Bachelor of Arts (Honours)- History

The University of Western Australia

Honours in History is a one-year, full-time or two-year, part-time specialisation taken at the end of an undergraduate degree. It involves a 15,000-word dissertation on a subject of your choice, a six-point seminar unit entitled HIST4101 Historiography, and three one-semester seminars on specific historical topics. In these seminars students study particular texts focused on a historical period, theme or methodology, and work in small groups with an expert in the field, who is usually publishing in it. The experience is challenging but the best possible transition between undergraduate learning and independent research. The dissertation component provides a chance for students to try out extended research for themselves. Students work closely with their supervisor who helps them select an appropriate and engaging topic and meets regularly with students to check their progress and to offer assistance and ideas, but the dissertation is always the student's work and the academic high-point of a student's undergraduate career. Many find the experience draws them on to a higher degree in the discipline, while others, now equipped with a sounder understanding of their undergraduate major and academic processes, go on to make successful careers in such areas as teaching, commerce, the public service, and the arts and culture sectors.

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