History and Politics, BA (Hons)

Course summary

Address some of the contemporary world's most pressing problems and explore their roots in the past with our BA History and Politics.Discover a thousand years of history while experiencing all the specialist areas on offer at the University of Reading. The Department of History's expertise covers a wide and diverse range of regions, from Europe and Africa to America, South Asia and the Middle East. We will teach you the skills you need to study and research history through an individual project of your choice. This joint degree enables you to address contemporary issues and trace them back to their historical roots.97% of our research outputs are rated ‘world leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’, meaning that the University of Reading is 6th highest in the UK for research outputs (Times Higher Education analysis of the latest REF 2021 – Politics and International Studies, when scoring by GPA Output). By studying politics, you will acquire a strong grounding in the fundamental elements of the subject such as political ideas and democratic processes. You can study a wide range of specialist core and optional modules, which cover topics such as British government and politics, European political integration, and political thinking.

The following modules have been approved in principle for delivery in 2025/26. Please note that as part of our current curriculum improvement process, all modules require final University approval and may be subject to change. Core modules for this course: Perspectives in History; Making History and You: Practices and Possibilities; Politics of Climate Change; Introduction to Contemporary Democracy; Introduction to Political Ideas; The Study of Politics; Dissertation in either History or Politics The University cannot guarantee that all optional modules will be available to all students who may wish to take them. Further information about the content of final approved modules will be available in the summer of 2024. We suggest that you regularly revisit our course page during this time to ensure you have the most up-to-date information regarding the modules offered on this programme. Check our website for more details about the course structure.