BA (Honours) History: Broad-based history pathway

Stage 1

You’ll begin your studies with the compulsory 60-credit module The arts past and present (AA100)The arts past and present::This broadly-focused course introduces you to university-level study in the arts across a range of subject areas - art history, classical studies, English, history, philosophy, music and religious studies. It is structured around four themes, in order to guide you through some of the basic concerns of arts subjects: Reputations; Tradition and Dissent; Cultural Encounters; and Place and Leisure. Your studies will range from poetry to string quartets, and from sculpture to short stories – across a wide variety of cultures and historical periods. This key introductory Level 1 course is also a useful means of acquiring the key skills required for further study of arts and humanities subjects.undergraduate.qualification.pathways.Q01-1,module,AA100,,1, an absorbing and broad-based grounding in the arts and humanities, including:

• history
• philosophy
• music
• literature
• art history
• classical studies
• religious studies.

You’ll develop essential study skills while engaging with a wide range of topics, periods and approaches and enhancing your enjoyment and understanding of fascinating and diverse aspects of human culture.

We recommend that you build on this with two 30-credit Level 1 modules designed to hone your critical and analytical skills and prepare you for study at Level 2. In the first, Voices and texts (A150)Voices and texts::Designed to follow our key introductory course in arts and humanities, The arts past and present (AA100), which you are strongly advised to study first, this course focuses on language in a wide range of contexts and from the perspective of different academic subjects. These include subjects familiar from studying The arts past and present - classical studies, history, literature, music, religious studies - and two additional subjects, creative writing and English language studies. Voices and texts will help you to prepare for your studies at Level 2 by giving you opportunities to sharpen your analytical skills and to develop new approaches to your own writing.undergraduate.qualification.pathways.Q01-1,module,A150,,1, you’ll explore language, particularly English, in a wide range of contexts and from the perspective of different academic subjects, including history. In the second, Making sense of things: an introduction to material culture (A151)Making sense of things: an introduction to material culture::This course is designed to follow our key introductory Level 1 course, The arts past and present (AA100), which you are strongly advised to study first. It introduces you to the study of objects, or material culture, in both the past and present from a variety of different perspectives. These include heritage studies, art history, classical studies, history, philosophy and religious studies. Making sense of things will prepare you for Level 2 study, giving you opportunities to develop a range of critical and analytical skills within the context of this exciting new subject.undergraduate.qualification.pathways.Q01-1,module,A151,,1, you’ll be introduced to the study of objects, in both the past and present. From October 2014, these 30-credit modules are being merged into one 60-credit module Voices, texts and material culture (A105).

Alternatively, you could choose from other options which include languages, social sciences and design.

Stage 2

You’ll begin Stage 2 with the compulsory 60-credit module Exploring history: medieval to modern 1400-1900 (A200)Exploring history: medieval to modern 1400-1900::This course is a varied and wide-ranging introduction to historical study and will teach you the techniques of professional historians. It covers: fifteenth-century France, Burgundy and England during the Hundred Years’ War; the Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century; the civil wars of the British Isles in the seventeenth century; slavery and serfdom in the Atlantic world in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries; the development of nation states in western Europe following the French Revolution; and European imperialism in Africa. To ensure coherence and focus, the course is linked by common themes, enabling you to study a long chronological period.undergraduate.qualification.pathways.Q01-1,module,A200,,1, a varied and wide-ranging introduction to historical study and to the techniques of professional historians. You’ll explore the Hundred Years’ War; the Protestant Reformation; the civil wars of the British Isles in the seventeenth century; slavery and serfdom in the Atlantic world in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries; the development of nation states in western Europe following the French Revolution; and European imperialism in Africa.

You’ll then choose one from a range of 60-credit modules. You can develop your interest in the classical world with Exploring the classical world (A219)Exploring the classical world::This course is for anyone interested in classical Greece and Rome. You will investigate a wide range of topics (such as the world of Homer; political uses of theatre; art and rhetoric in Athens; the history of the Roman Republican period; Latin poetry and Roman social history), studying sources as varied as poetry, drama, history writing, art, architecture, archaeology, inscriptions, and philosophy. Whether your interest in the classical world is long-standing or new, this course will give you a fresh perspective, develop your skills in analysis and evaluation and lay a firm foundation for further exploration.undergraduate.qualification.pathways.Q01-1,module,A219,,1; or you can explore the history of medicine in Europe from the Renaissance to the early twentieth century in Medicine and society in Europe 1500-1930 (A218)Medicine and society in Europe 1500-1930::This fascinating introduction to the last five centuries of medical history traces developments in medicine from the Renaissance to the early twentieth century. It shows how a heritage of medical thought and practice inherited from classical Greece gradually became a recognisably modern medicine. The course aims to set medicine in its social, political and economic contexts, looking at the patient’s changing experience of illness, their access to care, and the role and identity of healers across Europe. It shows how western medicine interacted with ideas from contemporary science, religion, and other systems of thought.undergraduate.qualification.pathways.Q01-1,module,A218,,1; or you can study heritage – what it is, how it is created and how it’s used at local, regional, national and global levels with Understanding global heritage (AD281)Understanding global heritage::What is the nature and value of heritage? Why are certain objects, places and practices considered more worthy of protection than others? This course will introduce you to the study of heritage and its function at local, regional, national and global levels. You’ll develop a critical understanding of how heritage is created and consumed across different cultures, and the roles heritage fulfils in contemporary and past societies. Using case material from around the world you’ll explore the global scope of heritage, from the ways in which local communities use heritage to build their own sense of identity, to the ways in which the state employs heritage in nation building.undergraduate.qualification.pathways.Q01-1,module,AD281,,1; or you could decide to complete Stage 2 by continuing your study of interdisciplinary humanities with From Enlightenment to Romanticism c.1780-1830 (A207)From Enlightenment to Romanticism c.1780-1830::This interdisciplinary course is designed to give you a critical understanding of this crucially formative period in modern European history. At its heart is a range of European texts associated with the epoch-making transition from Enlightenment to Romanticism. The texts include music, philosophical and scientific writings, historical documents, poetry, paintings and architecture by figures as diverse as Mozart, Rousseau, Davy, Byron, Goethe, Schubert and Delacroix – and topics as varied as Napoleon, the French Revolution, religious revival, African exploration and slavery, the Lake District, New Lanark, the Soane Museum and Brighton Pavilion.undergraduate.qualification.pathways.Q01-1,module,A207,,1, a fascinating study of this formative period in modern European history.

There are two modules in English local history which are offered in collaboration with Oxford University Department of Continuing Education.  For further information about these modules, including how to apply, see our Collaborative schemes website. (If you live in England and intend to apply for a student loan, please note that as these two modules are offered in collaboration with another university they are not eligible for student loan funding via the OU.)

Throughout this stage, you’ll continue to develop your critical thinking, writing and analysis skills. You’ll also begin to work and think more independently in relation to a range of problems and questions posed by your course of study.

Stage 3

You’ll start Stage 3 with one of two 60-credit modules. In Empire: 1492-1975 (A326)Empire: 1492-1975::Empires have had a remarkable impact on world history over the last five centuries. The six blocks of this course each focus on a particular question, from ‘What are empires?’ to ‘Why do empires end?’, considering the British Empire in detail before drawing comparisons with others, including those of France, the Netherlands, Russia, China and Spain. You’ll study a wide range of primary sources, including letters and diaries, newspapers, political papers, paintings, photographs and newsreel footage. The course is a natural choice if you have already studied Exploring history: medieval to modern 1400-1900 (A200), and can be included in a range of degree programmes.undergraduate.qualification.pathways.Q01-1,module,A326,,1 you can explore the astonishing impact that the rise and fall of empires has had on the development of the modern world over the last five centuries; or you can study the impact of conflict in twentieth century Europe in Europe 1914-1989: war, peace, modernity (A327)Europe 1914-1989: war, peace, modernity::This course will give you an overview of Europe's twentieth-century history. It begins with Europe on the eve of the First World War and ends with the reunification of Germany at the end of the Cold War. As well as analysing political and military developments, it will introduce you to the key themes in Europe’s economic, social, medical and cultural history. A central focus of the course is how historians have studied the period. You will be introduced to historical debates, and to the vast resources for the study of twentieth-century history that are now being made available online.undergraduate.qualification.pathways.Q01-1,module,A327,,1. You can also study both modules – thereby completing your degree.

Alternatively, you could choose your final module from a list of Level 3 options which give you an opportunity to explore a range of topics and periods, in line with your own interests, and to continue to apply and develop your skills as a historian. 

Two of these Level 3 options – Modern Scottish history: 1707 to the present (CDDR300) and Medieval and early modern Scotland 1100-1707 (CDDR320) – are produced in collaboration with the University of Dundee and Local history via the internet (COXR305) is produced in collaboration with Oxford University Department for Continuing Education. For information about how to apply for these collaborative modules, see our Collaborative schemes website.

(If you live in England and intend to apply for a student loan, please note that as these two modules are offered in collaboration with other universities they are not eligible for student loan funding via the OU.)

At Level 3, you’ll work more independently than you did at Levels 1 and 2, and will devote some of your study time to exploring topics and issues in greater detail.

If you have already completed some successful study at higher education level at another institution you may be able to transfer credit for this study and count it towards an Open University qualification. If you wish to apply to transfer credit you must do so as soon as possible, and before you register for your chosen qualification. If you are awarded credit for study completed elsewhere, you may find that you need to study fewer OU modules to complete your qualification with us.

Visit our Credit Transfer site for more information and details of how to apply for credit transfer.