History and Modern Languages

Description

Our four-year BA History and Modern Languages allows you to combine the study of a wide range of history options with one or two modern languages (out of French, German, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese).

Your history components seek to answer questions such as: How have historical events shaped the contemporary world, and what is the relationship between past and present? How have factors such as class, gender and race influenced historical change since 1500? What comparisons can be made between historical developments in different parts of the world?

Your modern languages components have a triple focus on developing language proficiency, cultural awareness and professional skills (not only translation skills, but also web and publishing skills, and film production and video editing skills such as subtitling and voiceover). Our focus on skills helps you acquire a wide range of employability skills which enhance your career prospects.

Your first, second and final years are spent at Essex, with your time split between history and your chosen modern language(s). Your third year is spent abroad experiencing, engaging with and integrating into another culture, either by a period of study at a partner institution offering the opportunity to operate in a different academic, linguistic and cultural environment, or by working as a language assistant and thereby acquiring valuable vocational experience of working abroad.

Detailed Course Facts

• GBP 9000 Year (EEA)
• GBP 11950 Year (Non-EEA)

• English

Course Content

The special characteristics of our courses are flexibility and choice. In your first year, you usually take four or five modules that include pre-requisite(s) for your course but, in many cases, mean you can try subjects you have not come across before. If you are taking a humanities or social science, then you have the greatest choice, as most of our first-year modules do not assume any specialist knowledge.
With a small number of exceptions, if you successfully complete the first year of your BA, then you are qualified to enter the second year of that course and a range of other courses: for example, if you take economics, politics, philosophy and sociology, then you have a choice of at least nine possible single or joint honours courses at the end of your first year. This means you can change your course, providing you have taken the appropriate pre-requisites and places are available. We offer a range of optional modules in your second- and final-years and most courses allow you to undertake a final-year project, an individual piece of research on a topic that interests you.
We operate a credit framework for our awards, which is based on principles widely used across the UK university sector. Each module has a credit rating attached and our standard three-year course consists of 360 credits (120 credits in your first year, and 240 credits across your second and final years).
Please note that module information on our course finder provides a guide to course content and may be subject to review on an annual basis.

Year 1

• Making Histories: Concepts, themes and sources
• One language option (advanced or intensive)
• And choose from a range of History or Language options.

Year 2

• Making Histories: Concepts, themes and sources
• And choose from a range of History or Language options.

Year 3

Year abroad

Year 4

• History Special Subject
• History Special Subject
• Choose a language option and a project or two language options
• And choose from a range of History options.

English Language Requirements

IELTS band : 6

To study at this university, you have to speak English. We advice you to

Requirements

• A-levels: ABB-BBB
• GCSE English: C
• IB: 32-30 points (we consider IB certificates at the Higher Level on a case-by-case basis)
• Achievement of the Access to HE Diploma with a minimum of 6 level three credits at distinction and the remainder at merit (or above).
• We welcome applications from students whose A-levels do not include History.
• One language must be taken as the major language. If French or Portuguese is taken as the major language, you will need to have A-level French or Portuguese/Spanish (or equivalent). German, Italian and Spanish may be studied from scratch.

English language requirements for applicants whose first language is not English: IELTS 6.0 overall with minimum 5.5 in each component (or equivalent). Different requirements apply for second year entry.

Work Experience

No work experience is required.

Related Scholarships*

• Academic Excellence Scholarship

  "The Academic Excellence Scholarship can provide up to a 50 % reduction in tuition per semester. These scholarships will be renewed if the student maintains superior academic performance during each semester of their 3-year Bachelor programme. The scholarship will be directly applied to the student’s tuition fees."

• Access Bursary

  Bursary for UK students all subjects where the variable tuition fee rate is payable.

• Alumni Bursary

  Alumni Bursary for UK Undergraduate students

* The scholarships shown on this page are suggestions first and foremost. They could be offered by other organisations than University of Essex.

Funding

For up-to-date information on funding opportunities at Essex, please visit: www.essex.ac.uk/studentfinance.