History and Politics BA (Hons)

University of Oxford

About the course

The History and Politics course brings together complementary but distinct disciplines to form a coherent and stimulating programme.

The degree not only enables students to set contemporary political problems in their historical perspective, but also equips them to approach the study of the past with the conceptual rigour derived from political science. Students are required to study quantitative methods in preparation for year 2 Social Science papers.

A special feature of the Oxford course is the chance to choose from a broad range of subjects across the two disciplines, making it possible, for example, to combine medieval history options with analysis of contemporary political systems.

The intellectual rigour of this course benefits from the expertise of Oxford’s political theorists and historians in the history of political thought. It is also strengthened by the thematic approach taken to European and World history teaching in the first year, combined with an emphasis on interdisciplinarity in a number of both Politics and History papers.

Oxford also possesses exceptional library provision for History in:

• the Bodleian Library
• the History Faculty Library
• the Weston Library’s special collections
• as well as the Social Sciences Library.

Careers

While some History and Politics graduates go on to further study and research to become professional historians and social scientists, others move into different areas.

Recent graduates have started their careers in:

• accountancy
• advertising
• archive work
• finance
• the Civil Service
• consultancy
• international charity work
• the media
• the law
• librarianship
• management consultancy
• museums
• politics
• publishing
• research
• social work
• teaching
• the theatre.

Graduates include a PhD researcher in political science, a senior account executive in public relations and a civil servant.