History with Military History, BA (Hons)

Course summary

This programme engages with the newest military history research, addressing conflict, communities and identities to take military history beyond ’great men, great horses, great battles’.The BA History with Military History will, of course, allow you to study aspects of national armies, world wars, and major battles. But our cutting-edge approach to the discipline also means expanding the way you think about militaries and learning to make links between military history and politics, society, gender, race, and culture. Study military history from many different anglesOur military history places armed forces in broad contexts, examining how they are influenced by the societies from which they are drawn, and how they have influenced those societies. Central to this is an understanding of the politics of the military, analysing the causes for which people fight and the interplay between national identities and the military. Gender, (homo)sexuality, race, non-combatants, and ‘home fronts’ all figure here. National armies are still part of our approach to military history, as are those labelled ‘freedom fighters’ by some and ‘terrorists’ by others. Consequently, this programme analyses militaries in a broad sense, including those who took part in revolutions through arms, and those who resisted occupations and conquest by military means.Explore a wide range of option modulesThe modules offered on this programme provide you with a number of different approaches to studying military history. ‘Central Powers in the First World War’, for example, analyses not only campaigns of conquest and nerve-wracking battles but also everyday life on the home fronts. It explores popular support for the war and seeks to explain how ‘national communities’ were first built and then broken under unprecedented suffering and deprivation. Modules on the USA’s engagement in Vietnam explore a national approach to a traumatic conflict and the link between military matters and politics. Different types of ‘militaries’ are covered in modules on resistance movements in the Middle East and paramilitary groups in Ireland. Our third year Special Subject on Ireland’s First World War includes an optional field trip to Western Front sites in France and Belgium (Covid-19 permitting).Learn from expert staff in a global environmentMilitary History at Goldsmiths takes place in one of the most innovative departments in the UK which is stretching the boundaries of what ‘military’ history means. Our staff have won some of the world’s top prizes in the field. We are at the cutting-edge of the latest thinking in the field as we edit the British Journal for Military History which publishes the latest research from around the globe. All of this makes Goldsmiths an exciting place to study for anyone who wants to learn more about the type of military history they know, while also exploring new aspects of the subject. Study with your career in mindAlongside intellectual and personal development, we equip you with the skills and experience you need to progress into a rewarding career. This might be through our History in Practice work-placement module or through other career-orientated opportunities and forms of assessment.

Year 1 In your first year, you will take a number of compulsory modules, and two 15 credit modules offered by the Department of History. Compulsory modules: Global Connections: the violence and exchanges that shaped the modern world Historical Controversies Reading and Writing History Historical Perspectives Year 2 In your second year, you will choose 30 credits of modules: The Central Powers in the First World War, 1914-18 A History of Resistance in the Middle East Modern Revolutions in Comparative Perspective The USA in the Era of the Vietnam War, 1954-75 Yugoslavia: History and Disintegration The Spanish Civil War: Politics, the Military, and Culture Latin American Revolutions 1945-1990 Nationalism and Unionism in Ireland, 1798-1998 You will also select 90 credits of year 2 modules approved annually by the Department of History, up to 30 credits of which this may be a related studies module offered by another Goldsmiths Department. Up to 30 credits can be a University of London intercollegiate Group II module. Year 3 In your third year, you will take the following 30 credit Special Subject: Ireland’ s First World War OR a University of London Intercollegiate Group III Special Subject module from a list approved annually by our partner institutions. These include Birkbeck, King’s College London, Queen Mary, Royal Holloway, University College London. You will complete a 30 credit dissertation alongside your chosen Special Subject. You will also choose 60 credits of option modules from a list approved annually by the Department of History. Please note that due to staff research commitments not all of these modules may be available every year.