Overview
At Essex we’re about social conscience, wondering why, and understanding the bigger picture. We teach you to find your own critical voice and view history through the eyes of different people, telling hidden histories that might otherwise be forgotten.
This degree allows you to explore challenging questions about the impact of political, social and cultural change on individuals, social groups and regions. From African-American slavery to Stalin’s Russia—from households in Essex to witchcraft in Germany—from the history of disease to revolutions in China, we urge you to explore the past in order to better understand the present.
On the four-year MHist Version of this course (five years if taking a year abroad or placement year), you develop the same key skills for History as on the BA, as well as investigating more advanced topics by achieving a masters-level qualification. At undergraduate level, you’ll have the flexibility to choose from a wide range of optional modules about subjects close to home and further afield, in addition to advanced masters level topics, such as public history, history and identity, and conflict and remembrance.
You are taught by award-winning academics from all over the world: our corridors are truly cosmopolitan. Our students love us too – we’re top 30 for overall student satisfaction for History in the National Student Survey 2021
Study abroad
Your education extends beyond the university campus. We support you in expanding your education through offering the opportunity to spend a year or a term studying abroad at one of our partner universities. The four-year version of our degree allows you to spend the third year abroad or employed on a placement abroad, while otherwise remaining identical to the three-year course.
Studying abroad allows you to experience other cultures and languages, to broaden your degree socially and academically, and to demonstrate to employers that you are mature, adaptable, and organised.
Placement year
When you arrive at Essex, you can decide whether you would like to combine your course with a placement year. You will be responsible for finding your placement, but with support and guidance provided by both your department and our Employability and Careers Centre.
If you complete a placement year you’ll only pay 20% of your usual tuition fee to Essex for that year.
Our expert staff
Our staff are among world leaders in their field, and our enthusiasm for our subject is infectious. We welcome you into our scholarly community, and value your views.
Our teaching and research concentrates on the period from 1500 to the present and covers a wide geographical area that includes British and European history, as well as Latin America, the USA, China, Russia and Africa.
Specialist facilities
- We have several Special Collections in history, including the Essex Society for Archaeology and History Library, the Harsnett Collection, the Hervey Benham Oral History Sound Archive, the Bensusan Collection, and the Colchester Medical Society Library
- Access the UK Data Archive, a national service provider digital resources for historians, which is particularly strong in nineteenth and twentieth-century economic and social history
- Attend an exciting programme of events
- Access a variety of textbooks and journals in our Albert Sloman Library which houses materials on Latin America, Russia and the US that are of national significance
Your future
A history degree opens the doors to many employment opportunities. In addition to the opportunity to learn about the past and come to a better understanding of the present, a course in history also provides you with important skills that will be of value after leaving university. You learn to absorb, analyse and assess a wide variety of information and viewpoints, to express your arguments in oral and written form, and to think and work both independently and in co-operation with others.
Our graduates have gone on to have careers in a wide variety of fields including teaching, the Civil Service, Law enforcement, charity administration, librarianship and much more.
Some of our recent graduates have found employment as:
- a warden for the Royal Collection at Windsor Castle
- a planning support officer for a local council
- a senior underwriting assistant at CNA Insurance Company Limited
- a researcher at the House of Commons
- a graduate trainee for the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew
- a library assistant for the University of Cambridge
We also work with the university’s Student Development Team to help you find out about further work experience, internships, placements, and voluntary opportunities.
Why we’re great
- Achieve a masters level qualification with this four-year course variant.
- You can choose from a unique and diverse range of topics, periods and countries.
- Top 30 for overall student satisfaction for History in the National Student Survey 2021
Structure
Course structure
We offer a flexible course structure with a mixture of core/compulsory modules, and optional modules chosen from lists.
Our research-led teaching is continually evolving to address the latest challenges and breakthroughs in the field. The course content is therefore reviewed on an annual basis to ensure our courses remain up-to-date so modules listed are subject to change.
Teaching and learning disclaimer
Following the impact of the pandemic, we made changes to our teaching and assessment to ensure our current students could continue with their studies uninterrupted and safely. These changes included courses being taught through blended delivery, normally including some face-to-face teaching, online provision, or a combination of both across the year.
The teaching and assessment methods listed show what is currently approved for 2022 entry; changes may be necessary if, by the beginning of this course, we need to adapt the way we’re delivering them due to the external environment, and to allow you to continue to receive the best education possible safely and seamlessly.
