The History and Welsh History degree scheme allows you to benefit from studying at the world’s leading centre of teaching and research in Welsh history as well as providing the flexibility to explore a range of other historical topics according to your own interests.
Why study History and Welsh History at Aberystwyth?
- History has been taught in Aberystwyth since 1872, making our department the oldest in Wales and one of the foremost in Britain.
- Our degrees are innovative ensuring you can get the best qualification.endeavours to provide you with an?exceptional and memorable student experience.
- Our subject areas range from early to modern history, political history, social history, economic and cultural history.
- The National Library of Wales is only a stone throw away from our campus. This copyright library houses every book that has been published in the UK.?
- Discover another country and immerse yourself in another culture through our Erasmus + (Europe) and International Exchange programmes. Discover more on our partnered Universities on our Study Abroad website.?
Our Staff
Department of History and Welsh History lecturers are all qualified to PhD level, and most also have a PGCHE.
What career prospects exist with a History degree?
Our graduates have been successful in securing a profession in many different fields;
- Education;
- Law;
- Archivists;
- Publishers;
- Politicians;
- Civil Servants;
- Media;
- Armed Forces;
- Entrepreneurs.
As a department we are very proud of our notable and esteem alumni;
- Dr Tim Brain, former Chief Constable of Gloucestershire
- Guto Bebb, Member of Parliament
- Dr Joanne Cayford,?BBC?
- Berwyn Davies, Head of the Welsh Higher Education Office Brussels
- Iwan Griffiths, Sports reporter for the S4C (Welsh language broadcast channel)
Heritage sector student placements
Our department has strong links with the heritage sector, and an established portfolio of student placements. In the past, students have spent up to three weeks at the National Library of Wales (including Welsh-medium opportunities), the Royal Commission on the Ancient & Historic Monuments of Wales, and the Society of Antiquaries of London. These placements provide the opportunity for ‘hands-on’ experience and insights into the heritage sector, and are very valuable for the CV.
International opportunities: Erasmus & the Study Abroad programme
Having a range of experiences is very valuable for life after university, and excellent opportunities are provided by the Erasmus or Study Abroad schemes. History & Welsh History have established Erasmus exchange programmes with universities in Germany, Prague, Budapest and Norway. The Department also has links with a number of American colleges.
Alumni mentoring and graduate talks
The Alumni Mentoring Scheme will enable you to make contact with past graduates in a range of careers in a safe and supportive environment. History & Welsh History also arranges talks from alumni at different stages of their careers. Recent talks include ‘From university to a career in cultural heritage: first steps’, presented by a recent graduate who now has a place on a prestigious Tate Gallery traineeship.
What will I learn?
The breakdown below will provide you with an illustration of what you may study during the three year degree scheme.
In your first year you may discover:
- New concepts and historical skills
- New methods and periods
- Welsh History from 1250-1800
- The First World War and Britain
- Modernity and the making of Asia
- Exciting recent historical works
- Our choice of other modules which reflect a broad chronological and thematic range.
In your second year you may explore:
- Historical method, which examines the way in which the meaning, methods and writing of history have changed over time
- European History
- Germany and Nazism
- The British Empire: Britain and Ireland, 1850-1914
- an insight into the historian’s craft
- our different topics and periods from our extensive module list.
In your third year you may study:
- A special subject which enables you go into in depth research, using original sources all of which enabling you to deploy the critical research skills of a practising historian
- Gender in History
- British Society and the French revolution
- Science, Religion and Magic
- Stalin and Russia.
How will I be taught and assessed?
The different modes of learning, teaching and assessment employed by us, the department, will enable you to develop skills in small group presentation (seminars and oral assessment), formal writing (essays), research and the development of ideas in written form (a dissertation), and working as part of a team (seminars and student conferences, such as the annual Gregynog Medieval Colloquium). History & Welsh History also maintains individual academic tutorials for all students - rare outside Oxbridge - and has a supportive system of personal tutors. Through this one-to-one contact, you will be able to discuss possible careers, or perhaps further study, with academic mentors.
I love 'History' because it's the perfect course for people who enjoy history, but don’t know what area of History they prefer most. I came to university in this position, but this course allows you to discover this by offering you a chance to study many different periods. During my time here I have studied many different eras and events, from the Black Death and Medieval Wales, right up to British Politics in the twentieth century. I love History because it does not constrain you like other courses and allows you to discover your true inner Historian. Christopher Pines
