Undergraduate

History and Politics

Ethan Harding and Evelyn Rose walk amongst historical sculptures in our Art Gallery
Politics student, James Parker, stands in the Houses of Parliament while on placement in Westminster.
Hull History student, Dane Mellows, sits smiling with an open book, and rows of book-filled shelves behind him.
The statue of Winston Churchill in Parliament Square, London, with Big Ben nearby.
Uncover the historical roots of today’s social, political and environmental debates. And tailor your course to suit your interests and career plans.
For three months, you could intern for an MP or peer in Westminster. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to study British politics up close.
Open up a range of careers: political researcher, historian, museum conservator, researcher, teacher, civil servant, journalist, marketer…
From classical civilisations to modern communities, you’ll explore how different periods of history continue to influence our world.
Ethan Harding and Evelyn Rose walk amongst historical sculptures in our Art Gallery
Politics student, James Parker, stands in the Houses of Parliament while on placement in Westminster.
Hull History student, Dane Mellows, sits smiling with an open book, and rows of book-filled shelves behind him.
The statue of Winston Churchill in Parliament Square, London, with Big Ben nearby.

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Code

Duration

Mode

  • Standard course
  • With a foundation year
  • September 2024
  • September 2025

History and politics are a natural combination. Knowledge of the past helps us to understand the present. And current politics provides insights into history.

On this joint degree, you’ll explore the progress of people, events and government through time. Applying historical insights to the study of present-day politics and governance.

Be inspired by Hull’s rich history and particular contribution to national politics. And get the chance to see modern politics up close on a three-month internship at Westminster.

  • Top 15 in the UK

    for Student Experience 1

  • Intern for an MP

    on a Westminster placement

  • Top grade

    for research impact 2

  • Study abroad

    at a partner institution

  • Top 10 in the UK

    for Teaching Satisfaction and Value Added 3

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Course overview
Module options

About this course

Our flexible course lets you tailor your studies to suit your own interests and career plans.

You’ll uncover the historical roots of contemporary social, political and environmental challenges. From classical civilisations to modern communities, you’ll explore how different periods of history continue to influence our world, and to help us understand it better.

For three months, you could intern for an MP in Westminster. Our parliamentary placement scheme has been running for over 35 years, and is one of the most extensive of its kind in the UK. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to study the machinery of British politics, while you watch its cogs actually turning. We also support placements at a range of other organisations locally, regionally and nationally.

Hull’s a city that’s steeped in history. Explore the Hull History Centre, the Blaydes Maritime Centre, and the world renowned Wilberforce Institute. And, of course, there’s the Brynmor Jones Library. Here, we have more than a million books, journals and periodicals. As well as extensive digital resources drawn from libraries and archives across the world.

Scheduled study hours and how you’re assessed

Throughout your degree, you’re expected to study for 1,200 hours per year. That’s based on 200 hours per 20 credit module. And it includes scheduled hours, time spent on placement and independent study. How this time is divided across the year varies and depends on the module you are studying.

How you'll be assessed depends on the course you study, and the modules you choose. You may be assessed through a mix of examinations, coursework, presentations and group projects.

Choose your modules

Each year, you’ll study modules worth a certain number of credits, and you need 120 credits per year. Most modules are 20 credits – so you’ll study six modules each year. Some longer modules, such as a dissertation, are worth more. In these cases, you’ll study fewer modules - but the number of credits will always add up to 120. Some modules are compulsory, some are optional, so you can build a course that’s right for you.

Preparing for Learning in Higher Education

This module is designed to give you the best possible start to your university studies, making sure you have all the essential skills you need to succeed. Through lectures and workshops we will teach you how to write in an academic style, how to find quality sources, how to reference work, culminating in writing up a mini-research project.

Core•20 credits

Introduction to Study in the Humanities

This module equips you with a suite of analytical and theoretical tools to support you as you progress along your academic journey. You'll develop an interdisciplinary understanding of approaches to study in the humanities by working with a variety of resources, including novels, films and aspects of the visual arts.

Core•20 credits

Research in the Humanities, Social Sciences and Education

This module will equip you with the necessary skills to conduct and analyse research in a specific interest, supported by academics within your subject. You'll navigate through the research process, from identifying an area of interest to presenting their findings to your peers.

Core•20 credits

Group Challenge (Humanities)

Formulate and execute a group led enquiry into texts, cultural artifacts, film, music or dance. You'll explore their topics in groups at supervised workshops and develop questions on the cultural object relates to the living world of human experience, as well as developing your own methods to answer these questions.

Compulsory•20 credits

Foundation in Data Analysis

Develop a strong foundation in data collection and analysis. This module will introduce you to qualitative and quantitative data and how to analyse it; the collection of primary and secondary data; the production of high quality graphics; and report writing.

Compulsory•20 credits

Academic Writing Skills

Developing confidence in expression, oral as well as written, is a key feature of this module, which also aims to familiarise you with submission and assessment procedures in the context of Higher Education. This is a clear building block onto your degree programme and places you at a distinct advantage when you move into the following year.

Compulsory•20 credits

The foundation year has been designed to prepare you for entry onto the degree.

The modules below are for the BA (Hons) Politics foundation year. You can choose to study the BA (Hons) History foundation year if you'd prefer. You will transfer to History and Politics after successful completion of the foundation year.
6 Modules

British Political History since 1945

The UK's political history after World War Two: from Eden to the EEC and from Wilson to the 'Winter of Discontent', encounter the people, ideas and policies that have shaped modern Britain.

Compulsory•20 credits

History of Freedom

What does it mean to be free and how has the answer to this question changed over time? In ancient and medieval times, there was no expectation of individual freedom as we understand it today, rather there were degrees of ‘unfreedom’ such as slavery, serfdom, or vassalage. Later, in the age of empire, race determined who could be enslaved, and the slave trade’s legacies of racism persist into the present day: the civil rights movements and the struggle against apartheid are known as some of the most prominent recent fights for freedom. Nonetheless, the idea of freedom has far broader connotations, and you will also have the flexibility to explore diverse issues such as religious, cultural or personal freedoms.

Compulsory•20 credits

Introduction to Political Ideologies

Political action is collective action among people who share beliefs. This module explores the most important formulations of these collective views. It explores political ideologies that defend the status quo, those who wish to reform it, and those that seek a radically different political reality.

Compulsory•20 credits

Introduction to Policy-Making

This module provides an introduction and explanation of the plural theories and models of policy making before applying these theories and models to the practice of policy-making, via a series of case studies of policy-making in practice.

Compulsory•20 credits

World War Tudors: Rethinking British History

Why are TV programmes so obsessed with certain episodes in British history such as the Tudors and the world wars? What idea of Britain is conveyed when we focus on a narrow range of stories like Boudicca’s fight against Rome, victory at Agincourt, Henry VIII’s wives or the Battle of Britain? What gets left out of British history in these simplified versions of the past? This module will invite you to critique popular culture, such as television documentaries or computer games, and to create different fresh ideas for how you think the public could engage with an aspect of the past that inspires you.

Compulsory•20 credits

Human Worlds

How have humans shaped their environment, and how has the environment shaped them in return? These questions have controlled how and where we live. The availability of resources has encouraged migration and movement from the trade routes of the Silk Road across Asia to the imperial web of coaling stations that developed for the projection of naval power. How do cities grow – like St Petersburg, Delhi or Paris, built and rebuilt that has affected how generations of inhabitants later would live their lives?

Compulsory•20 credits
6 Modules

History: Then and Now

This module explores how historians shape and debate the past. Should we study the past on its own terms as we act as neutral observers who are guided by what the sources tell us, or do historians mould the past into their own image, re-writing history for new purposes depending on each historian’s subjective preferences? In this module, we will consider these questions of objectivity, facts, bias, distortion, as well as the need for historians to return to the past and consider it from points of view that are relevant to the present.

Compulsory•20 credits

Political Research

In this module you will begin the journey of becoming an independent and autonomous political researcher. You will learn more about how Political Research – especially that conducted within the School of Politics and International Studies – is produced, and be equipped with the understanding and skills necessary to design your own political research project. This module will prepare you for the Final Year Project and for putting into practice your own programme of research.

Compulsory•20 credits

British Government

In the age of Brexit who governs Britain? Discover the workings of the British state and where power lies. From the uncodified constitution, the Office of Prime Minister and Cabinet government to Whitehall, English local government, Scottish and Welsh devolution to the great parties of state: the Conservative Party and the Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats. Encounter the traditions, institutions and political parties which govern Britain.

Optional•20 credits

Rethinking Political Economy

Rethinking Political Economy enables students to explore plural perspectives drawn from the history of ideas in political economy from its early development in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries to the contemporary rethinking of political economy. Particular focus is placed upon the confrontation both of historical power imbalances, notably the relocation of the previously marginalized perspectives of female political economists to the very centre and cutting edge of the discipline, and urgent issues of human development, notably inequalities in income and wealth, and mitigation of and adaptation to human-induced climate change

Optional•20 credits

Understanding Terrorism

In this module you will examine the roots of contemporary terrorism and counterterrorism and be introduced to critical terrorism studies. You will assess the justifications terrorist, extremist and politically violent groups have offered for their actions, as well as the ethics of state and other responses. You will examine how terrorism relates to military action and war, and to violent and non-violent protest, and you will hear and read about terrorism across a range of international, political and cultural contexts. The module will seek to equip you to make informed and critically reflective analyses of terrorism as a contemporary issue.

Optional•20 credits

Global Britain and its Past

Develop specialist skills such as using technology to map time and space, visual literacy, or oral history interviewing whilst learning about the expansion of the English across the British Isles and then across the world as an empire was built.

Optional•20 credits

Shamans, Priests and Witches

People have often looked to the gods to explain the world around them and magic and the devil are often invoked at times of strife and trouble. This module will look at how religion and ritual have developed in key areas of the globe and how people have understood the world around them.

Optional•20 credits

History of Political Thought

The history of political thought provides us with experiences of a wealth of perspectives on issues that still occupy central places in human life: the role of power in our collective relationships; the duties of the citizen and the obligations of the state; what it means to be free or equal or oppressed. This module explores some of the most influential and challenging positions from ancient Greek times to the late-nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The module explores the feminist thinkers and others who were and are viewed as radicals, as well as more moderate figures, whose influences remain today.

Optional•20 credits

Understanding America

You'll be introduced to the political culture and institutions of the United States of America and the environment in which those institutions operate. Having considered these domestic issues, you'll examine the USA’s international role and behaviour. You'll examine the complex relationship between these domestic and international aspects of American politics.

Optional•20 credits

The First Superpowers

While Britain, the United States and the Soviet Union were the dominant nations of the 19th and 20th centuries, they were not the first superpowers. Some of the world’s most powerful entities of pre-modern times were found in Asia, pre-colonial North America, and in the heart of Europe. The ancient and modern world was formed by superpowers, from the Qin Dynasty of ancient China, to the equestrian empires of the Lakota and Comanche, to the Holy Roman and Ottoman empires that shaped history at the centre and edges of an expanding Europe.

Optional•20 credits

Interactions and Exchanges: The Roots of Globalisation

This module is about how people and societies have connected, communicated, clashed, exchanged and evolved over a long span of human history. Focussing on the period of the Columbian Exchange (1492), the emergence of global empires in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and the present-day ‘global village’ the module will examine the connections between peoples, the movement and flow of people, things, and ideas, the disruptive effects of war and environmental change, and the connections between the local and the global.

Optional•20 credits

Trends and Treasures

Using the framework of ‘Treasures and Trends’ we seek to examine how and why different societies (at different points in time) value and classify visual and material remains of the past, often in order to negotiate and understand their contemporary relevance. Looking at trends and fashion as a barometer of taste, popularity, consumerism and acquisitiveness also allows us to explore ways in which these have been shaped by, and further gave shape to material and visual culture, often involving complex networks of trade and exchange that connect local and national histories with wider global forces.

Optional•20 credits

Family, Sex and Death

What are the limits and boundaries of humanity? How do we define and explain human experience? How do modern concerns such as ‘family,’ ‘gender,’ ‘sexuality,’ and ‘childhood’ refer back to the way earlier identities were explained and constructed? How different to us were people in the past? These questions go to the heart of what it is to be both human and an individual.

Optional•20 credits

Understanding the European Union

The EU has a population of almost 450 million people and host the world’s the largest single market. The module identifies the main EU institutions and explains where power lies in EU decision-making. EU policies which will be assessed include environmental/climate policy, Economic Monetary Union (EMU) and the Single European Market (SEM). The module focuses also on the EU’s relations with the UK (pre- and post-Brexit), USA, China and Global South countries. The EU has emerged as an environmental leader on the international level and has frequently tried to use its ‘market power’ to transfer its goals, norms and values to the international level. The EU’s impact therefore goes well beyond the territory of its currently 27 Member States.

Optional•20 credits
14 Modules

Dissertation

You will make an original contribution to research by designing, carrying out and writing up your own project on a topic you choose, supported by your dissertation supervisor.

Compulsory•40 credits

One-Trimester Internship

Apply knowledge learned on your degree in a real working environment on one of our unique internship opportunities - enhance your chance of getting a job at the same time.

Compulsory•60 credits

One Trimester Abroad

An opportunity to study for a semester abroad at any of our partner institutions. Select a number of modules on offer from the host institution to count towards your degree.

Compulsory•60 credits

UK Politics in an Age of Decline and Renewal

Explore topics that have been implemented by the Cameron-Clegg coalition, May and Johnson Governments since the May 2010 General Election. You'll investigate the politics of austerity, reform of public services and the NHS, the welfare state, Brexit and the response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Optional•20 credits

Culture Wars

What causes the culture wars? Explore the controversies. From identity politics to free speech and BLM to transgenderism.

Optional•20 credits

The Contemporary House of Commons

The Contemporary House of Commons module provides a distinctive opportunity not only to study the role of the House of Commons in the UK political system, but also to engage with practitioners, to develop skills of advocacy and to engage in research of primary sources, and to do so through small-group extended seminars, ensuring continuous engagement with fellow students and with the module leader, who is also parliamentarian.

Optional•20 credits

The Vikings and their World

In the early Middle Ages, the Vikings founded new towns and kingdoms, developed new technologies, and crossed the Atlantic 500 years before Columbus. By studying historical, literary and archaeological sources this module will examine the Vikings’ world view and ask why they continue to be so popular today.

Optional•20 credits

Insiders and Outsiders: Community and Belonging in History

For the ancient Greeks, citizens ruled. But their notion of a citizen was exclusive: men ruled over women, children, slaves, animals and things. In ancient societies, most people were excluded from power, participation, markets, resources and opportunity – they were ‘outsiders’. Over time, or so the story goes, societies have worked to ensure the inclusion of outsiders, whether through voting rights, civil rights, access to educational and career opportunities. This module explores the ways in which groups, communities, and nations determine and decide: who belongs.

Optional•20 credits

Fear and Terror

Are fear and terror the tools of the weak or of the strong? Totalitarian regimes from Stalin to Pinochet’s Chile have used extreme violence, secret police and state sponsored terrorism and assassination to assert their authority. Meanwhile, non-state actors, such as the IRA, Al-Qaeda and the ANC, relatively small in terms of number and weak in terms of infrastructure, have used campaigns of sporadic violence to effect change. Are they ever justified in doing so? Sometimes terror tactics have had important racial and ethnic dimensions as in the exercise of colonial power and in genocidal campaigns. In wartime, is the inducement of fear unavoidable or are atrocities deliberate? Are some acts beyond the pale, to be punished as war crimes? Can Truth and Reconciliation activities in the wake of such acts achieve their goals.

Optional•20 credits

Capstone Project

This year-long project will be the pinnacle of your undergraduate studies with us. Follow your passion for a particular topic, develop and research your project and then present it as you choose. It might be a traditional dissertation (12,000 words of writing) or you might channel your scholarship into perhaps a documentary or an exhibition as a way of conveying your findings. Either way, it will be something you will look back at with pride and satisfaction for years to come.

Optional•40 credits

The Past in the Present

We began the programme by looking at ‘History in the News’, and we will return to the question of how history shapes our understanding of the issues of the present day. We will consider how the study of history and heritage can contribute to social justice, the fairer distribution of rights, wealth, and resources, and environmental and political challenges.

Optional•20 credits

Political Thought of the Right

This module offers a thorough education in the political thought of the “Right” from the upheavals of the ancient world to those of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. It introduces you to the lives and works of major authors from various traditions—conservatives, nationalists, radical individualists—whose ideas have made lasting contributions to the contemporary politics of the “Right” in both theory and practice, and for better and worse. Together we will read and debate a straightforward module anthology of classic texts by authors from diverse cultures and traditions: from the war between Athens and Sparta and mediaeval laudations of the English constitution, to radical and dangerous visions of moral counter-revolution, national rebirth.

Optional•20 credits

Single Trimester Project

The Single Trimester Project module provides you with an opportunity to engage in and write up your own political research project.  In researching and writing your project you will work primarily one-to-one with your supervisor, but the module also involves a degree of team work and peer support.

Optional•20 credits

Troubled History: Irish Politics and Anglo-Irish Relations

In this module you will examine the evolution and contemporary relevance of the political relationships between Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and Great Britain.  You will be introduced to the emergence of these relationship from the Ulster plantation to the Act of Union 1800, through the Home Rule movement, War of Independence and partitioning of Northern Ireland, and further through the Troubles, the Good Friday Agreement and the impacts of Brexit.  The purpose will be to equip you to critically engage with contemporary aspects of Anglo-Irish relations with a sound understanding of their historical, cultural, religious and economic influences

Optional•20 credits

Defeating Nazi Germany: Strategy in Total War

Defeating Nazi Germany provides a detailed understanding of the practice of strategy in total war. This is especially important as the world shifts from one dominated by the ‘war on terror’ to a future of great power conflict. By taking this module you will study all of the great campaigns of the Second World War in Europe, and ultimately be able to answer the question of how and why the Allies won. In doing so, you will also gain an invaluable understanding of strategic decision-making, modern joint warfare, and the role of technology and social forces in human strategic affairs.

Optional•20 credits

In your final year, you'll choose one compulsory module.
15 Modules

Playlist

Dr Simon Lee

Course Overview 1 min

History at Hull

Course highlight 1 min

Lucy Dunwell

Student story 2 mins

Life on campus

University Life 2 mins

Entry requirements

What do I need?

We consider experience and qualifications from the UK and worldwide which may not exactly match the combinations above.

But it's not just about the grades - we'll look at your whole application. We want to know what makes you tick, and about your previous experience, so make sure that you complete your personal statement.

Have questions? Our admissions team will be happy to help.

What do I need?

If you require a student visa to study or if your first language is not English you will be required to provide acceptable evidence of your English language proficiency level.

See other English language proficiency qualifications accepted by the University of Hull.

If your English currently does not reach the University’s required standard for this programme, you may be interested in one of our English language courses.

Visit your country page to find out more about our entry requirements.

Fees & funding

How much is it?

Additional costs you may have to pay

Your tuition fees will cover most costs associated with your programme. There are some extra costs that you might have to pay, or choose to pay, depending on your programme of study and the decisions you make:

  • Books (you can borrow books on your reading lists from the library, but you may buy your own)
  • Optional field trips
  • Study abroad (incl. travel costs, accommodation, visas, immunisation)
  • Placement costs (incl. travel costs and accommodation)
  • Student visas (international students)
  • Laptop (you’ll have access to laptops and computers on campus, but you may want your own)
  • Printing and photocopying
  • Professional-body membership
  • Graduation (gown hire and photography)

Remember, you’ll still need to take into account your living costs. This could include accommodation, travel, food and more.

How do I pay for it?

How much is it?

Additional costs you may have to pay

Your tuition fees will cover most costs associated with your programme. There are some extra costs that you might have to pay, or choose to pay, depending on your programme of study and the decisions you make:

  • Books (you can borrow books on your reading lists from the library, but you may buy your own)
  • Optional field trips
  • Study abroad (incl. travel costs, accommodation, visas, immunisation)
  • Placement costs (incl. travel costs and accommodation)
  • Student visas (international students)
  • Laptop (you’ll have access to laptops and computers on campus, but you may want your own)
  • Printing and photocopying
  • Professional-body membership
  • Graduation (gown hire and photography)

Remember, you’ll still need to take into account your living costs. This could include accommodation, travel, food and more.

How do I pay for it?

Our academics

Politics at Hull is 5th in the UK for Student Experience,4 and Top 15 in the UK for Teaching Quality.5 And 100% of History at Hull received the top grade of 4* for Research Impact.2

So you can be sure that the lecturers, academics and researchers teaching you are some of the best in the country.

See more academics for this subject
Colin Veach
Featured academic

Dr Colin Veach

Colin’s research investigates the articulation of power in medieval Britain and Ireland, placed in the context of Europe. He’s a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, and a member of the peer review college for the Irish Research Council (IRC).
Dr Christopher Fear
Featured academic

Dr Christopher Fear

Christopher’s recent research focused on conservative political thought; historical and contemporary. Some of his publications in this area have appeared in the Journal of Political Ideologies, History of European Ideas, and The Review of Politics.

Take a look at our facilities

Hull History Centre

Explore archives dating back to 1299, including papers owned by some of Hull's most notable figures: Amy Johnson and William Wilberforce.

The Wilberforce Institute

The Wilberforce Institute produces world-class research on historic and contemporary slavery, and hosts a growing archive of books and electronic collections.

Brynmor Jones Library

Our 7-storey library is home to 1 million+ books, extensive digital resources drawn from libraries and archives across the world, and stunning panoramic views of the city from the 7th floor.

Rare Books

Our collection includes a variety of titles published between 1473 and 2002. Texts are in 18 languages. Places of publication range from Amsterdam to Zwickau, covering 26 countries on 5 continents.

See more in our virtual tour

Look around

Look around

Look around

Look around

Hull History Centre
Hull Wilberforce House
Brynmor Jones Library Observation Deck
Brynmor Jones Library Rare Books Room
History student, Ethan Harding, reading in the Brynmor Jones Library at the University of Hull.

Future prospects

The way we teach this joint degree gives you skills that employers value. You’ll learn how to analyse complex data. How to present clear and coherent arguments to diverse audiences. And by explaining, supporting and defending your ideas, you’ll become a better communicator.

You'll also gain teamworking skills through presentations and seminar discussions. And you'll learn how to plan, research and manage your own time through essays.

With a History and Politics degree, you can pursue a range of careers, such as political researcher, historian, museum conservator, researcher, or teacher. Hull graduates also work in journalism, the Civil Service, marketing, and law.

University of Hull Open Day

Your next steps

Not ready to apply?

Visit our next Open Day, and see all that Hull has to offer for yourself. Talk to our lecturers about your subject, find out what university is really like from our current students, and take a tour of our beautiful campus and amazing facilities.

Book your place now

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  1. (History, 11th) The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2024.
  2. 100% of History at Hull received the top grade of 4* for Research Impact, and is also 18th for Historical Research in the UK, according to the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021.
  3. (Politics, Teaching Satisfaction Joint 7th, Value Added Joint 8th) The Guardian University Rankings 2024.
  4. (Politics) The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2024.
  5. (Politics, Joint 13th) The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2024.

 

All modules presented on this course page are subject to availability and this list may change at any time.

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