability to structure their work and present it fluently. They are expected to develop their capacity for self-directed learning (for example, through the researching and writing of essays and coursework assignments). Through Rethinking History students will be familiarised with the diversity and richness of historical writing today, become able to deal with historiographical issues, and be introduced to a variety of sub-disciplines (e.g., cultural history) that underpins the range of current and past historical study. The unit will equip students with the conceptual tools they need to develop further their understanding of particular topics and to strengthen their capacity to make connections between the different areas of their studies. The Lecture Response units will be interactive and students will be expected to develop the ability to contribute in a variety of ways, in their Special Field students will develop their research skills through a focus on primary sources, and in their projects they will further develop their independent research abilities. |
Level H/6 - Honours |
At level H students are expected to broaden and deepen their knowledge, and to apply relevant conceptual and methodological approaches to more complex historical issues. Students will be encouraged to develop greater independence both as learners and in their own critical judgements and to reflect both on the nature of history as a discipline and their own progress as historians. At the same time, work is more research orientated and requires more independent study based on primary source materials. Working with staff on areas closely linked with their research students will be expected to develop further their ability to gather, assimilate and synthesise information from diverse sources, and to engage in sophisticated critical evaluation of historical texts. Building on the preparatory work in levels C and I students will undertake an extended independently conceived and researched Dissertation based on primary sources. Students will be expected to present work which meets the highest standards of historical scholarship. |
For information on the admissions requirements for this programme please see details in the undergraduate prospectus at http://www.bristol.ac.uk/prospectus/undergraduate/ or contact the relevant academic department.
UG Workload Statement
Success as an undergraduate student depends on you being able to make the transition to self-motivated, independent learning. Programmes are designed to assist you in this development, in many cases by starting with units in which timetabled teaching, such as lectures and practical classes, provides the foundations of knowledge and skills in a subject, moving on to individual research-based work. Over time you will be expected to take increasing responsibility for your own learning, guided by the feedback on your work that you will receive. At the heart of your studies at every level there must be regular and disciplined individual reading, reflection and writing and it is this skill of independent studies, above all others, that will serve you best when you leave the University.
Most programmes use credits and a 20 credit unit broadly equates to about 200 hours of student input. This includes all activities related to the teaching, learning and assessment of taught units.
A component of this is the time that you spend in class, in contact with the teaching staff, which includes activities such as lectures, laboratories, tutorials and fieldwork. Some of this activity may be online and could consist of activity that is synchronous (using real-time environments such as Blackboard Collaborate) or asynchronous (using tools such as tutor moderated discussion forums, blogs or wikis).
In some programmes there are field courses and/or placements that will take place in concentrated periods of time.
Outside scheduled activities you are expected to pursue your own independent learning to build your knowledge and understanding of the subjects you are studying. Such independent activities include, reviewing lecture material, reading textbooks, working on examples sheets, completing coursework, writing up laboratory notes, preparing for in-class progress tests and revising for examinations.
We recognise that many students undertake paid employment. To achieve a sensible balance between work and study, you are advised to undertake paid work for no more than 15 hours per week in term-time.
Professional Programmes
Many undergraduates in the Faculty of Health Sciences will be following the professional programmes of:
For these professional programmes, full time attendance is compulsory unless absence is formally approved. Academic activities are timetabled throughout the 5-day week and student workload is around 40 hours per week on average. Where possible, students in the early years are permitted Wednesday afternoons for sport and extra-curriculum activities. This may not be available in later years of professional programmes as when a student progresses through the curricula there is an increasing exposure to clinical and professional activities. Students in clinic or on placements may need to stay later than core times of 08.00 – 18.00 or even overnight to observe out-of-hours activities. This increasing exposure to clinical activities means that students on these professional programmes often have longer term dates than the University standard. Individual years within programmes are likely to vary in length (for example because of the timings of placements) and further information on this will be found in individual programme regulations. Another important point to note is that many of the assessments sit outside of the standard University examination timetable and are likely to be more frequent meaning that students will more oftentimes be engaged in revision activities and self-directed learning.
Faculty of Health Sciences
Faculty Assessment and Feedback Statement for Undergraduate Students. University of Bristol access only.
Unit Name | Unit Code | Credit Points | Status | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
List A | |||||
The Early Modern World: The British Isles | HIST10063 | 20 | Optional | A | TB-1 |
The Early Modern World: Europe and the Wider World | HIST10065 | 20 | Optional | A | TB-1 |
List B | |||||
Modern Revolutions | HIST10067 | 20 | Optional | B | TB-1 |
The American Century | HIST10044 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
War and Society | HIST10045 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
List C | |||||
Approaching the Past | HIST13015 | 20 | Mandatory | TB-1 | |
List D | |||||
The Medieval World: The British Isles | HIST10064 | 20 | Optional | D | TB-2 |
The Medieval World: Europe and the Wider World | HIST10066 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
List E - Choose 20 CP from this list | |||||
Slavery | HIST10046 | 20 | Optional | E | TB-2 |
'Fight the Power': Democracy and Protest | HIST10068 | 20 | Optional | E | TB-2 |
Gender in the Modern World | HIST10069 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
List F - Take 20 CP From Bristol Futures, UWLP or Faculty Wide Units | |||||
Certificate of Higher Education | 120 |
Students may substitute History of Art units from the parallel options lists. Details will be provided by the School.
Unit Name | Unit Code | Credit Points | Status | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
List A | |||||
Rethinking History | HIST23101 | 20 | Mandatory | A | TB-1 |
List B: Global History Optional Panel: Choose 20CP from this list | |||||
Select from: | |||||
Africa in Global Perspective | HIST20141 | 20 | Optional | B | TB-1 |
The Americas in Global Context | HIST20142 | 20 | Optional | B | TB-1 |
Asia in Global Perspective | HIST20143 | 20 | Optional | B | TB-1 |
List C1: Medieval and Early Modern History Optional Panel: Choose 20 CP from this list | |||||
Fear and Loathing | HIST20117 | 20 | Optional | C | TB-1 |
Outlaws | HIST20120 | 20 | Optional | C | TB-1 |
Crusading Cultures | HIST20133 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
List D: History in Public Optional Panel: Choose 20CP from this list | |||||
Select from: | |||||
The Politics of the Past | HIST20144 | 20 | Optional | D | TB-2 |
The Public Role of the Historian | HIST20145 | 20 | Optional | D | TB-2 |
List E: Special Fields: Choose 20 CP from this list | |||||
Aztecs, Incas and Evangelisers | HIST20036 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Under the Covers: Sex and Modern British Print Culture | HIST20138 | 20 | Optional | E | TB-2 |
Hong Kong and the World | HIST20135 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Race, Migration and Diaspora in 19th and 20th Century Britain | HIST20136 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Building Modern Ireland, c. 1850-Present | HIST20139 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Health and Medicine in African History: Actors, Institutions, Ideas | HIST20147 | 20 | Optional | E | TB-2 |
Modern Girls and New Women | HIST20146 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Travel and Trade in the Global Middle Ages | HIST20132 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
The F Word: Understanding Italian Fascism Then and Now | HIST20140 | 20 | Optional | E | TB-2 |
Speaking with Authority: Women and Power in the Middle Ages (Level I Special Field) | HIST26024 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Rebels, Runaways, and Revolts: Agency, Resistance, and Slavery in the United States | HIST20129 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
The Age of Revolutions 1776-1848 in Global Perspective | HIST20128 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
The Black Death in England | HIST20125 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
List C2: Modern History Optional Panel: Choose 20 CP from this list or list F | |||||
Decolonisation | HIST20116 | 20 | Optional | C | TB-2 |
The Making of Contemporary Britain (1918-2008) | HIST20114 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Disease, Deviance and Disability in Modern Medicine | HIST20134 | 20 | Optional | C | TB-2 |
List F - Choose 20 CP from this list or list C2 | |||||
Take 20 CP From Bristol Futures, UWLP or Faculty Wide Units | OPEN | 20 | Optional | ||
Diploma of Higher Education | 120 |
Students may substitute History of Art units from the parallel options lists. Details will be provided by the School.
Unit Name | Unit Code | Credit Points | Status | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
List A: Special Subjects: Choose one 20 CP unit | |||||
Bristol and Slavery (Level H Special Subject) | HIST30078 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Kingship and Crisis during the Wars of the Roses. (Level H Special Subject) | HIST37011 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Race and Health in America | HIST30099 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Teenage Kicks: Youth and Subcultures in Britain since 1918 | HIST30097 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
The Age of the Human | HIST30103 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Red Power and Beyond: American Indian activism since 1944 | HIST30128 | 20 | Optional | A | TB-1 |
Race and Resistance in South Africa (Level H Special Subject) | HIST37010 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
American Dreamers: Radicalism in the United States from 1776 to the Present | HIST30131 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
The Italian Renaissance | HIST30110 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Once Upon a Crime: Law and Popular Cultures in the Age of Empire | HIST30137 | 20 | Optional | A | TB-1 |
Rage against the Machine: Technology and Anti-Technology in Modern Britain | HIST30138 | 20 | Optional | A | TB-1 |
Aftermath: The Wake of War, 1945-1949 | HIST30106 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Iran, 1901-51: Oil, Racial Capitalism, and Decolonisation | HIST30139 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
List C: Voices of the Past Optional Panel: Choose one 20 CP unit | |||||
Britain's Long Nineteenth Century, 1789-1914 | HIST30120 | 20 | Optional | C | TB-1 |
Memory | HIST30113 | 20 | Optional | C | TB-1 |
Picturing the Twentieth Century | HIST30114 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
List D: History at Work Optional Panel: Choose one 20 CP unit | |||||
Horrible Histories And All That | HIST30119 | 20 | Optional | D | TB-2 |
Global Empires | HIST30122 | 20 | Optional | D | TB-2 |
Millennial Britain | HIST30125 | 20 | Optional | D | TB-2 |
List E: Dissertation Optional Panel: Choose one 40CP unit | |||||
Dissertation | HIST33101 | 40 | Optional | E | TB-4 |
Practice-Based Dissertation (History) | HIST30129 | 40 | Optional | B,E | TB-4 |
List C2: Big Ideas Optional Panel and List F: Choose one 20 CP unit from this list or List F | |||||
Race | HIST30117 | 20 | Optional | C | TB-2 |
Sexualities | HIST30118 | 20 | Optional | C | TB-2 |
Capitalism | HIST30115 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Or take 20 CP From Bristol Futures, UWLP or Faculty Wide Units | OPEN | 20 | Optional | ||
History (BA) | 120 |
Unit Pass Mark for Undergraduate Programmes:
For details on the weightings for classifying undergraduate degrees, please see the Agreed Weightings, by Faculty, to be applied for the Purposes of Calculating the Final Programme Mark and Degree Classification in Undergraduate Programmes.
For detailed rules on progression please see the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes and the relevant faculty handbook.
Please refer to the specific progression/award requirements for programmes with a preliminary year of study, the Gateway programmes and International Foundation programmes.
All undergraduate degree programmes allow the opportunity for a student to exit from a programme with a Diploma or Certificate of Higher Education.
Integrated Master's degrees may also allow the opportunity for a student to exit from the programme with an equivalent Bachelor's degree where a student has achieved 360 credit points, of which 90 must be at level 6, and has successfully met any additional criteria as described in the programme specification.
The opportunities for a student to exit from one of the professional programmes in Veterinary Science, Medicine, and Dentistry with an Award is outlined in the relevant Programme Regulations (which are available as an annex in the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes).
An Ordinary degree can be awarded if a student has successfully completed at least 300 credits with a minimum of 60 credits at Level 6.
The pass mark for the professional programmes in Veterinary Science, Medicine and Dentistry is 50 out of 100. The classification of a degree in the professional programmes in Veterinary Science, Medicine, and Dentistry is provided in the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
Please note that not every optional unit runs each year. Please contact Department for details on unit availability.
Please note: This specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learning outcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if he/she takes full advantage of the learning opportunities that are provided.
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