Undergraduate BA (Hons)
History
Explore challenging questions and weigh complex judgements about how the past shapes our world today.
Explore challenging questions and weigh complex judgements about how the past shapes our world today.
Delve into history and discover the impact of political, social and cultural change on class, gender, race, injustice and power throughout hundreds of years of history across the globe, and how this has shaped our world today. Find your own critical voice and make it heard. A history degree from Kent is the first step to wherever you want to go.
As a Kent student, you will benefit from living and learning in the ancient city of Canterbury. You meet history face-to-face from day one while learning from world-leading academics who help to sharpen your skills of analysis, argument and communication.
If you want to explore History through the lens of warfare, we also offer a Military History BA programme, alternatively, if you are more interested in exploring the secrets of the ancient world, you could study on our Ancient History BA.
Kent is home to the British Cartoon Archive and holds a rare and complete set of British official histories of the two world wars.
History at Kent ranked 1st for research quality in The Complete University Guide 2025.
The History BA at Kent opens up your career path to countless possibilities. Meet our graduates and see where History at Kent can take you.
Our wide range of modules allows you to take a broad approach, or specialise and find your niche.
Our typical offer levels are listed below and include indicative contextual offers. If you hold alternative qualifications just get in touch and we'll be glad to discuss these with you.
BBB
DMM
120 tariff points - typically H5 H6 H6 or equivalent.
Pass the University of Kent International Foundation Programme.
The University will consider applicants holding T level qualifications in subjects closely aligned to the course.
Obtain Access to Higher Education Diploma with 45 credits at Level 3 with 24 credits at Distinction and 21 credits at Merit.
The following modules are what students typically study, but this may change year to year in response to new developments and innovations.
You take the compulsory modules then choose one of three module pairings; 'Early Medieval History, (c. 400 – c.1050)' and 'Late Medieval History, (c. 1050 – c. 1450)'; 'The Rise of the United States Pt. 1' and 'The Rise of the United States Pt. 2' or 'The Making of Modern Europe' and 'The Making of Modern Britain'. Then you choose 2 more optional modules from the remaining list.'
How do we navigate the juncture between history, culture, and the politics of evidence? This module explores a series of historical controversies, in which conflicts over information and interpretation generated significant outcomes. You’ll learn to reflect on and put into practice some of the core skills of a historian including locating, assessing, and critiquing the credibility of evidence, and considering the plausibility of arguments built around it.
You’ll explore controversies which questioned our understanding of history and challenged the rigour of historical claims. These case studies will come from different geographies and periods, and their significance will be explained in lectures and explored in seminars. You will address topics such as culture war divisions, political and technological revolutions, waypoints in nationalism or radicalism, and contests over heritage and colonial conflict.
The emphasis throughout the module is on putting thinking into practice, and we’ll encourage you to create your own arguments and positions, mobilising historical evidence in different ways in the process. This will sharpen your skills of analysis, as well as your confidence in constructing your own arguments and making your voice heard.
How do historians from a range of backgrounds approach and understand the discipline of history? What is their relationship to the past and to the archive? You’ll learn about some key figures who have shaped how history can be written, with attention to the ideologies, assumptions, and various methods or ambitions that different authors have applied to their historical subjects.
Seminars each week are dedicated to different ‘history makers’ and will allow you to read and reflect on significant texts, legacies, and historical reputations. Seminars are supported by lectures that put the historian and their approach in a wider context.
The module supports the transition from school study to a deeper reading of historical interpretation and identifies some patterns, tools, and 'schools' of historical practice which developed in the second half of the twentieth century and remain influential today. This allows you to find your voice in telling history, and gives you the tools to make it heard.
What happened when the Roman Empire collapsed? When did countries like England, France and Germany come into being? How violent were the Vikings? What was the Norman Conquest all about? Were the ‘Dark Ages’ really as grim as they are often made out to be? This module introduces you to the history of early medieval Europe (c.400–c.1100), examining the major political events and social changes that took place during this period.
You’ll consider key aspects of warfare, religious life and intellectual culture. Coming to understand the outlines of early medieval history between the end of the Roman Empire and the transformations of the late eleventh century, as well as a sense of what daily life was like for most people.
Additionally, we’ll encourage you to engage confidently with different types of evidence that historians can use to understand this period. Weekly lectures will guide you through the module, and seminars will provide opportunities to explore key debates and historical problems in more detail by analysing primary sources.
How were Medieval polities forged? What role did they play in ordinary people’s lives? This module is a survey of medieval Europe from c.1000 to c.1450. It includes elements of political, economic, social, religious, and cultural history. You’ll have the chance to explore topics such as the creation of kingdoms, the relationship between church and state, feudalism, monasticism, Medieval universities, Gothic art, the rise of towns, revolt, dissent and warfare.
The module will give you a foundation that will allow you to study European history at later stages with confidence. By the end of the module, you’ll have a grounding in geography and chronology, and be familiar with a variety of methodological approaches, scholarly debates, and primary sources (both written and visual). This allows you to follow your passions, you could delve deeper into medieval history, or use your understanding of the context of European history to explore a different era - the choice is up to you.
How did a collection of colonies become a global superpower? You’ll answer this question by examining the chaotic history of the United States. For much of its early history, the United States was a marvel: a country that would expand across the North American continent and emerge as a powerhouse, barely a century after its founding.
But the dynamism of the United States could not hide the republic’s powerful contradictions. A republic forged in personal liberty had its foundations laid by the enslaved. National expansion brought with it so many more victims than victors. Isolationism and wars abroad and at home would mark the character of the republic throughout its early history.
We will focus on these contradictions, to understand how they developed and why they have endured. To study the history of the United States is to study the forces that made the modern world.
How did a collection of colonies develop into a global superpower? In this module, you’ll examine the chaotic history of the United States by focusing on the modern period: the point at which the republic came of age.
By the close of the nineteenth century, the republic had emerged out of a civil war that nearly tore the country to pieces. In the wake of the war, the United States developed into a power in the Americas and, increasingly, in the world. Yet, the contradictions baked into the republic from its founding remained. If anything, growing global dominance exposed even deeper fissures at the country’s foundations. Economic booms and busts, relentless armed conflicts abroad and tensions from within all pulled at American society, testing whether the United States would endure.
The history of the modern United States would test the republic to its limits. You'll explore these tests and discover how they were eventually overcome. The analysis of this period will help you develop critical skills, helping you in your studies and later, your career.
What is Europe and how did it take the shape we recognise today? This module will cover the major events and themes of European history from c.1700 to the present, reflecting on the establishment of modern political systems and the subsequent challenges they faced during moments of intense crisis.
From the dismantling of the Ancien Regime through to the period of European integration following the end of the Cold War, this module introduces you to the impact of Enlightened Absolutism, revolutions, extreme political ideologies, war, and peace.
You understanding of the making of Europe not only supports your study of history, it also builds cultural understanding, allowing your to better communicate across cultures and work across borders in your career.
Has the expansion and collapse of imperialism over recent centuries been the single largest historical process that made the world we live in today? You'll explore this question and critically analyse how empires have shaped the world in countless ways. Through this, you'll gain a detailed understanding of the economic, political, cultural and social histories of empire through a close examination of their structures, instruments and consequences.
You’ll appreciate the importance of empires to networks of trade and power across multiple continents and be able to map out and critically engage with the ways in which modern economic and cultural globalisation formed and its relationship with protectionism, nationalism and xenophobia. In doing so, you will develop a greater understanding of how these themes continue to shape our world in the twenty-first century and build a cross-cultural awareness that will serve you well in a career working globally or across borders.
How did people in the past experience health and illness and how did this differ according to gender, age, race, ability and geography? How, why and when did professional medicine come to dominate discussions of health and treatments for illness? And was this domination always a good thing for our health?
With a particular focus on Britain and Western Europe in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, you’ll examine themes such as epidemic disease; mental health; health environments; welfare states; the relationship between medicine and war; sexuality; and colonialism. To explore these themes, you’ll compare wide ranging historiographies and draw on the significance of these historiographies for debates about health and medicine today. This not only gives you an understanding of the history of the time, but also the developments of these fields to our own understanding in the modern age. This ability to trace the links between past and present and critically examine evidence and narratives is skill that makes you stand our to a wide range of employers in any field following graduation.
From the Renaissance to the Enlightenment, you’ll survey the major events, themes, and historiographical debates in early modern history (c. 1450-1750). During this time in Europe and the wider world, major social, cultural, political and religious changes included the Renaissance, the advent of print, the Reformations, the rise of empires, the Enlightenment, the rise of slavery and an explosion of commodities and trade. Influencing these dramatic events were the new encounters between civilisations spurred on by trade, empire and the spread of Christianity.
In everyday life, these transformations led to new ways of thinking about gender, the body, and social hierarchies. Through a wide variety of texts, images and objects you’ll trace the refiguring of the world from medieval kingdoms to global empires and ask whether this really was the beginning of 'modernity'. Special attention will be paid to new material approaches to writing the history of the early modern world and how to use museums and heritage in the practice of history. This in-depth study of the Renaissance will help you understand not only the history of the period, but the enduring impact of the events and ideas of the time on our society today.
What is modern Britain? How was it ‘made’? This module plots the history of modern Britain from the early nineteenth century to the end of the twentieth, taking in critical moments, movements, individuals and 'isms.' It looks at how industrialisation, urbanisation, democratic politics, war, imperialism and mass culture shaped the country and explores history from political, social, cultural, economic and environmental perspectives.
Subjects include industrialisation and its critics, public health and the city, Victorian politics and radical protest, science, nature and the non-human world, suffrage and sexuality, media and modernity, war and society, the welfare state, decolonisation and immigration, riots and policing, consensus and counterculture, nationalism, devolution and Europe, and Thatcherism and the rise of New Labour.
An understand of the making of modern Britain also provides you with an understanding of the life today in Britain, allowing you new insight into everyday life, the reasons why things the way they are, and solutions to pressing issues we face today.
How has warfare shaped modern Europe to create the world we live in today? Join a comparative study of wars in Europe from the French Revolutionary Wars to the Second World War. You’ll adopt the 'war and society' approach to this topic and will focus on the social composition and combat effectiveness of the armies concerned, as well as the causes of the wars, and civil-military relations.
There will also be discussion of these wars at the strategic and operational level. You’ll consider the French Revolutionary Wars, Napoleonic Wars, the mid-19th Century Wars of Unification, the First World War, Spanish Civil War, and Second World War. Through this, you gain an overview of the wars which shaped modern Europe and while making insights into political and economic change in this period. This helps you position military history in Europe within the societies of the times, and our society today.
How did power manifest itself in the Middle Ages? Was faith a political tool that could be harnessed for diplomatic ends? How did these two forces interact when challenged by cultural clashes and population movements? This module provides an in-depth examination of the history of Medieval Europe (c.400–c.1400), examining the sweeping political and social transformations following the collapse of the Roman Empire in the fifth century.
You’ll also explore how warfare, violence, and migration impacted the development of new social, legal, and economic practices across Medieval society and consider how this influenced the lives, religious beliefs and intellectual frameworks of ordinary people. Intrinsic to the module is a focus on cultural exchanges and encounters of different communities and religions. For instance, when the Saxons were converted to Christianity in the 8th century or conflicts in the Holy Land during the crusading period.
Lectures will guide you through the module, and seminars will provide opportunities to explore key debates and historical problems in more detail through the analysis of primary sources. Allowing you to discover your own voice in the debate surrounding medieval history, and giving you the ability to make it heard.
How was our modern political, cultural and social system made? How does it function and what historical forces are still actively at play? This module will examine the formation of modern political culture, democracy, party politics, ideological divides, enlightenment, and secularisation between 1700 and 1990. These are all hallmarks of the pluralist and inclusive world we prize today.
The world between the eighteenth and twentieth centuries was beset by crises. People sensed that they lived in an exceptional moment in time when change and hope could free people from tradition, superstition, and economic exploitation. There was a sense of dissatisfaction with existing systems of power, exclusion, capitalism and injustice. Revolution, reform and the Cold War all became key themes in humanity’s struggle to exit the crisis of the Ancien Régime and create a better world.
This module will evaluate this key moment in history and enable you to create your own critical understanding of this transition towards modern politics, culture and society. It will empower you to actively engage with contemporary problems by understanding their deep historical origins and confront the debate as to if history has 'ended' and what era we are living in now.
How do you identify a workable dissertation topic? How do you formulate your research questions, define your structure, locate your sources, and identify a potential supervisor? These are all common questions, and we are here to help walk you through all the key elements you’ll need to produce a fully-fledged dissertation proposal, which will prepare you to tackle your first major research project with confidence.
Conducting independent research and writing it up to a high standard is at the heart of what historians do. Through a series of lectures, workshops and other guided sessions, this module will help you develop the key skills required to conduct independent historical research and to gain the knowledge necessary to successfully write it up in the form of a primary source analysis and a proposal in anticipation of the Stage 3 Dissertation module.
The skills and knowledge you gain through this module will be essential for writing your dissertation in the final year.
From 21st-century war in Ukraine, to Prague acting as a Habsburg safe-haven from the Turks in the 17th century, Eastern Europe has continually represented a complex but critical region to the balance of global power. While the ‘global turn’ in history has focused attention on maritime encounters, the swathe of land, rivers and natural resources spanning Eastern Europe – acting as a borderland between the Holy Roman Empire, Muscovy and the Ottoman Empire – presents new insight into cultural, social, religious and political encounters. You’ll examine the connected cultures and histories across Eastern Europe through ten objects, such as the ‘Turkish’ carpet, a Bohemian agate cameo and a Transylvanian sword. While the focus is on the historic lands of Bohemia, Hungary, Ukraine and Poland-Lithuania in 1400 to 1700, these histories are entangled in myth-making narratives that emerged in the 20th century while the region was part of the Communist Bloc. The object approach provides a new perspective on this region that collapses historical narratives and national myth-making. You’ll specifically develop your skills in working with museum collections and visual and material evidence.
Examine the European experience of war during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. You’ll learn the major national armies (French, Prussian, Austrian, Russian, British and Spanish) and how they were expanded and reformed in the wake of the French Revolution. Iin seminars you’ll consider key themes, such as the nature of the officer corps, recruitment and conscription, the nature of ‘People’s War’, interactions between soldiers and civilians, developments in tactics, logistics, and discipline and morale. The approach taken will largely be that of ‘war and society’, focussing on the social history of the armies but there will also be some consideration of operational history and cultural approaches to this topic. While this approach moves significantly away from ‘old military history’ with its focus on generals and battles, there will be some consideration of Napoleon’s methods of warfare and how these were successfully countered by his enemies.
Why is the tank such a potent symbol of power? Does it merit its reputation? How has this piece of military technology changed the nature of war in the 20th Century? You’ll explore the very nature of armoured warfare from its inception to the 21st Century and learn how quickly advocates of these new machines developed theories of armoured warfare and how these were applied to the battlefield. Consider the supposed decline of the tank and heavy armour in the years since the collapse of the Communist Bloc, only to be given a new lease of life by the two Gulf Wars. You’ll look at the cultural ideas behind the tank, how it has seeped into the imagination as a symbol of modernity and change: for example, the crucial importance of tanks to images of the Hungarian uprising in 1956 and to the Beijing protests of 1989.
Environmental issues are at forefront of our global challenges today – but do they have a history? Emphatically, YES! Examine the history of modern Britain through the analytical lens of environmental history and explore the ways humans have used, adapted, and imagined various environments over time. Taking 1850 as the starting point, you’ll look at major transformations in British life – the social and ecological problems of the city; changing attitudes towards nature preservation and ‘rights to roam’; animal encounters from the zoo to rewilding; war, chemicals and landscapes of contamination; protest and ethics in the ‘age of the environment’; and the politics of climate change - to chart the ways in which successive generations interacted with the spaces and other species around them. This is a story both of material changes and of cultural values – our interactions with and our imaginations of the modern world - and takes in a range of different sources from government legislation and scientific studies to film and photography to unpack the environmental history of modern Britain.
How did the British Army recover from Dunkirk to become one of the victorious armies of the Second World War? The answer to this question is relatively simple. The British army expanded rapidly between 1940 and 1942, established more and better equipped armoured units and, by trial and error, became an effective force. It could also rely on effective support from the Royal Navy, Royal Air Force, and the troops of Allied nations. However, the use of the term ‘British army’ in this context is confusing, the Dominion Forces (i.e. those raised in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa) expanded rapidly alongside other ‘Imperial’ forces, raised in Africa and in India. Indeed, the Indian Army became the largest volunteer force in world history by the start of 1945. You’ll consider many aspects of the British Imperial armies in this period, including the recruitment and conscription systems used to raise them, the development of more specialist equipment, the development of special forces, discipline and morale, the expansion of women’s units, the development local defence forces (most famously the Home Guard) and leadership. Winston Churchill’s role as a war leader is also a focus in this study.
Why did a nation built by slaves fight a war over slavery that led to the nation’s collapse? Learn about the causes and consequences of the American Civil War. Cutting across the middle decades of the nineteenth century, you’ll examine how and why the American republic spiraled into division, as well as the kind of republic that emerged out of the war. During the conflict, Americans raised on the principle of small government experienced the coercive power of two modern nation-states. After the war, a slaveholding nation became a country in which the formerly enslaved counted themselves as citizens. Radical and revolutionary, the Civil War made the modern United States, with all its promise, its problems, and its unrealised potential. It also left an indelible mark on the American psyche. It is a conflict Americans continue to fight, more than a century after it ended. You’ll be empowered to understand why the republic still bears these scars, and why the Civil War means so much to Americans now.
Why did southern Africa become one of the most dynamic and turbulent regions on earth after 1750? You’ll understand how early encounters and conflicts between European settlers and African societies focused on land and labour and were shaped by rapid changes in local and global economies and societies. The discovery of gold and diamonds radically transformed the region’s relations with the major imperial powers of Great Britain, Portugal and Germany. You’ll be able to explore and understand how the Berlin conference of 1884-85 initiated a scramble for formal control of the region, its peoples and its riches, which culminated in the South African War in 1899-1902. In doing so, you’ll learn how diverse African societies responded to interactions and conflicts with European encroachment and annexation in a range of ways. Gain a clear understanding of the origins of settler colonialism and African resistance in southern Africa and the wider world.
The 20 years between the two world wars were some of the most tumultuous Europe has ever experienced. It emerged from a conflict that many hoped would be the ‘war to end all wars’ but which instead unleashed new forms of violence and left much unfinished business. The problems which faced Europe as the First World War ended were so severe that many felt that only extreme solutions were viable. Radical ideologies on both ends of the political spectrum gained huge support and in some cases formed the basis of government in powerful states – Communism in Russia, Fascism in Italy and National Socialism in Germany. So potent were these systems, and so committed to absolute control both within and beyond their borders, that they gave rise to many horrors – dictatorship, oppression, slavery, genocide – and eventually led to the outbreak of the Second World War. You’ll consider these three extreme states both on their own merit and in comparison with one another, examining not only their similarities and differences, but also the ways in which they related to one another and how they shaped the international relations of the period.
The French Revolution was one of the greatest turning points of European history – it created modern politics. Indeed the deputies of the National Assembly claimed that the year 1789 marked the beginning of a new modernity. They consciously rejected the past by dismissing it as an 'ancien régime' or old order. Seek to understand and question this claim. You’ll examine critically the last decades of the Bourbon monarchy and ask if the term 'crisis' is an adequate description of this period. You’ll then turn to the revolutionaries’ ambitious programme of reform which sought to remould not only the institutional and governmental landscape of France but the very underpinnings of daily life in order to create social justice. The Revolution deployed rapidly a new armoury of political concepts such as: national sovereignty, liberty and human rights. You’ll appraise the process by which an initially liberal agenda of freedom, tolerance and pluralism succumbed quickly to factional strife, international warfare and political terror. How did a modern liberal revolution lead to political terror and show will be a key question investigated throughout.
How was the West Won? Or was it actually lost? Explore the American West in the 19th century, looking at the momentous social, political, economic and environmental changes which took place between 1803 – the date of the Louisiana Purchase – and 1893 – the publication of Turner’s famed ‘frontier thesis’. An exploration of the myths and mechanisms of territorial conquest, you’ll look at images of the West in popular culture, before moving on to critically analyse key moments in Western history including the Oregon Trails, Gold Rush, Indian Wars and Cattle Kingdom. Along the way, you’ll delve into the stories of such historical figures as General Custer, Calamity Jane and Jesse James and look at how historical and popular views on the frontier have changed over time, from the ‘mythic’ West as depicted in dime novels and Hollywood Westerns to more recent interpretations that focus on colonial conquest and give voice to diverse communities. Visual art, literature and film are used (along with a wide range of historical sources) to unpack the American frontier as a colourful space and a contested idea.
Why was difference so endlessly fascinating to the Victorians? The British public was entranced by individuals deemed different, and ‘enfreaked’ people have been viewed and constructed in a myriad of ways, through gender, race, disability, and behaviours. Explore the continuities and changes surrounding those classed as different, revealing problematic interactions with the medical profession, the authorities, public and private institutions, and public opinion. Investigate the changing nature of difference from the 1780s to the end of the nineteenth century. Examine the body and mind as contested sites; spaces occupied by those forced to perform for their survival; the establishment of ideas of ‘normality’ versus deviance; the changing conceptions of difference over time; and the relationships between those deemed physically and mentally ‘outside’ wider society. You’ll assess the nature of stigmatisation, abuse, philanthropy, and agency in these interactions, revealing complexity and nuance. Using a broad range of sources, the course will trace the shifting cultural constructions of difference and deviance, and the effect on those who were forced to live on the perimeter of society.
What factors have shaped German history since the First World War? Focusing on the history of modern Germany in the twentieth century, examine major changes and continuities in the development of a highly advanced, industrialised but also militarised European nation state which played a central role in shaping the modern European geographical and political landscape. You’ll explore the end of the Imperial monarchy in 1918, the legacy of the First World War during the inter-war years, the political instability but also potential of the Weimar Republic, the Third Reich and the Second World War, and the legacy of the Holocaust in defining post-war German identity and society. By examining the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) and the German Democratic Republic (GDR), you’ll take a critical look at the politics, ideology and the ‘history of the everyday’ (Alltagsgeschichte) of East and West German society during the Cold War, and explore the underlying factors which led to the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989 and subsequent German reunification.
How and why did surgery transform from a barbaric craft to a precision-based science over the last few centuries? What role did new technologies play in allowing surgeons to pioneer innovative procedures and become heroes of the hospital operating theatre and beyond? To what extent were these developments revolutionary? You’ll examine major aspects of surgery in order to evaluate the extent to which a 'surgical revolution' has taken place since 1750. Topics include the rise of pathological anatomy; dissection and body snatching; anaesthesia; antisepsis and asepsis; vivisection; war; organ transplantation; and keyhole surgery. Adopting a social and cultural approach, students on you’ll examine these topics in line with several key themes: the surgical profession, masculinity and heroism; patients, ethics and the body; technologies and techniques; and the sciences of pathology and physiology. You’ll also explore the dissemination of surgical history today to public audiences through analyses of museum exhibits.
Why should we study the role of the media in times of war? This course examines how the British media reported military conflicts from the Crimean War (1853-1856) to the end of the Second World War in 1945. Against an overview of the causes and consequences of a series of conflicts around the world, the course considers a series of case studies to provide an analysis of the development of the media such as the growth of newspapers, telecommunications, commercial advertising, cinematography, and radio broadcasting. The developing role of war correspondents will be contextualised in tandem with the roles of various government departments and media organisations such as newspapers, newsreel companies and the BBC in influencing the flow of information to the public, to enhance your understanding of the historical developments in the reporting of conflict and the growth of the modern media prior to the dawn of Britain’s television service.
Examine how people imagined death in Medieval Europe and how art shaped and reflected their understanding. You will read and analyse a variety of documentary sources and focus on the visual and material culture of relics, tombs, manuscripts, and other testimonies that remember the dead, commemorate their life, and anticipate the afterlife. You’ll begin with an overview of the cult of saints and devotion to martyrs, focusing on the extraordinary popularity of the Canterbury cult of Saint Thomas Becket, drawing on the key hagiographical and historical texts until the Black Death. Question the 'unequivocal' role of the Black Death as a catalyst for the establishing the 'ubiquity' of the macabre. All the while you’ll be encouraged to discuss ideas from an interdisciplinary perspective, looking at the interface of ritual, records, and memory – and asking yourself how the study of death can help to understand the experience of life and hope in the pre-modern imagination.
Why, and with what consequences, did the Cold War become global? The module will consider the personal, local, national, and international dynamics that led to the onset of the Cold War and to its evolution. It will follow a chronological and regional approach, considering the various stages that delineated this period of superpower tension and how this global reality was translated in different contexts, as well as its long-term legacies. It will consider crisis moments as well as the impact of revolutions during the second half of the 20th Century and give students the tools with which to measure their immediate and longer-term impact.
What were the crusades? How do we explain their relevance in both an historical and contemporary context? This module will investigate how the crusades were the product of an aristocratic society suffused by a martial culture and a militant religion. Students will have the opportunity to explore revealing aspects of social relations, popular spirituality, Medieval warfare, and attitudes to violence – all of which bear a contemporary relevance for a modern world to which Holy War and ideological justification of violence are no strangers. You’ll fully explore the events of the campaigns in the Near East, covering the experience as well as the motivations of crusaders and settlers in the Crusader Kingdoms. Investigate the interaction over a period of two centuries between western Christians and the indigenous populations, both Christian and Islamic, in and around the states and settlements established in the East. In recent years the Crusades have attracted a wealth of new research and debate, much of it conducted in English. These provide you with rich and accessible secondary material against which to pit your own views.
Was modern Germany really forged through ‘blood and iron’? These words, spoken by the Prussian Chancellor, Otto von Bismarck in 1862, have become synonymous with the decade of warfare that culminated in the unification of Germany under the house of Hohenzollern in 1871. However, this process was far longer in the making. While the wars against Denmark (1864), Austria (1866) and France (1870-71) proved to be the deciding factors, military success was predicated on a half century of social, political, and economic developments since the end of the Napoleonic Wars. You’ll explore these developments and analyse their effect on the establishment of a Prusso/German military model, the application of universal conscription, the rise of the General Staff, the influence of technology on doctrine, and much more. You’ll learn to identify the key factors that underpinned Prussian military success and relate this to diplomatic and political developments in the period. Ultimately, this set the stage for the next Franco-German showdown in 1914.
How have successive US presidents navigated the formal and informal constraints on their power in the conduct of foreign policy in the 20th Century? During the Second World War and ensuing Cold War, successive Presidents were given considerable leeway to forge a foreign policy in their own image. A cooperative Congress and broad consensus about the United States’ place in the world facilitated an activist foreign policy and the emergence of what the historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr. dubbed an “imperial presidency.” However, as this permissive domestic context began to erode in the late 1960s, the constitutional constraints on the President’s powers became more pronounced. The module will chart the evolution of U.S. foreign policy from Roosevelt to Obama: it will consider the substance of each incumbent’s foreign policy and assess their ability to work with existing constitutional constraints.
How important was India to Britain and its global imperial interests? Was it really the ‘jewel in the crown’? Explore the long and historically significant relationship between imperial Britain and arguably its most prized colonial possession – India. You’ll gain a critical understanding of the relationship between India and the British Empire; especially the ways in which India influenced imperial policies (social, economic, military) in both metropolitan Britain and in the wider British dominions and colonies. You’ll gain a critical historical knowledge of the British Empire against a broader global canvas.
Were vikings really just horn-helmeted, bloodthirsty pirates who killed and pillaged their way across Europe and beyond in the Middle Ages? Vikings contributed rather more to European and global history than this caricature suggests. They dramatically reshaped the political orders of Britain, Ireland and Francia; they fuelled the growth of international trade and urbanisation in different parts of Europe and Asia; and they explored and settled uncharted territories of the North Atlantic, even becoming the first Europeans to reach the North American continent. Vikings were also some of the most engaging storytellers of their time. By the time Scandinavian raiding ceased in the second half of the eleventh century, they had dramatically altered political, religious, economic and military developments across the early medieval world, from the Atlantic to Asia. You’ll separate fact from fiction by analysing and discussing surviving written sources alongside archaeological, visual and linguistic evidence, thereby enabling students to uncover the real history that lies behind the mythical Viking Age.
How widespread was vendetta or ‘blood-feud’ in the Middle Ages? Did medieval courts really use ordeals to establish innocence? Why did individuals sometimes voluntarily enter slavery? What could a woman do if she wished to divorce her husband? The Middle Ages are often portrayed as the Dark Ages, characterised by a morass of feud, violence and lawlessness. Test this caricature by examining how Medieval rulers maintained law and order in an age when they often lacked the capacity to intervene directly to resolve conflicts. Looking across the kingdoms that emerged in Europe between 500 and 1400, you’ll examine a wide range of documentary and literary sources which offer fascinating perspectives on a variety of social and political conflicts. Gain a broad understanding of how the social order was kept together at a time when everything seemed to be falling apart. Along the way, you’ll explore issues relating to crime and punishment, violence and coercion, social status, marriage and sexuality, property rights, and the power of the Church. In so doing, you’ll be empowered to comment critically upon the issues of law and justice in the Medieval world.
War is the most destructive of human actions. It disrupts political, economic, social, and physical environments. You’ll focus on the history of war and medicine in Britain from 1850, which encompasses the Crimean, South African, First and Second World Wars. Modern technological warfare had a devastating effect on the bodies and minds of combatants, and you’ll examine topics such as surgery, health and disease, fitness to fight, innovations in treatment and sanitation and new spaces such as military hospitals which were specifically established to treat the war wounded. Some soldiers and sailors did not fully recover from their war service which left a permanent impression on their bodies and minds and the course also focuses on nursing care, rehabilitation and disabilities. War production affected civilian’s health, as medical practitioners were called up to care for the war wounded. Civilians on the frontlines suffered the same injuries as soldiers and benefited from some of the medical innovations designed for the war wounded. Explore the history of medicine and war through a range of analytic frameworks including race, gender, class, disability, health, and disease.
You have the option to add a year in industry to this course. We already know you have the confidence and commitment to thrive in the workplace and kick-start your career. This is your chance to prove it, to yourself and to employers.
When should I start looking? In the summer of your first year; placements must be secured by 31 August in your second year.
Where can I get help finding a placement? Book an appointment with a placement adviser via the careers service.
Will I get paid? Most of our placements are paid.
Do I have to pay tuition fees? Yes, you’ll pay a substantially reduced fee, currently £1,850, which for UK students is covered by Student Finance.
Where can I get visa advice if I’m an international student? Kent Union can help with any visa queries for your Year in Industry.
Does the University keep in touch? You receive four-weekly check-in emails, a visit from the team every three months and you can reach out to us any time by email or phone.
Do I work for a full year? The minimum requirement for an industrial placement is 44 weeks.
What could you do in a year?
My year in industry couldn’t have gone better. I secured a role at IBM, working in their sports and entertainment department – it was perfect for meTom Tillin Find out more
Going abroad as part of your degree is an amazing experience and a chance to develop personally, academically and professionally. You experience a different culture, gain a new academic perspective, establish international contacts and enhance your employability.
You spend your year abroad at one of our partner universities. Places and destination are subject to availability, language and degree programme. To find out more, please see Go Abroad.
To be eligible for the year abroad, you need to adhere to any progression requirements in Stage 1 and Stage 2. The year abroad is assessed on a pass/fail basis and does not count towards your final degree classification.
Where could you go in a year?
My ‘You only live once’ decision to study in Japan is one of the best I’ve ever made. I had a fantastic year.Cheyenne Nolan Find out more
What does a research project look like? Why is it so integral to the discipline of History? This module is designed to for you to engage in exciting independent research on a historical topic, as part of your final years of study.
This module focuses on in-depth scrutiny of a subject through primary and secondary research. You’ll also engage in primary research, in archives or online, explore the rich historiography of your chosen topic, and learn how to integrate these findings into a long-form written piece. You’ll be supervised by a subject specialist and have the chance to discuss your ideas with peers and supervisors in lectures, workshops, and one-to-one settings.
The research project is your chance to engage in real historical research, just as a professional historian would, and to put the research skills and training you developed earlier in your degree into practice. It will also help foster transferable skills such as organisation, independence, and project management as well as being a fantastic example of your skills to show employers.
What is the arc of the African American story? Triumph over adversity? Tragedy in the face of injustice? Across the long twentieth century, African Americans shaped the republic in profound and jarring ways. You’ll explore the traditions of organisation and protest which have long defined the black experience in the United States. Students will also learn about how these traditions clashed with the broader historical contexts that shaped the period. You’ll be encouraged to understand how African Americans pushed back at the forces arrayed against them, and how struggles for racial justice continue to define the United States in the present. From militance to non-violence, from racial uplift and respectability to black power, the African American experience is the American experience.
What happened to the American West after it was ‘won’? You’ll explore the history of this region in the twentieth century, looking at social, political, economic and environmental dynamics. Plot the continuing evolution of the trans-Mississippi as a vibrant but contested place, with such topics as the Dust Bowl and the politics of water; tourist cultures from Vegas to Moab; the Manhattan Project and nuclear testing; Red Power and indigenous land rights; cowboy politics and the militia movement; environmental protection and radical protest. Emphasis is placed on exploring the landscape and mythology of the West via various mediums including literature, photography and film, and on trying to understand its complicated identity in American life as a space of promise and escape, hardship and decay.
What characterises insurgency and counterinsurgency in theory and in practice? Starting with the legacy of the irregular warfare spawned during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, you’ll move through a series of case-studies from the post-Napoleonic to the post-Cold War era. Focus is placed on global, studying irregular warfare especially (but not exclusively) in British, French, Spanish and American experiences, especially in the context of imperialism, decolonisation, civil wars and policing. Particular themes include the impact of metropolitan calculations on colonial counter-insurgency, the impact of colonial veterans on civil wars in the metropole, the motives of insurgents and the extent to which they were ‘logical’ in their use of violence and propaganda, and the extent to which counterinsurgents operated policies of ‘hearts and minds’ or ‘butcher and bolt’. Your attention will be drawn to the policing of non-combatants in asymmetrical warfare scenarios. Above all, you’ll question the extent to which the post-Second World War era opened up a more formidable, ideological pattern of insurgency waged against Western powers and their allied regimes, especially in relation to Marxist doctrine of ‘people’s war’ and vanguard theory (the ‘foco’).
Examine the dynamic relationship between art, architecture, and devotion in Medieval Europe, focusing on the visual and material culture of some of the most the radical social, technological, and theological developments in pre-modern history. After defining the Gothic style, you’ll retrace its development in the twelfth century around Paris, including its export to Canterbury and London, stretching until its zenith in the mid-thirteenth century. All the while the examination of the source material is inherently interdisciplinary, working through various approaches to sacred heritage. You will use aesthetic, religious, social, anthropological, as well as political ways of seeing to study works of architecture, sculpture, painting, manuscripts, reliquaries, music, literature, and even liturgy. Although you focus primarily on French and English sites, the object domain sits within a wider European network. Using diverse case studies, you’ll acquire a wealth of historical information and develop a variety of intellectual approaches to function and significance of visual culture. You’re encouraged to think critically about the influence of art in the religious imagination.
At times, even our own bodies are difficult to understand. Trying to figure out how bodies function and their place in the world is part of the human condition. The body itself has a history – theoretically, metaphorically, and literally. The ways that bodies feel, move, look, and engage with the world has changed over time, as bodies were stigmatised, politicised, revered and misunderstood. You’ll explore the changing conceptualisation of the body in the nineteenth and the first half of the twentieth century, including the mind-body nexus, the body as lived, and the body as a source of scientific discovery. The body itself, and how it is seen, understood and behaves is dependent on several contingent factors including time, place, identity, society, and culture. You’ll explore the lived bodily experience of a range of people over time, and the shifting understandings with how people viewed their own and other people’s bodies, through aspects such as race, gender, sexuality, criminality, disability, health, and disease.
‘To do no harm’ is among the most well-known codes of medical ethics today, but what does this mean in practice? What examples are there of doctors not adhering to this code and actively doing patients harm? And to what impact and with what consequences? You will examine these important questions through a range of modern historical case studies, including medical professionalisation, public and private health, eugenics, war and commercialisation. By focusing on the changing relationship between doctor and patient, as well as the interventions of the state and businesses, you’ll understand the variable practices of medicine since 1800 and highlights how and why ethical medical practice takes the form it does today.
From incarceration in asylum to public declarations of mental health issues, attitudes to mental health in Britain have changed radically since 1850. You’ll explore public, medical, and state attitudes to mental health, and how they have changed over time. The mind has a history – theoretically, metaphorically, and literally - you’ll examine that history through case studies of mental health conditions and the people who were affected by them. People with mental health issues have been stigmatised, misunderstood, and isolated. The medical profession has investigated the mind and developed a wide range of treatments – from pharmaceuticals for depression to CBT for anxiety, and the course explores the medical profession’s role in understanding the ‘sick’ and healthy’ mind, and the way patients were identified, categorised, and treated. You’ll explore the lived experience of mental health over time, and the shifting understandings of the workings of the mind, through frameworks such as race, gender, sexuality, criminality, disability, and health.
The ‘Renaissance’: a time of artistic and cultural productivity; a time, also, of ruthless politics and repeated mayhem. The contradictions are part of its allure - and there is little chance of ignoring it, from cinema references to Machiavelli to the setting of Assassin’s Creed II. What, though, is the historical basis for the construction of the ‘Renaissance’ that has developed since the mid-nineteenth century? And what does that construction tell us about historians’ perceptions of ‘progress’? You’ll be encouraged to investigate the culture of the Renaissance through engagement with primary sources, textual, visual and material. Centred on the Italian peninsula (‘the cradle’ of innovation in arts, intellectual life and warfare) you’ll reflect on the period from the fifteenth century to the aftermath of the Sack of Rome in 1527, when German troops in the pay of the Holy Roman Emperor pillaged the ‘Eternal City’. You’ll put Italian creativity in context when you consider the Renaissance globally by examining its debts to other cultures, both Christian and Muslim, as well as its interaction with the cultural and commercial life of other parts of Europe, and beyond.
This module enables students to investigate the culture of the Renaissance through engagement with primary sources, textual, visual and material. Centred on the Italian peninsula (‘the cradle’ of innovation in arts, intellectual life and warfare) students reflect on the period from the fifteenth century — when the papacy was divided and the city-states at each other’s throats — to the aftermath of the Sack of Rome in 1527, when German troops in the pay of the Holy Roman Emperor pillaged the ‘Eternal City’. Italian creativity is placed in context: students will consider the Renaissance globally by examining its debts to other cultures, both Christian and Muslim, as well as its interaction with the cultural and commercial life of other parts of Europe, and beyond.
This source-based class challenges you to consider the background, causes, and evolution of the American Revolution from both sides of the Atlantic Ocean - from the Seven Years’ War to the establishing of the Federal Constitution. You’ll be invited to contextualise a range of primary documents - from political speeches in the British Parliament, to American pamphlets, landmark revolutionary texts, and accounts of warfare, slavery, and gender relations. Consider the character and place of the American Revolution within European and American economic, political, and cultural development. You’ll start by examining the conditions under which the American Revolution emerged; the part played by empire, and the distinctive combination of ideological and theological strands that produced a compelling challenge to British Parliamentary authority for the first time, culminating in war and independence. In the second half you’ll revisit the chronology but look at specific themes, including race, gender, and loyalism.
How did European societies experience and commemorate the Great War? The history of the Great War is a subject of perennial fascination for this war left its imprint on British/European society to an extent almost unparalleled in modern history. No previous war matched it in scale and brutality. You’ll discover the social and cultural upheavals of the Great War. Explore themes ranging from ‘war enthusiasm’ in 1914 and wartime propaganda to post-war commemorative rituals and memorialisation. You’ll move beyond a military history and examine the war’s sociocultural impact on British and European societies. he First World War was, by definition, a transnational event and you’ll fully explore the comparative method.
How did war shape national identities in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries? Discover the causes, developments and legacy of the longest war in the Middle Ages, known as Hundred Years' War between England and France (1337-1453). You’ll start to understand the context for the outbreak of the war, looking at the establishment of the Angevin Empire in northern France from the mid-twelfth century and the origins of the Hundred Years' War, the causes of which have been debated at length by historians. Following the chronological development of the war in its four phases, you’ll look at the European dimension of the war, which developed due to international alliances and attempts at pacifying the parties, mostly undertaken under the supervision of the papacy and the Empire. Alongside the political perspective, you’ll pay attention to the defensive structures and military strategies employed during the war as well as the cultural milieu within which the war was fought that ultimately led to the growth of lay chivalric values.
Can military history be simply understood through the concept of the ‘Great Commander’? You’ll consider those regarded as ‘Great Commanders’, including Claude Auchinleck, Napoleon Bonaparte, Douglas MacArthur and Helmuth von Moltke, while learning that the ‘nature’ of their command was shaped by the military forces they commanded, the staff systems that they operated within, and the wider strategic and civil-military parameters within which they worked. You’ll also consider the development of command styles from ‘personal command’ to the elaborate staff systems developed by the Prussians from 1807 onwards, reflecting on the influence that developments in communications technology had. You’ll pay attention to the different levels of command; operational and strategic, along with wider issues of civil-military relations (in particular how commanders served the interests of elected governments). The role of the commander in coalition warfare will also be considered, most notably in Douglas MacArthur’s command in the Korean War. While most case-studies will consider conventional warfare, the role of Gerald Templer in commanding British forces during the Malayan ‘Emergency’ will provide an example of command in counter-insurgency warfare.
How did an economic theory come to define our day-to-day lives to such an extent, that many find it hard to imagine the world without it?
This module examines the development and the ideas that underpin the system we now know as capitalism. Few historical events in the modern world have been left untouched by it. Global in reach, brutally efficient and disastrously wasteful, capitalism dominates and suffers no rival.
It is common to think it the greatest product of human ingenuity; as natural as breathing. You’ll explore this idea. Like all things, capitalism was made by people. It has a history and is marked by deep imperfections. Focused on its origins and rapid development in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, you will examine capitalism’s inner workings, its grand theories, and both the cultures and critiques that emerged in its wake.
From the consolidation of the global countryside to its fusion with imperialism; from the armed conflicts fought over it to the structure of the global order that sought to protect it, participants will come to understand the shape of perhaps the most dominant idea modern world.
How, when and why did England become a kingdom for the first time? What did it mean to be English in the early Middle Ages? What impact did vikings have on Britain? And truly how significant was 1066 for the trajectory of English history?
This special subject is your chance to answer these questions by exploring the rich political, cultural and social histories of England from the ninth to eleventh centuries, starting with the first wave of viking invasions and the rise of the kingdom of Wessex in the ninth century, and ending with the reign of William the Conqueror and his Domesday Survey.
In doing so, we will encounter a wide variety of evidence, including documentary sources, laws, historical narratives, archaeology, sculpture and poetry. Moreover, we will interrogate powerful yet often highly problematic discourses of national ‘origins’, and we will uncover how the historic reality of this period of English history is far more complex and fascinating than modern representations often suggest.
How true is the saying: ‘one man’s mercenary is another man’s freedom fighter’? You’ll trace the evolving notion of 'mercenaryism' from its role in establishing the Early-Modern fiscal military state through to its modern connotation with ‘freedom fighters’ acting beyond – and often against – the defined nation state.
You’ll cover events in Europe, North America, South America, the Indian sub-continent, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. The continued presence of ‘foreign soldiers’ around the world poses interesting questions concerning identity, military cultures, global networks and encounters, as well as the transfer of ideas across borders. It ties together the experience of national and colonial soldiery, international volunteerism, and statelessness within a broader context of nationalist and internationalist movements of the 19th and 20th Centuries.
You will also reflect on the use of ‘mercenary’ as a term; how it has been perceived, evoked, and moulded by society over time. ‘Mercenary’, ‘guerrilla’, and ‘franc-tireur’ are often pejorative terms used to describe combatants acting outside the established laws and customs of war. Yet, these are not far removed from the more sympathetic terms of ‘people’s army’, ‘foreign/political exile’, and ‘freedom fighter’. Understanding how and why these terms converge underpins your learning and helps you make further discoveries.
How was it that the British Army fought the longest campaign of its history (Operation Banner) in Northern Ireland between 1969 and 2007, yet independent Ireland (the Republic of Ireland since 1949) developed as a perpetually neutral state?
You’ll examine this paradox through detailed investigation of the various military traditions in Ireland. These include a Protestant/Loyalist volunteering tradition, witnessed through those who defended Derry / Londonderry and Enniskillen in 1689, the Irish Volunteer movement of 1778-1792, the Yeomanry of 1796-1834, the Ulster Volunteer Force of 1913-1920, the Ulster Special Constabulary 1920-1970, Ulster Defence Regiment 1970-1992 and the various Loyalist paramilitary groups – Ulster Volunteer Force, Ulster Defence Association, Loyalist Volunteer Force, etc. which emerged from 1966.
The Republican military tradition seen with the United Irishmen of 1792-1803, the Young Irelanders of 1848, the Fenian movement of 1858-1916, the Irish Volunteers of 1913-16 and the Irish Republican Army in the many forms it has existed since 1916. The 'Wild Geese' tradition of Irishmen serving in foreign armies, most famously the Irish Brigade in the French army (1691-1792) and also witnessed in the Spanish Army from the early 1600s and in the American Civil War armies. The tradition of Irish service within the British army as both regular and amateur soldiers will be considered in detail, with particularly a focus on the role of the Irish soldier in the British Empire. The role of the Irish Army in United Nations Peacekeeping missions since 1960 will also be investigated.
How did Africans resist and eventually defeat apartheid in South Africa and white minority rule in Zimbabwe and how did this shape the world we live in today?
You’ll examine the methods by which white supremacy was institutionalised and practiced in these countries in the latter half of the twentieth century. Learning how Africans were not passive actors in this process.
You’ll understand how the trajectory of the linked struggles developed across the twentieth century, culminating in majority rule in Zimbabwe in 1980 and South Africa in 1994. The liberation struggle in southern Africa captivated the world. You’ll expand the context to understand how it connected to the wider decolonisation movement and the Cold War. In doing so, you evaluate the dynamics of anti-colonial nationalism, the tactics and strategy of armed insurrection, the gendered nature of the struggle and the ambiguities of independence. This will equip you with the skills to evaluate the legacy of individuals such as Nelson Mandela and Robert Mugabe on the world today.
History is written by the victors, but in this module, we will explore what happens to those who lost. This special subject addresses the loyalists during the American Revolutionary era, who for a host of reasons sought to resist the tide of movement towards US independence using any means at their disposal – ideological, economic, spiritual, physical, and emotional.
The loyalists were among the great losers during the Revolutionary War - estimates of between 60,000-80,000 departed at its end, repatriating in clusters throughout the British Empire. They were a diverse lot, mobilised by diverse interests – including within their number thousands of Native Americans and enslaved people as well as wealthy whites, Anglicans, women, soldiers, ethnic minorities, and others who had benefited from royal patronage or who disparaged the Patriot movement.
You’ll examine the culture of royalism on the eve of the Revolution, the experiences and arguments during the Revolution (including their military history and the battles for hearts and minds), and the diasporic communities of loyalists who moved to the British Isles, Sierra Leone, Nova Scotia and elsewhere. Besides working chronologically through these themes and issues, you will develop skills, work in, and be assessed in primary source analysis (consulting the Loyalist Claims), and digital humanities (pursuing the digital mapping of loyalists).
Today, we think of hospitals as relatively safe spaces where we go to undergo procedures, be cared for by professionals and regain our health. In the past, people felt differently about hospitals.
Many people feared the hospital, with its unfamiliar smells, restrictive regimes and poor outcomes for patients. From the late nineteenth century, medical spaces, including hospitals, grew significantly in number, and specialist institutions were established to treat a range of illnesses. In the twentieth century, in addition to the increase in the number of hospitals, other spaces were repurposed where health was measured and promoted – from the workplace to the school.
New technological developments in transport, treatment techniques and innovations changed the spaces of medical care, and special institutions like asylums and children’s hospitals were established.
You will first focus on understanding the hospital in the nineteenth and twentieth century, through the eyes of the patients who were treated there, and the changing concept of hospitals, and their purpose in the community. You will then examine themes centred around hospitals, such as environment, care, space, and gender to both broaden and deepen your understanding of medical history.
This special subject will help you evaluate the debate surrounding how Napoleon’s Empire exported the French Revolution not just to Europe but the world. You’ll take an alternative means of engaging with the familiar historical category of 'Empire.' The focus on French expansion abroad, in the early nineteenth century, will challenge you to develop a systematic understanding of the Napoleonic Empire not in national terms; but in its Global and European repercussions.
To do this you will explore processes of acculturation and international competition the betrayal of the Revolution’s programme of human rights and liberalism. Examining, in broad multi-national manner, the complex interaction between centre and periphery, not to mention anti-imperialist resistance to Napoleonic exploitation but military and economic.
In short, you will evaluate critically the French Empire in its many facets. And you will be urged actively to pursue your individual interests in either war and society, Empire, political culture and/or gender to focus your studies around your own passions.
Saints were the celebrities of medieval Europe – their extraordinary lives, gruesome deaths, and miraculous relics commanded a profound influence across culture and society. They served as models, protectors, and sources of constant inspiration for people from all walks of life throughout the Middle Ages.
Through this special subject, you’ll explore the development of the cult of saints across a wide range of examples of charismatic cults. Together, we will explore how the power and presence of a saint could be inscribed in reliquaries, expressed through hagiographic literature, and affirmed in archetypal works of art and architecture.
We begin in Late Antiquity up and end on the brink of the Reformation, focussing our attention on the practice of devotion and its interface with visual and material culture, including architecture, sculpture, painting, manuscripts, reliquaries, music, literature, and liturgy. Our approach will take form as a series of case studies of specific places – from Canterbury to Paris, Castile, Rome, Prague, and beyond – set within a wider context of Christian devotional traditions. In so doing, you will evaluate how medieval art shaped the experience of veneration and the true significance of saints, relics and churches in medieval Europe.
How was sexual behaviour monitored and controlled in the past? Were the Victorians really as sexually repressed as is commonly assumed? And have we become more sexually liberated over time?
Through examining the ways in which the state, the medical profession, the church, social commentators and others have responded to sexual change in Britain since 1800, you will explore, and look to answer these important questions. In doing so, you will examine key political, economic, social and medical issues and events that shaped discourse, attitudes and behaviours surrounding sex and health. In untangling public discourse and private behaviour, you will be able to consider: the extent to which the regulation of sex and health has been successful; the ways in which attitudes and behaviours changed across the period and varied according to geography, social class, sexual preference, gender and ethnicity; and how they affect our attitudes towards sex and health today. You’ll cover subjects including contraceptive technologies; venereal disease; abortion and infanticide; eugenics; same-sex relationships; and sex crimes in historical context and in our world today.
When and how was the ‘old order’ (ancien régime) of medieval and early modern European kingdoms constituted? Charlemagne (r. 768–814) is often called ‘the father of Europe’, and it was under the rule of his dynasty, the Carolingians, that European political institutions and culture were consolidated.
This special subject tracks the rise and fall of the Carolingian Empire (751–888), examining how Charlemagne and his successors tried to bring order to every aspect of society, including government, law, religious practice, economic activity, education, and even individual behaviour.
One feature of this drive for order was an unprecedented volume of written documentation, which allows you not only to perceive a coherent agenda but also to test the claims of the reformers. Seen from another angle, however, Charlemagne and his family were merely brutal warlords, whose conquests and plunder enabled them to employ propagandists who could portray an oppressive regime as ordered, reforming and providential. By considering whether these competing interpretations can be reconciled, you will uncover the remarkable history of a medieval empire which profoundly shaped the development of Europe.
Why do we care so much about the Nazis? This is one of the core questions you will explore in this module. You will have the opportunity to engage with the ways in which the history, memory and myths of the Third Reich – perhaps the defining historical phenomenon of the twentieth century – have been constructed and interpreted around the world since 1945.
This will be approached through four sections. The first will consider the nature of the Third Reich itself and of its downfall; the second will delve into the thorny topic of justice and restitution; the third will think explicitly about memory and the presentation of histories of the Third Reich; and the fourth will look at the political legacies of the Third Reich, especially on the European far-right.
As this suggests, the lessons learned through this module are both timely and important, offering you the chance to think about a history which you have likely encountered on countless prior occasions in a new and innovative way. Alongside the topics mentioned above, throughout the module, you will be encouraged to think about the countless ways in which Nazism has infiltrated the international social, political and cultural discourse since 1945.
Why, and with what consequences, did a colonial conflict in Indochina become a globally significant American war in Vietnam? We begin in the aftermath of the Second World War with the French Indochina War and chart the United States’ growing concern with the region, the Americanisation of the war in Vietnam under President Lyndon B. Johnson and eventual disengagement under President Richard M. Nixon.
In addition to placing the conflicts in their regional and international contexts, you will consider the military strategies implemented in the field and the domestic challenges inherent to fighting a “limited war.” The second part of the course will focus on the domestic aspects of the American war including the role of the media, the evolution of the anti-war movement, and civil-military tensions. In addition to acquiring substantive knowledge, you will develop core skills, including accessing and critically assessing primary sources, communicating effectively orally and in your written work, as well as collaborating on work in groups.
How has the Second World War shaped post-war Europe? Nearly eighty years after Nazi Germany’s unconditional surrender, we are still living in the shadow of the Second World War.
The end of the Cold War has seen an upsurge in commemorative activity ranging from new memorials to court cases. This special subject invites you to consider the impact of the Second World War on European societies between 1945 and the present day.
You’ll examine and compare the ways in which contemporaries and later generations have tried to make sense of the upheaval and horrors of the Second World War. You’ll also explore a host of commemorative practices and media (ranging from architecture and popular histories to film and war memorials) and their socio-cultural contexts. Methodologically, we will explore the cultural history of the legacy of war. Cultural history here means the study of languages, practices, artefacts and gestures through which events are encoded by those who live through them or in their aftermath.
How did people understand the world around them in the period from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment? Were the diamonds and rubies on reliquaries still filled with divine power? How was demonic magic thought to work in an age of religious conflict? What did the influx of new flora and fauna from the New World mean for medicine and recipes?
Through this special subject, you will approach these questions through the prism of objects and art from the period, as well as through the texts that developed intellectual approaches to the material world.
A central component of your learning will be examination of evidence from early modern collections, such as the Kunstkammer of the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II in Prague (in 1576-1612), as they emerge as central repositories of early modern knowledge. You will explore early modern approaches to matter through five interconnected topics: beliefs, the body (including senses and emotions), knowledge, nature and art. Throughout this work, you will develop specific skills in material approaches to history through working with museum collections, heritage sites and archives, object handling and close looking.
On this special subject you will study one of the most important events in interwar European history, the Spanish Civil War of 1936-39. Stressing the military aspects of the Civil War, including its origins in the Rif War (1921-26), you’ll combine chronological with thematic approaches.
You’ll start from the beginning, studying the army rebellion of July 1936 which unleashed civil war, the subsequent revolution and terror in the government zone of control, militarisation and terror in the rebel areas of control, the Battle of Madrid, the war and the armies, the war in the air, the war at sea, the nature and impact of foreign intervention, regionalism and centralisation, the Battles of Euzkadi, Teruel and the Ebro, and the final defeat of the Spanish government in 1939.
In addition to an understanding of the ‘bird’s eye’ view of strategy and battles, you will also explore aspects of conscription, desertion, discipline, civil-military relations and morale. You will further examine the ‘home fronts’ and the polarisation of politics associated with anarchism, socialism, communism, fascism, Carlism, monarchism and Catholicism. This gives you an in-depth understanding of a conflict which continues to be of relevance in the modern day.
Explore the Middle Ages in c. 1200-1450 through the lens of diplomacy, war and peace. You will focus on the diplomatic exchange and the nature of international relations in those centuries, looking at the interaction of diplomacy and war among polities. In doing so, you will especially address the on-going Anglo-French conflicts, which characterised this period and culminated in the outbreak of the Hundred Years’ War (1337-1450).
In your first term you will be introduced to the modalities of Medieval diplomacy, specifically looking at themes such as: the historiographical debate on Medieval diplomacy; diplomacy and state formation in late Medieval Europe; conflicts; diplomatic and administrative practices; conveyance of messages; diplomatic documents; envoys and negotiators; the cost of diplomacy; gifts and gift exchange; gastronomic diplomacy.
Later, in the second term, you will look at the practice of Medieval diplomacy: war and peace-making: the Hundred Years’ War; truces; sureties, captives and ransoms: the case of Louis IX (1250); peace treaties; the exchange of hostages; guaranteeing agreements; arbitration and friendship; the role of the papacy as peace-maker in the Hundred Years’ War; Christian-Muslim diplomacy; diplomacy and conversion; the beginnings of international law; humanism and diplomacy: the Prince of Niccolò Machiavelli. Completing your study and deepening your understand of the late Middle ages, from war, to peace.
Teaching is by a combination of lectures, providing a broad overview, and seminars, which focus on discussing particular issues in smaller groups of students and academics. Lectures and seminars use a variety of materials, including original documents, films, documentaries, illuminated manuscripts, as well as talks and presentations.
The School also has excellent student support arrangements. Alongside our Student Support Officer, each student is assigned an academic tutor. All module convenors keep regular office hours and are accessible by email. The School has a policy of returning at least one essay on each module in a one-to-one personal meeting, allowing for additional verbal feedback and discussion.
For a student studying full time, each academic year of the programme will comprise 1200 learning hours which include both direct contact hours and private study hours. The precise breakdown of hours will be subject dependent and will vary according to modules.
Methods of assessment will vary according to subject specialism and individual modules.
Please refer to the individual module details under Course Structure.
For course aims and learning outcomes please see the course specification.
I was able to get onto a training program with Canterbury Archaeological Trust, where I am currently working as an Archaeologist.
As a Kent graduate, you will be ready to construct and lead engaging arguments, be quick to recognise context and skilled to propose alternative solutions. And your wide-ranging work with historical sources will improve your ability to think critically, take part in debate and make informed decisions, allowing you to effect change in the places you want to see it.
Career prospects for history graduates are wide ranging, with our students launching careers in everything from teaching to business, research to politics.
The creative problem solving, critical thinking and communication skills you develop at Kent can prepare you for a career in any field. The study of History at Kent equips you with the adaptability to thrive in an exciting career in whatever area you are passionate about. This means Kent’s History graduates are ready to step into a career of limitless opportunities, from education to business, charity to government; you’ll have the talent and insight to build the career you want.
*The Government announced on 4 November 2024 that tuition fees in England for Home students will increase to £9,535 from £9,250 for the academic year 2025/26. This increase requires Parliamentary approval, which is expected to be given in early/mid 2025.
Tuition fees may be increased in the second and subsequent years of your course. Detailed information on possible future increases in tuition fees is contained in the Tuition Fees Increase Policy.
The University will assess your fee status as part of the application process. If you are uncertain about your fee status you may wish to seek advice from UKCISA before applying.
For details of when and how to pay fees and charges, please see our Student Finance Guide.
Fees for undergraduate students are £1,900.
Fees for undergraduate students are £1,430.
Students studying abroad for less than one academic year will pay full fees according to their fee status.
Students will require regular access to a desktop computer/laptop with an internet connection to use the University of Kent’s online resources and systems. Please see information about the minimum computer requirements for study.
Find out more about accommodation and living costs, plus general additional costs that you may pay when studying at Kent.
Kent offers generous financial support schemes to assist eligible undergraduate students during their studies. See our funding page for more details.
We have a range of subject-specific awards and scholarships for academic, sporting and musical achievement.
Next steps
If you are from the UK or Ireland, you must apply for this course through UCAS. If you are not from the UK or Ireland, you can apply through UCAS or directly on our website if you have never used UCAS and you do not intend to use UCAS in the future.
We welcome applications from students all around the world with a wide range of international qualifications.
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