History (BA)

Through lectures, seminars, workshops and tutorials, you'll explore historical debates, analyse evidence and deepen your understanding of the past.

Working closely with expert academics and fellow students, you'll challenge established interpretations and develop your own evidence-based arguments. As you progress through the degree, you'll have increasing opportunities to pursue your interests through independent research, culminating in a dissertation on a topic of your choice. 

We provide opportunities for learning and teaching through the medium of Welsh. Subject to staff availability, seminar teaching in Welsh is available on some or all of the core modules. Welsh language supervision is also available in year 2 and the final year for longer projects and for dissertations.

Our teaching methods foster intellectual skills, such as critical thinking, close analysis, evaluating evidence, constructing arguments, using theory and the effective deployment of language in writing and in debate. We also help you gain experience in team working, independent research and time management in a supportive environment.

How will I be supported?

You'll be supported by a dedicated network of academic and professional staff. Your personal tutor will provide academic and pastoral guidance, helping you reflect on your progress, navigate challenges and make the most of your university experience. 

Module leaders, lecturers and seminar tutors are available to offer subject-specific support, while academic supervisors provide tailored guidance for independent research projects and your dissertation. 

You'll also have access to a range of digital learning tools and resources that support your studies, helping you stay connected, organised and engaged throughout your degree. 

You'll also have access to a range of student services and support, co-located in the Centre for Student Life. This includes services relating to Advice and Money, Student Futures, Counselling, Health and Wellbeing, the Student Disability Service, Academic Study Skills and Student Mentoring.

How will I be assessed?

You'll be assessed through a range of formats, including essays, exams, source criticisms, research projects, presentations, reviews, creative-critical portfolios and blog posts. 

Many assessments encourage you to apply your historical knowledge in innovative ways and for different audiences. Depending on your modules, you might design a museum exhibition, create a guide to historical sources, produce a podcast, or develop digital content for online platforms. Longer research-based assignments and essays give you the opportunity to explore historical questions, issues and debates in greater depth. 

You'll learn how to analyse evidence, construct persuasive arguments, communicate effectively, collaborate with others and connect historical understanding to contemporary local, national and global issues. 

Individual and group feedback on assessments and other learning provides you with the opportunity to reflect on work and build confidence.

What skills will I practise and develop?

The Learning Outcomes for this Programme describe what you will be able to do as a result of your study at Cardiff University. They will help you to understand what is expected of you. 

The Learning Outcomes for this Programme can be found below:

Knowledge & Understanding:   

On successful completion of the Programme you will be able to:

KU1: engage critically and conceptually with the changing assumptions and methods that historians use to explain the past

KU2: identify and critically analyse the diversity of human history, continuity, and change, across a wide geographical and chronological range

KU3: demonstrate systematic knowledge and understanding of the complexity and diversity of the past in a single country or in relation to a particular theme

KU4: demonstrate a critical awareness of the limits of historical knowledge and the evolving nature of that knowledge and understanding

Intellectual Skills:           

On successful completion of the Programme you will be able to:

IS1: critically evaluate the nature of historiographical agreement and disagreement

IS2: utilise knowledge and appropriate skills and methods to identify and critically evaluate historical change

IS3: formulate and justify arguments about a range of historical issues, problems, and debates using historiographical ideas and methods

IS4: identify and locate appropriate primary sources, reflect upon their nature, and analyse them critically to address questions and solve problems

Professional Practical Skills:      

On successful completion of the Programme you will be able to:

PS1: demonstrate critical thinking, reasoning, and the ability to assimilate and summarise complex information and ideas though the independent selection and critical analysis of an appropriate range of evidence

PS2: ask cogent and focused questions and pursue answers to these questions through structured enquiry, selecting and interrogating an appropriate range of evidence

PS3: summarise and critically appraise the relative merits and demerits of alternative views and interpretations and evaluate their significance

PS4: design, undertake, and present an historical, historiographical, or conceptual research project

Transferable/Key Skills:

On successful completion of the Programme you will be able to:

TS1: present complex findings and arguments clearly, concisely, and persuasively in a variety of formats

TS2: show enterprise skills to solve problems and analyse diverse, partial or ambiguous evidence using critical thinking, initiative, and creativity

TS3: prepare and give a presentation and provide clear and accurate supporting materials in an appropriate format

TS4: effectively manage your own learning

TS5: effectively communicate complex information and arguments to diverse audiences, either individually or collaboratively as part of a team

Other information

The degree is team-taught, overseen by the Programme Convenor. You are supported by a number of different staff, some focussing on academic performance in a particular area and some looking at learning and progress more holistically.

Teaching methods include a mixture of lectures, seminars, workshops, individual work and group tasks, one-to-one tutorials, and self-directed learning. You will also undertake independent study and research, with guidance from academic tutors. These teaching methods enable you to develop communication and analytical skills, and to develop critical thinking in a supportive environment. The teaching covers all the key competencies, and is enhanced by the inclusion of digital learning resources.

The focus of assessment is on supporting you to develop your ideas, skills, and competencies. We use a wide range of assessment methods, including coursework essays, source criticisms, critical reviews, examinations, online tests, posters, oral presentations, and group presentations. Progression is built into assessment, in that you will do smaller guided tasks in year one, as well as formative work in years two and three. As part of your skills training in year one, you will be supported in understanding how the assessments work, what is expected of you, how you will be marked, and how to make the most of your feedback. Progression is also evident in the growing emphasis on lengthier, independent work culminating in a 10,000-word dissertation in your final year.

Welsh language teaching

We provide significant opportunities for learning and teaching through the medium of Welsh. Subject to staff availability, seminar teaching in Welsh is available on some or all of the major core courses, and at least one Welsh language option is offered in years two and four. Welsh language supervision is also available for long essays and dissertations, and students may elect to write all or some of their assessed work and examinations in Welsh.